Chetan Bhagat?s 2 States, or Dan Brown?s The Lost Symbol. For most bookstores, those are first preference for their show windows. Compared to the situation after 9/11, when a plethora of books on the subject dominated US bookstores, there has been remarkably little on 26/11.
Ranjana Sengupta, Editorial Director, Penguin Books India, which is releasing Confronting Terrorism tomorrow, reasons that the issue first needs to be resolved. ?The 26/11 story is still unfolding: first the focus was on Kasab, now it is on Headley and his accomplice(s). The dossiers have been going back and forth between the governments of India and Pakistan, the composite dialogue is on hold and the full story is not even known. Thus there has been continuous public interest in who was behind it, how it happened, how can we prevent it from ever happening again?? Corroborates Archana Upadhyay, Marketing Manager, Roli Books, ?There has always been interest as people want to know what the government and the authorities have done in the last 12 months, which will prevent such an attack.?
Sanjay Sonawani?s book in Marathi, Mumbai 26/11, was among the first few books to be published on the subject. It was followed by Roli?s 26/11 Mumbai Attacked by Harinder Baweja within six weeks of the event and Penguin?s 26/11: The Attack on Mumbai, released about four months after 26/11. Rupa followed with Piercing the Heart by Simran Sodhi, a collection of first hand accounts of the victims of the terror attacks and Jaico with Mumbai Under Siege by Nikhil Dixit. Recently 26:11 Operation Mumbai by Atul Kulkarni (Jaico) has been released, and The Indian Express is soon releasing Inside 26/11, which tracks the complex investigations across countries, exposing the diabolical plot behind the attack and even uncovers some shocking lapses in the response of the security and emergency system. Also releasing is To India With Love: From New York to Mumbai, by New Yorkers Waris Ahluwalia, Tina Bhojwani and Mortimer Singer. There are a few related books as well, such as The Al Qaeda Connection by Imtiaz Gul. ?While 26/11 has sold well over 6,000 copies and is still selling, Al Qaeda has sold about 3,600 copies in just two months,? says Sengupta.
Are people looking at books to understand issues on terror? Specialist on military and strategic affairs Maroof Raza gives an insight. ?Information in the electronic era is given with such speed and intensity that there is always a need for the printed word for greater details. Why did it happen? What could be the aims of people who perpetuated 9/11 or 26/11? What could be the implications if such terror attacks keep happening? How to punish those who are behind such acts? Also a printed word?paragraphs, chapters, quotes from a book?helps the research scholars/anyone who want to go in depth to understand things.?
Sengupta points out, ?Amazon alone lists over 50 books dealing directly with 9/11?though it?s been eight years since then. Some books, Laurence Wright?s Looming Tower for instance, are really good; others less so. Once the details of the conspiracies, the chain of events etc will be clearer on 26/11, the Indian market will see more books on 26/11 and those involved.?
While the publishers argue that the selling figures state there has been a heightened interest now on books on terror, average readers say there aren?t many books they have heard of. Advocate Mridul Chakravarty says, ?Apart from some in depth articles on the Mumbai attacks in international journals, I?ve not encountered any significant work related to 26/11.?
A year on, audio visual media also has offerings. Discovery Channel will release Surviving Mumbai on personal accounts from people caught in the siege. HBO released Terror In Mumbai, narrated by Fareed Zakaria , though surprisingly not in India. Rensil D?silva?s just released Kurbaan has drawn interest too.
And for those who want an instant solution to what seems to be an investigation embroiled in rhetoric, turn to Nagraj and Doga. In Raj Comics, 26/11 and Halla Bol, not only narrate what happened, but also how justice was meted out!