‘India should have struck harder after 26/11 attacks’

Nagpur: After the night of November 26 in 2008 when Pakistan terrorists carried out bomb blasts and opened indiscriminate fire at innocent people in Mumbai, India should have struck harder, said lieutenant colonel (retired) Manish Jaitly, on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of his book ‘26/11 Unforgiven’, Jaitly said, “We are still nursing old wounds. The plight of blast survivors compelled me to pen this book,” he added.

“We went soft on terrorists and we let the survivors suffer for 10 long years. As an economy, forgiving such a heinous attack is unacceptable,” he added.

The book launch was organized by Indic Academy at Chitnavis Centre where former air vice-marshal Suryakant Chafekar, former colonel Abhay Patwardhan and RSS worker Sunil Kitkaru were present.

“Mumbai, the financial capital of the nation, was struck ruthlessly by a handful of terrorists and we still have not retaliated. Not just 26/11 attacks, thousands of people have died in various bomb blasts in the last few years and we have always kept quiet while the families of survivors look for answers. This book talks about one such survivor Vikrant, who is seeking revenge for his loss,” Jaitly said.

The protagonist loses his son and wife in the 26/11 terrorist attack and is in search of vengeance — where his tryst takes him is what the rest of the book is about.

The atmosphere at the venue was charged with emotions as speakers recalled the horror of those attacks and the mayhem that followed.

Kitkaru said, “Conspiracy theorists in media had levelled baseless allegations against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).”

“RSS has been engaged in social service before India got independence and is working for the betterment of the society. However, certain elements are trying to defame RSS which would be countered,” Kitkaru said.

Chafekar spoke about the psyche of terrorists and the underlying problem it causes. “Terrorists are brainwashed into believing that only their religion can rule the world which leads them to eliminate people who don’t subscribe to their way of thinking,” he added.

He said, “One-time solution is not sufficient to tackle terrorism and we, as a society, should put pressure on politicians to retaliate when such attacks are carried out.”