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A Case Study On Mumbai Terrorist Attack
A Case Study On Mumbai Terrorist Attack
Manisha Shekhar
Centre for Strategic Analysis & Research Deptt. of Electronics & Communication
Dr. M. C. Saxena college of Engg. & Technology, UPTU, Lucknow, India
E-mail: manisha.shekhar123@gmail.com
Tel: +91-0522-4095700; Fax: +91-0522-4095730
Abstract
Introduction
Terrorism has assumed serious dimensions after the September 11 attack on the twin towers of World
Trade Centre in United States of America. The full blown up pictures of the abrupt vertical collapse of
the commercial might of USA was witnessed world over. Since then the periodical attacks are aimed at
various targets by the radical groups in various parts of the globe. Stringent laws vis-à-vis nonpolitical
swift handling of the terrorist attacks in some countries has yielded deterrent results and the countries
where able to overcome this menace. However, contrary to this, India which has belatedly converted
into the epicenter of terrorism, is dealt with casual approach and resulted into heavy mortality and gave
a setback to the growing economy.
Another attack………more than a couple of hundred dead and several hundreds injured in the
recently Mumbai terrorist attack. The regular phenomenon of terrorist attacks in India are keeping
everyone guessing as to who could be next victim of the flow of terror. Security forces did a splendid
job in evacuating every possible hostage but could not save many as they were caught unaware but
shown below is some strategic pattern by which we can actually earmark where the next attack would
be and when. This has been analyzed in the case study which follows later in this research paper.
give early warning of change and the possibility of a future national crisis? Again, the challenge is not
only to recognize the crisis but also to bring the complex factors into focus in such a manner that
individuals can understand and marshal the forces necessary to address the situation.
A crisis has been defined as a”turning point for better or worse,” ”decisive moment,” or
”crucial time.” A crisis can also be described as”a situation that has reached a critical phase.” A crisis
is, therefore, an unstable time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending – either one
with a distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome, or one with a distinct possibility of a highly
desirable and extremely positive outcome. Any executive who can predict and plan for a turning point
in his or her organization stands a far better chance of capitalizing on that opportunity than someone
who allows the crisis to sneak up on him or her unprepared. Contrary to popular belief, a crisis may not
be necessarily bad. It is merely characterized by a certain degree of risk and uncertainty (Fink, 1986).
Crisis management – planning for a crisis, a turning point – is the art of removing much of the
risk in uncertainty, thereby allowing those concerned to achieve more control over the destiny of an
organization, and thus creatively exercising the role of management leadership (Darling, Shelton and
Walker, 2002)
Contingency Planning
Preparing contingency plans in advance, as part of a crisis management plan, is the first step to
ensuring a nation is appropriately prepared for a crisis. Crisis management teams can rehearse a crisis
plan by developing a simulated scenario to use as a drill. The plan should clearly stipulate that the only
people to speak publicly about the crisis are the designated persons, such as the nation spokesperson or
crisis team members. The first hours after a crisis breaks are the most crucial, so working with speed
and efficiency is important, and the plan should indicate how quickly each function should be
performed. When preparing to offer a statement externally as well as internally, information should be
accurate. Providing incorrect or manipulated information has a tendency to backfire and will greatly
exacerbate the situation. The contingency plan should contain information and guidance that will help
decision makers to consider not only the short-term consequences, but the long-term effects of every
decision. (12Manage, 2007)
Don’t Do’s
1) Avoid the phrase no comment.
2) Avoid jargon or technical terms.
3) Avoid nervous habit that people interrupt or deception.
4) Avoid distracting nervous gestures such as pacing.
Crisis Management- a Case Study on Mumbai Terrorist Attack 361
Do’s
1) Present information clearly
2) Appear pleasant on camera
3) Media person need to have strong eye contact, limited disfluences ‘uhms’or ‘uhs’.
4) Media person should have latest crisis information.
5) Be prepared to use internet as one of the channel for reaching public.
6) Be prepared to use unique websites or part of your websites to address crisis concern.
Interoperability
Organized sensor and networks will have to operate seamlessly with the existing infrastructure and
with each other to overcome existing incompatibilities, routing mismatches, and security mismatches
between different providers.
Reuse of Technologies
Reuse of wireless devices (including routing, spotcasting, ad hoc communication, sensing and
application software download) could help ensure that local resources are available during a disaster
response.
Reuse could also support functions needed to transform from short-term crisis management to
longer-term emergency response.
individuals may require establishing a temporary administrative domain including components from
the different organizations.
Spectrum Conflicts
Spectrum conflicts that arise whenever different technologies (for example, Medium access control
(MAC) protocols and cellular standards) share the same portion of the spectrum will need to be
overcome.
network to another. Solutions to the time dependent response problem should be evaluated in multiple
way including simulation using benchmarks. In addition, training exercises are needed to stress and test
different solutions.
Crisis Response
Public relation plays are critical role in crisis responses by helping to develop the messages that are
sent to public various public. Initial crisis response is what Government does and says after the crisis
hits.
Arpan and Korko-Ewoldren (2005) conducted a study that documented how a quick early
response allows an organization to generate greater credibility than a slow response.
Crisis management will make it easier for crisis management to respond quickly. Government
should be ready to provide stress and trauma counseling to victims of the crisis and their families.
Case Study
Center for Strategic Analysis and Research (referred here to as CSAR) has taken up this national
task and find out a mathematical model for the analysis and evaluation of crisis management.
According to the dates of terror attack plotted against the places of attack on INDIAN MAP- a
logical trajectory was observed which had a uniform angle of 26 degrees and the hyperbola was lying
on Visakhapatnam when the trajectory was extrapolated on wider scale the probable target with linear
terrorist operation were found to be LUCKNOW/ KANPUR and GOA/ PANAJI with the striking
dates as January 13 and March 26 respectively. The hyperbola falling on Visakhapatnam reveals the
bitter truth that a submarine of Pakistani origin was torpedo in the Jet by INDIAN Forces.
The submarine PNS GHAZI was located in beneath the Visakhapatnam during the Bangladesh
Liberation War and that was destroyed by INS RAJPUT. To avenge the ruthless defeat at the hands of
INDIAN forces in 1971, the Pakistani army has developed a well planned trajectory to demonstrate its
military might with a clear demonstration of their covering the entire INDIAN area.
364 Manisha Shekhar
The INDIAN GOVERNMENT should keep this in mind and hopefully we shall be able to avert
the next terrorist attack on the country.
On 26 November, 2008, the world experienced the most publicized sudden crisis, which was
outbreak of anti social activity against common people of India. Total 183 people lost their lives and
314 were seriously injured in almost three days of terror that unleashed on Mumbai starting 26
November 10 attackers.
At the same time Indian Government was blamed by foreign government, international
organizations & international press for being reluctant to admit the outbreak of terror attack.
Why??...... One criticism was that the police force on the ground had World War II guns and that the
bullet-proof jackets of the force were sub-standard. That's why we saw so many casualties in the police
force.
Crisis Management- a Case Study on Mumbai Terrorist Attack 365
Modernization of the force is the need of the hour and should be at the top priority So we need
specialized teams in the police force to deal with such situations. But one must understand that
policemen and officers from nearest police stations will be the first ones to reach the spot and will be
the first in the firing line.
On bullet-proof jackets, I'd like to point out that there is no bullet-proof jacket that can stop a
bullet fired from .303 rifles. In the case of modern assault rifles, if one gets hit from 10 metres, then too
the bullet can pierce the shield.
In the case of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, the bullet hit his throat, which is not protected by
any jacket, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamate was not wearing the jacket as it hampers
mobility. Only in the case of Senior Inspector Vijay Salaskar did the bullet pierce his bullet-proof
jacket.
The Intelligence Bureau has confirmed that the attacks that took place in Mumbai on 26 Nov,
2008 might were an act of terror and aimed at disrupting peace and causing panic among Mumbaikers.
The reason for IB to say that the terror attack is due to fact that operation was synchronized also
it was a serial firing and apart from security personal only terrorist had access to AK-47 rifles. Also the
purpose of this retrospective study is to examine the Indian Government’s role in crisis management
during this terror attack.
Odwalla Foods
When Odwalla's apple juice was thought to be the cause of an outbreak of E. coli infection, the
company lost a third of its market value. In October 1996, an outbreak of E. coli bacteria in
Washington State, California, Colorado and British Columbia was traced to unpasteurized apple juice
manufactured by natural juice maker Odwalla Inc. Forty-nine cases were reported, including the death
of a small child. Within 24 hours, Odwalla conferred with the FDA and Washington state health
officials; established a schedule of daily press briefings; sent out press releases which announced the
recall; expressed remorse, concern and apology, and took responsibility for anyone harmed by their
products; detailed symptoms of E. coli poisoning; and explained what consumers should do with any
affected products. Odwalla then developed - through the help of consultants - effective thermal
processes that would not harm the products' flavors when production resumed. All of these steps were
communicated through close relations with the media and through full-page newspaper ads (Dwyer,
1998).
Mattel
Mattel Inc., the country's biggest toy maker, has been plagued with more than 28 product recalls and in
Summer of 2007, amongst problems with exports from China, faced two product recall in two weeks.
The company “did everything it could to get its message out, earning high marks from consumers and
retailers. Though upset by the situation, they were appreciative of the company's response. At Mattel,
just after the 7 a.m. recall announcement by federal officials, a public relations staff of 16 was set to
call reporters at the 40 biggest media outlets. They told each to check their e-mail for a news release
outlining the recalls, invited them to a teleconference call with executives and scheduled TV
appearances or phone conversations with Mattel's chief executive. The Mattel CEO Robert Eckert did
14 TV interviews on a Tuesday in August and about 20 calls with individual reporters. By the week's
end, Mattel had responded to more than 300 media inquiries in the U.S. alone” (Goldman and Reckard,
2007).
Bhopal
The Bhopal disaster in which poor communication before, during, and after the crisis cost thousands of
lives, illustrates the importance of incorporating cross-cultural communication in crisis management
Crisis Management- a Case Study on Mumbai Terrorist Attack 367
plans. According to American University’s Trade Environmental Database Case Studies (1997), local
residents were not sure how to react to warnings of potential threats from the Union Carbide plant.
Operating manuals printed only in English is an extreme example of mismanagement but indicative of
systemic barriers to information diffusion. According to Union Carbide’s own chronology of the
incident (2006), a day after the crisis Union Carbide’s upper management arrived in India but was
unable to assist in the relief efforts because they were placed under house arrest by the Indian
government. Symbolic intervention can be counter productive; a crisis management strategy can help
upper management make more calculated decisions in how they should respond to disaster scenarios.
The Bhopal incident illustrates the difficulty in consistently applying management standards to multi-
national operations and the blame shifting that often results from the lack of a clear management plan
(Shrivastava, 1987).
Exxon
On March 24, 1989, a tanker belonging to the Exxon Corporation ran aground in the Prince William
Sound in Alaska. The Exxon Valdez spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters off Valdez,
killing thousands of fish, fowl, and sea otters. Hundreds of miles of coastline were polluted and salmon
spawning runs disrupted; numerous fishermen, especially Native Americans, lost their livelihoods.
Exxon, by contrast, did not react quickly in terms of dealing with the media and the public; the CEO,
Lawrence Rawl, did not become an active part of the public relations effort and actually shunned
public involvement; the company had neither a communication plan nor a communication team in
place to handle the event—in fact, the company did not appoint a public relations manager to its
management team until 1993, 4 years after the incident; Exxon established its media center in Valdez,
a location too small and too remote to handle the onslaught of media attention; and the company acted
defensively in its response to its publics, even laying blame, at times, on other groups such as the Coast
Guard. These responses also happened within days of the incident (Pauly and Hutchison, 2005).
of government. Emergency services, such as fire and police departments at the local level, and the
United States National Guard at the federal level, often play integral roles in crisis situations.
To help coordinate communication during the response phase of a crisis, the U.S. Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security administers
the National Response Plan (NRP). Similarly in India. ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) is there to fight and
protect the nation against the terrorism. This plan is intended to integrate public and private response
by providing a common language and outlining a chain-of-command when multiple parties are
mobilized. It is based on the premise that incidences should be handled at the lowest organizational
level possible. FEMA offers free web-based training on the National Response Plan through the
Emergency Management Institute.
Conclusion
It is difficult to distill all that is known about crisis management into one, concise entry. I have tried to
identify the best practices and lessons created by crisis management researchers and analysts. While
crisis begin as a negative/threat, effective crisis management can minimize the damage and in some
case allow an organization to emerge stronger than before the crisis. However, crisis are not the ideal
way to improve an organization. But no organization is immune from a crisis so all must do their best
to prepare for one. This entry provides a number of ideas that can be incorporated into an effective
crisis management program.
The world is not undergoing a crisis in the system but a crisis of the system in which the real
economy has become subservient to financial economy. All solutions must be based on this underling
truth. Nothing less than a Global Round on a Reconstructed Economic Order is required to address an
integrated reform and restructuring of the global economy- including finance, trade, investment,
production, corporate codes of conduct, labor standards, systemic risk and environmental regulation.
The efforts of the G20 are puny compared to the comprehensive and serious process appropriate to the
scale of these converging crises of the 21st century.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank all the member of Centre for Strategic Analysis & Research who
contributed to the 2000 similar incident report upon which this and other papers in the crisis
management series are based. The author would also like to thank Dr. M. C. Saxena and Late Dr. H.
M. Srivastava, for their excellent guidance and constant encouragement. The author also give her
sincere regards to Er. L. Shekhar, Mr. Vishal Saxena, Er. Priya Bhatnagar, Er. Anand Rai for their
untiring co operation all through the way.The author take this opportunity to thank all staff members of
Electronics and Communication Department of Dr M.C. Saxena College of Engineering And
Technology for providing their moral support.
Crisis Management- a Case Study on Mumbai Terrorist Attack 369
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