
SORRY, a acirc;euro;tilde;terrorist strikeacirc;euro;trade; at the Red Fort may make good headlines but certainly not good copy. For this is no Fort Knox. Far more violent attacks have taken place the latest just a week ago in more guarded fortresses in Srinagar.
The Red Fort has an Army camp where there should be aggressive tourism department offices promoting one of the most well-known national monuments of medieval splendour.
Perhaps, thatacirc;euro;trade;s why less than 24 hours after the two suspected Lashkar militants walked in, killed three, fired over 70 rounds and escaped, I walked into the residential barracks of the Rajputana Rifles. Along with Anil Sharma, The Indian Express photographer, just like that. And no one even noticed.
Tense gunmen kept vigil at the Lahore Gate and Delhi Gate, the two acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;officialacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; entrances to the Fort. But barely 100 m down the road, midway between the Kotwali police station and Delhi Gate, thereacirc;euro;trade;s a hole in the fence. Wide enough for us to walk in to listen to the jawans talk in hushed tones about the death of their colleagues.