Despite being at the mercy of terror attacks for more than three decades, the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were, by far, the most horrific. In part, because of the 24/7 media coverage, and the sheer audacity with which the attacks were carried out. There was another reason why they became emblematic of war on the Indian state, it was the capture of one of the attackers, Amir Ajmal Kasab, who is now lodged in a Mumbai jail.
Kasab has, as the title of the book suggests, become the face of the attacks. He was also one of the two terrorists caught on camera by an intrepid press photographer during the attack on the CST station. Kasab?s background is a fascinating account of not just one man?s journey from a general layabout to a jihadi, but also a portrait of a society, that is teetering on the brink of implosion.
Rodrigues? narrative in Kasab: The Face of 26/11 is engaging, as he takes us from Kasab?s poverty-stricken home, where every year he sees his family sink to a new low of destitution, to the bylanes of Lahore and the hinterland of Sindh, where young men of similar background are recruited into global Jihad.
Kasab: The Face of 26/11 contains crucial details of how the 26/11 attack was orchestrated, and also exposes the major actors who were instrumental in planning the attack. Familiar names like Hafeez Sayyed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who still remains protected by the Pakistani secret service, are fleshed out.
Rodrigues competently manages to hold the interest of the reader, especially when he paints a picture of modern Pakistan, the prevalence of jihadist Islam, and how the message of brotherhood implicit in the religion is turned to string boys from disadvantaged backgrounds into a fraternity of hate.
There are stories of poverty and stagnation of the economy, feeding the jihadist factories.
In India, Kasab?s coverage has been limited to his theatrical court appearances and his outlandish demands while incarcerated. Read the book to know what made him one of the most hated men in India, away from the rhetoric and belligerence. You will understand why this man carried out the worst-ever terror attack in India.