How an Indian had thwarted further attacks

Ace commentator Jasdev Singh often talked about the massacre that took place during the Munich Olympic games. While recalling that gory incident, his got even moist. Well, everything was going according to the plan till tragedy struck the 1972 Olympics in Munich when eight Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic village and killed two members of the Israeli team. Nine other Israelis were held hostage as the terrorists bargained for the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. All the hostages, five of their captors and a West German policeman were slain in a failed rescue attempt. That tragedy brought the Games to a halt and cast a long shadow over what had been there to fore memorably joyful Games. All competition was suspended for a day while a memorial service for the victims was conducted at the Olympic stadium. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Avery Brundage's decision to continue the games after the attack was widely criticized.

That the subsequent Olympic games, both summer and winter, take place safely and without any untoward incident, the IOC has asked outstanding cop and senior member of Olympic movement from India, Ashwani Kumar to look after the security of games. Hockey buff and Imperial Police (IP) officer, Ashwani Kumar, accepted the responsibility. And as it is well known, no terrorist organisation worth its salt dare to attack the games. In subsequent Olympics, increased security measures in the Olympic Villages and competition venues protected athletes. It is also said that that increased security also diminished the festive and open atmosphere that is at the heart of Olympism. But then you have no choice post Munich massacre as the number of terror outfits are swelling thick and fast.

Surely, IOC got positive results thanks to Ashwani Kumar's skills and expertise. He supervised the security of six Olympics from 1976 Montreal games. For his work as security head to the several Olympics, Ashwani Kumar was awarded the Royal Spanish Medal, one of the highest civilian decorations in Spain, by the King of Spain. In 2000, he was adjudged 'Policeman of the Millennium' in Sydney for his work relating to Olympic security.

Since the Munich Games, no major Olympic security incident occurred until the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Notwithstanding the heightened security in the wake of the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings, on July 27, 1996, a pipe bomb filled with nails and screws exploded in a crowded Olympic Centennial Park killing one person and injuring more than 100. Second, I'd note that security is a huge portion of putting on the Olympics.

"As a matter of fact, it was our largest single budget (security) item. The amount of money that's spent on security today is greater than the amount spent for venues, spent for information technology, or spent for employees, the Olympics, of course, is a target of international terrorism, and we know that by virtue of the fact that it has been attacked. We have learned from our failures and the failures have taught us things that we can do to improve the level of security, not only for Olympics, but for other national special-security events, and potentially for homeland security on the most broad basis," Ashwani Kumar said once.

Ashwani Kumar, who became the head of Border Security Force (BSF) later used to say: "Generally

we only think of three aspects of Olympic security. One phase is the prevention phase. Another phase is protection of assets. Another phase is response, officers willing to move in quickly, fire teams, rescue teams, a detection of biological agents in the air, and so forth. And then the final phase is the consequence management."

Of those four phases, one is typically underinvested in and underappreciated, and it happens to be the most important, and that is prevention. We spent a lot of time thinking about barriers and detection equipment. We spent a lot of time thinking about how we can quickly move in and have great communications between the first responders in the event of an incident. We, likewise, effectively consider consequence management. But very little discussion, effort, funding, and focus is addressed to prevention. And two hockey greats- MP Ganesh from India and greatest Sikh sportsman outside India, Avtar Singh Sohal Tari of Kenya too vividly recalls September 6, 1972. The incident is a dark chapter in the history of the Olympics. MP Ganesh was part of India's celebrated hockey team at the games, recall the horrific hours and how the killings dented the morale of their strong contingent.

Described then as the world's strongest hockey squad that would win nothing less than gold, the 18-member India team led by Harmik Singh drew their first match with Holland with a goal each. The Indians had a smooth sailing in the next six league matches, including an 8-0 win over Mexico to top their group and set up a semi-final clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on September 7, 1972 after two rest days. But on early September 5, Palestinian terrorists stormed the apartment complex where Israeli athletes were staying, gunned down two of them and held nine others captive. Ganesh was relaxing in his room of Games village.

"The Indian players were just a block away and surprisingly, we didn't hear anything till the afternoon, when the authorities stepped in to evacuate everyone for safety reasons. Stepping outside our blocks, we realised the gravity of the situation and were shocked to know that more Israeli athletes were being held hostage in the next building," recalled Ganesh.

Avtar Singh Sohal Tari, who was skipper of East African side with 7 Sikhs, said, "I can't forget that traumatic incident. I pray to God Munich massacre is not repeated again."

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)