It was exactly 12 years ago that London was attacked by four mindless youths – three from Leeds and one from Luton – not far from there. I happened to be in the great city that fateful day. Ironically, I am in the UK again today, when the whole nation remembers the day with great grief and emotion.
The four young men who committed this atrocity were indoctrinated and also possibly trained to destroy the West in the cause of jihad, and they executed their diabolical plan with reasonable efficiency. They planted four explosive devices; three on underground trains and one on a double decker bus, killing 52, including themselves.
But for the vigorous scrutiny of CCTV pictures, their crime would have gone undetected. Such is the perseverance of the Met Police and MI5, the counter-terror organisation. (We in India are still making vague noises of beefing up security through cameras!).
Well-Planned Attack
The terror act on 7 July 2005, was mainly in central London, and I was living miles away. The terrorist group had planned its evil act very well. They attacked London’s transport during the peak hour, a little before 9 am when vigil was at its lowest.
The gravity of the attack did not sink into me until late afternoon. And when I went to Trafalgar Square in the evening, life was absolutely normal. Such is the resilience of this great city which believes in peaceful coexistence with people from all over the world. More than 80 languages can be heard spoken in the city!
Threats to the civilised world are increasing by the day. We cannot be mute spectators. We need to collaborate with whoever stands against terror.
Attracting Muslim Youth
The whole world is alarmed at the rapid growth of ISIS, a group that is more diabolical than the al Qaeda. It has pledged itself to establishing a caliphate, whatever that means. The greatest worry is that it has proved fascinating to Muslim youth across the globe.
There are more than 20,000 foreign fighters in Syria, and a large majority are youth. The UK is said to have several hundreds who have crossed over to Syria. The British police have found it difficult to track them down. But the Metropolitan Police is better prepared than before to thwart terrorism.
Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is a low profile, but determined policeman. Chosen from outside the Met on merit and not on political considerations, he is focused and a professional. You can expect him to keep London safe for quite some time to come.
We must remember India is still vulnerable. We have also contributed to infiltrators going to Syria to fight for jihad and the caliphate. Their numbers remain a matter of speculation. Needless to say that the Intelligence Bureau and the intelligence set-ups in the states have their job cut out.
(The writer is a former CBI Director)
(This article is being republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of London bombings. It was first published on 7 July 2015.)
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