Eight years after the deadly 26/11 attacks on Leopold Café (in 2008), the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka was attacked by terrorists on 1 July, killing twenty. The similarities between the two popular hang-out spots in India and Bangladesh are uncanny and eerie, even: both are located in the poshest locations of the city and both cater heavily to international tourists and expatriates.
When I was asked to do this story, this spot-check of sorts on the lessons learnt at Leopold after the attack, I was in denial. “What are the odds of a terrorist attack happening again at the same spot, anyway?” I thought to myself. Then, it hit me.
Lightening never strikes the same place twice. Until it does; then, you’re a fool for not having lightening-proofed the entire place.
Leopold Café is still a vulnerable target for a terrorist attack owing to its international mass appeal. It remains an item on the bucket list of any foreigner visiting Mumbai. What, then, has been done to ensure a group of men cannot enter by force, armed with guns and hand grenades to stage a killing so gruesome and senseless that shudders are felt across the world?
Not much.
Preserving Bullet Marks Is All Good, But Where’s The Security?
It was Shantaram that created the intrigue around this place; to sit and have a cold beer where Gregory David Roberts mulled over the idiosyncrasies of this puzzling city. Now, it’s the bullet marks: on the pillars and ceiling; on shattered glass windows; behind the reception if you move a notice for the kitchen staff and of course, the crater made by the hand grenade under one of the tables. The owners of Leopold took a call to let the scars of 26/11 remain visible; almost like battle scars. Some call it ‘terror tourism’, but I can understand the curiosity.
It’s almost a morbid curiosity to try and fathom what really happened on that day. To sit down and order a pasta dish after that is the blinding ray of hope; in the face of rampant terrorism, we haven’t given up.
But what of the lessons we were supposed to learn?
A female and a male security guard were deployed almost immediately after the attack, when the place reopened. However, a rather selective laziness in the security protocol gave the café’s facade of being secure away. Only if you are carrying a bag will the guards stop you to casually glance at its contents. If it’s too crowded, they’ll check every other bag.
What if you don’t have a bag? You walk in.
For a place that was sprayed with bullets indiscriminately on a random business day, you’d think they’d know how easy it is to conceal a weapon (or ten) on one’s person.
The Devil is ALWAYS In The Detail
The lanes of Colaba Causeway, where Leopold is situated, is infamous for its cramped, narrow lanes filled with shops that sell all the junk jewellery, fake antiques, shiny sunglasses and street-style clothes that you could possibly wish for. Even without a terrorist attack or a fire, Coloba Causeway’s encroachments make it a stampede hazard.
Additionally, there are a total of three security guards manning two entrances of Leopold. The total number of weapons on them? Zero! Not even a laathi!
So not only can they NOT shoot back or protect patrons and themselves, there is no visible hindrance or an element of fear for a terrorist.
I’ll put this more simply. No one thought the ISIS, Daesh, Taliban, LeT would attack as many as 12 places during the holy month of Ramzan, but it’s happening. The NIA has already received intel on a plan by a “top Pakistani terrorist” to bomb several crucial areas of Mumbai, as early as this week.
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We’re clearly in the dark, and it only makes sense to be prepared. Especially if the crowd your restaurant draws is enough of a target to bring several countries down on their knees in one go.
Eight years after the 26/11 attacks at Leopold Café, we’re not there yet.
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