The smell of paint still hangs heavy in the air, but it does not white-wash memories at the Nariman House - Chabad Centre.

Six years after Chabad House was attacked by gun-men in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, the centre is reopening as a Jewish museum and memorial, among other things.

Tucked away in a little lane leading up from the busy Colaba causeway marketplace, dotted with shops and shoppers, stands the six-storied off-white Chabad House building. It was a low-profile centre of spiritual activity for local Jewish people and visitors.

But all that changed in 2008, when it was one of six locations in South Mumbai that bore the brunt of an attack by 10 gun-wielding men that eventually killed 166 people. At Nariman House, six Jews including RabbiGabi Holtzberg and his wife Rivky were killed, even as their son Moshe had a miraculous escape at the hands of his nanny Sandra.

Never left Mumbai

 “At the funeral I had promised we will rebuild, and we have not left Mumbai for one day,” said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice-Chairman of the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch group, announcing the reopening of the house on Tuesday. Over 25 rabbis from across Asia were expected to join present directors at the Chabad House, Rabbi Yisroel and Chaya Kozlovsky, to participate in the ceremonies to reopen the house.

Giving details of the $ 2.5 million museum project, lead-designer of the museum Nick Appelbaum said, it was both a museum and memorial that would reflect the horrors of terrorism and commemorate those fallen.

Occupying the top two floors of the building would be the museum. It would have screens shaped like shrapnel that would tell the story of death and destruction that happened in the city, he said.

“We don’t want to white-wash history...we will leave it the way the terrorists left it,” he said, of some of the floors that were riddled with marks of bullet and granade impact. The other floors of the building, also renovated to be a restaurant and kitchen, synagogue and activities room, also bore the over-hang of the chilling attack that had woken this market-place area to the very existence of Nariman House.

No details were divulged on funding of the renovation, when the museum would be ready or how they would ensure security of the building, in the crowded neighbourhood.

The museum would reflect the universal story of moral principles, said Appelbaum, adding that, it was not a museum for Jews, Hindus or Muslims, “it is for everyone.” The centre would also be India’s first ever memorial to all those who died in the attack, he said, adding that it would bear the names of all these people.  

jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics