The link lead me to Vimeo, where the latest Channel 4 Dispatches show had been published. The catch was, no one knew when the video would be removed from the site. My apologies, for not publishing the video on my blog, as it has been removed from both Vimeo and Channel's 4 official page.
The title of the video, itself, got me extremely excited. Channel 4 Dispatches is one of my favourite shows on television. To call it a show, would be disregarding it, because it actually is a series of documentaries. Every week, they take up a topic and discuss it in detail. On 30th June 2009, they put light on a topic very close to home. I missed it when it was aired so I was really pleased that I could finally watch it.
Most people may remember the terror attacks in the city of Mumbai on 26th November 2008. It was earth shatteringly scary and the plan boggled many of the people. Initially no one knew how many people had attacked - the plan was so cunning and heartless it left the city in a complete state of shock. But Mumbai being Mumbai, bounced back.
I remember that day was my nephew's birthday and I was busy packing for my trip to New York the next day, when I saw the news. When I saw it, I couldn't call my family, who were at the time in Mumbai and are regulars at the Taj Hotel. I could just pray they were fine. On a recent trip to Mumbai, when we went to the Taj for dinner, my sister felt extremely weird.
The documentary, well made as it always is shocked me beyond belief. Most people may not know this about me, but I love politics, I'm opionated and I love to discuss current affairs. Unfortunately, frustrating as it may be, I never find anyone willing enough to discuss current affairs - I guess people like to shy away from "serious" conversations.
Dispatches - Terror on Mumbai showed the various incidents of the horror - incidents that I couldn't find on BBC during their coverage. They showed phone conversations between the terrorists who were attacking and the person who was plotting. From these conversations and CCTV images you could see these boys were at times scared, at times ruthless. At one instance when they entered the Taj they were so taken aback by the luxury that they had to be repeatedly reminded of the job at hand. I'm not sympathizing, I find it pathetic how people end up on the wrong side of society.
What's more shocking is the media coverage? Ok, so I work in the media - but even I was repelled. I remember having a discussion with a few classmates at university. It's one of the most vivid conversations in my head. It was the journalists students against the public relations students and the discussion was war coverage. The discussion - is covering every aspect of war justified? The PR students were against the idea, saying that it puts the army and the government in a bad image. The journalists students, as shocked as we were, stood our grounds claiming that if something wrong is happening, it's vital to bring it to the attention of the masses. From the opposition's point of view, such coverage hurts the patriotic sentiments of a nation. The discussion was over, with neither of the sides believing what the others said, but what was agreed was in case a coverage causes hindrance in public and the country's safety then it's perfectly reasonable to not air or publish it. What I saw in the documentary shook my moral and ethical values, was the media actually unintentionally helping in all this? The operators of this drastic event were watching every scene on their television sets and once in a while proclaiming their delight on the phone to the attackers.
Lastly, I don't mean to be rude, or point fingers at someone - I know the Indian intelligence and police risked their lives that day. Many of the good men lost their lives, but I'm just curious, if the Indian Intelligence was recording the phone conversation why couldn't they stop it before it started?
I'm baffled. Life is a very precious thing, events like this make you realize how scary death is. Life may not always be sunshines and rainbows, value what you have...
xxx
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