The Siege by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark

Armies and security agencies the world over are in love with the phrase ‘lessons learnt’. Others too have embraced this expression whenever the need to forget our follies arises. After all, it has such a comforting ring to it, an assurance that we will not foul-up again and that while we may not have been wise in time in the past, we have pored over our errors with such sharp introspection that we need not worry about the future. And lest the less industrious have trouble digesting the syrup of our labour, we have reduced it to bullet points that lend themselves to adorning a single slide of a PowerPoint presentation.

Is this a frivolous introduction to the review of a very serious work that recounts a terror attack of most vicious kind that India – and most of the world – has ever seen? Perhaps not. Because what alarmed me most after I put down this remarkably researched book is the sickening realization that, arguably, we have done little or nothing since the attack that was called India’s 26/11, to repair the infirmities of our system.

The author duo has already been celebrated for their work ’Meadows’, an account of the kidnapping of ten Western backpackers in Kashmir by terrorists. The present work ’The Siege – The Attack on the Taj’ is another work of similar painstaking and meticulous research. Using credible sources, it reconstructs events right from the planning of the attack in Pakistan to the journey of the terrorists across the Arabian sea and the horrendous mayhem they inflicted on unarmed civilians in Taj, Cafe Leopold, the Chatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus, the Chabad House where Jews lived and other places. The story is chilling in its rendition and every word rings of authentication.  This is a minute by minute account of the events; the mobile conversations between the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan, the courage of a few unarmed and inadequately armed policemen, the great character shown by many including the manager of the hotel who lost his entire family and the failure of our decision making apparatus are among the many sub-plots that illuminate the narrative. A Note on the Sources in the end is most instructive.

Nearly 300 pages in length, it is an easy read. The authors mostly stick to reporting (brilliantly) and adopt a mostly non-judgmental approach that steers clear of pontificating.     

The book is highly recommended for everyone.