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Part of Mumbai's Oberoi hotel reopens
2008-12-21
MUMBAI, India - A Hindu priest chanted prayers and a Muslim cleric read from the Quran as the Trident Hotel at the Oberoi complex reopened amid tight security Sunday, three weeks after it was targeted in a militant rampage. Sniffer dogs patrolled the grounds outside, police officers stood behind sandbag bunkers and guards checked bags and IDs as the hotel opened to guests for the first time since gunmen attacked the Oberoi and nine other sites across Mumbai on Nov. 26. The band of accused Islamic militants killed 164 people over the course of a three-day siege, including dozens of guests and staff members at the sea-front Oberoi complex -- home to the Oberoi and Trident hotels -- and another luxury hotel, the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. The main areas of the Oberoi and Taj hotels, which were severely damaged by grenades and gunfire, are expected to remain closed for months. But with the holidays approaching, the hotels rushed to open sections to guests, assuring them security has been upgraded with more private guards, sophisticated baggage and X-ray scanners, metal detectors and stringent ID checks. "We can be hurt but we will never fall," Ratan Tata, chairman of the Taj owner Tata Group, told reporters shortly before his hotel was to start checking in new guests. Trident Hotel President Rattan Keswani said 100 rooms are open to guests, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. A month ago, nearly anyone could breeze through the Oberoi and Trident lobbies uninterrupted. On Sunday, the stepped-up security contrasted with the hotel's trademark hospitality. Guards at the entrance asked visitors for ID, meticulously searched their bags and put luggage through X-ray scanners. Inside, candles flickered on the tables and flowers filled the sparkling, spotless lobby. With smiles, employees in ivory saris handed guests a yellow flower or a small bundle of roses as they arrived. The opening was marked with a simple ceremony in the lobby with Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Jain religious leaders. "There is no fear. We see the courage of the people and the staff," said Kritika Srinivasan, 28, a regular guest at the hotel who went inside to congratulate the staff. "We have to show them (the attackers) that they can't break our courage and solidarity." A German tourist checking in Sunday said she was going ahead with her vacation plans despite the attacks. "All over the world such things are happening. You can have an accident even at home. Therefore we were not afraid to come to India," she said, only giving her first name, Angelika. At the Taj, 1,000 invited people, from business leaders to guests, attended a private reception Sunday marking the reopening of the hotel's modern 268-room tower section. Two-thirds of the rooms are booked and two popular hotel restaurants, the Zodiac Grill and Souk, have waiting lists for Sunday, said a hopeful R.K. Krishna Kumar, vice chairman of Indian Hotels Company Ltd., the Tata group subsidiary that owns the Taj. The Taj had stepped up security even before the attacks following the deadly car bombing at the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan, in September. The Mumbai gunmen, however, slipped in through a back entrance that did not have metal detectors, hotel officials said. Kumar said new security measures include armed, undercover security guards, airport-quality luggage screening machines and more metal detectors. He said staff will go through bags more conscientiously and question all those who enter the lobby. The government promised its help with security. "People do not need to worry about security. The state administration and the police would put in all efforts to prevent terror attacks in future," Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said Sunday, according to PTI. The Mumbai attacks exposed glaring gaps in India's security and intelligence apparatus and the investigation has heightened tensions between longtime rivals India and Pakistan. New Delhi has called on Islamabad to take stronger action against Lashkar-e-Taiba, the banned group accused of masterminding the attacks. Pakistan, which has cracked down on a charity connected to the group, says India must first share evidence proving the group's complicity. Speaking Sunday in Calcutta, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said New Delhi has provided "enough evidence." "Pakistan must cooperate and not contradict us. Mere talk is not enough," he said, according to PTI. "Pakistan has to act." In Multan, Pakistan, his counterpart responded by saying Pakistan was not interested in a fourth war between the neighbors. "We are ready for cooperation," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said. "God willing, we will cooperate because cooperation is in the interest of Pakistan." ___ Associated Press writers Erika Kinetz in Mumbai and Khalid Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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