Uncle Sams view of Terrorism in our backyard

Rejoinder – When Offstumped when to press with this post, the news of the Taliban killing Mr. Suryanarayana had just trickled in. Outrageous as this act was, what is now even more outrageous is that the unfortunate familyu had to learn of this from TV News Channels breaking the news. When will our media and government learn the grace to allow the victims family to suffer their sorrow with dignity and in privacy, cant the media exercise the restraint necessary to not break the news till the victim’s family has been notified, shame on you Indian Media and shame on you Indian Government.

Welcome folks to a new chapter in Offstumped, we have a new look, new optimism as Pramod Mahajan survives one week on, and a new dimension to Offstumped – the first ever Podcast, perhaps the first Right of Center Indian Political Podcast (for Offstumped’s take on why Uma Bharathi’s launch of the so-called new BJP is good for the real BJP check out the latest Podcast at http://geocities.com/yossarin/offstumped_podcast.xml)

Now for the subject of this post. The U.S. State Department released its assessment of terrorism across the globe and devoted a mighty section to South Asia http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/65475.pdf.

Offstumped has analyzed it and here you go.

Bangladesh witnessed the emergence of a dangerous terrorist group. Jamaat ul Mujahedin. Bangladesh (JMB) launched coordinated nationwide attacks on “un-Islamic” persons and facilities in pursuit of its goal of a fundamentalist Islamic society. Bangladesh had limited in countering JMB’s escalating acts of terrorism, underscoring the government’s serious institutional, resource, and political constraints.

Offstumped Comment: Public and Institutional memory in India is shortlived. The terorrist strikes in Varanasi are all but forgotten. What happened to the Bangladeshi connections, what actions has the government taken to get serious with Bangladesh. We all witnessed the left of center political charade in characterizing the BJP’s campaign on the immigrant issue in Bangladesh as communal. But here you have further evidence from a not so “communal source” describing the rise of anti-minority terrorism in Bangladesh.

Naxalite (Maoist agrarian peasant movement) terrorism, which covers a broad region of eastern, central, and southern India, is growing in sophistication and lethality and may pose a significant long-term challenge.

Offstumped Comment: Where is the Government’s strategy to tackle the Naxalites. The first irony is in India we dont call the Naxalites Terrorists. We dont regard their blatant terror tactics and fear mongering as Terrorism. We had the absurdity of the AP Government announcing a ceasefire and allowing the Naxals to regroup and renergize while raking mud on the Government’s face. We then see the sorry spectacle of CPI-M’s top brass openly aiding and abetting the Maoists in Nepal whose links to the Naxals in India are well known. Maoist supremecommander Prachanda issued a press statement with his Indian counterpart on September 1calling for continued armed struggle and naming the United States as the principal enemy.Does the CPI-M as a partner to the UPA have any commitment to the nation’s security ?

India’s counterterrorism efforts are hampered by its outdated and overburdened law enforcement and legal systems. The Indian court system is slow, laborious, and prone to corruption; terrorism trials can take years to complete.

Offstumped Comment: And here we have the UPA playing politics to terrorism and law enforcement by repealing POTA and working overtime to introduce a law against communal riots. This is the kind of soft attitude the UPA has as far as battling threats against the Nation goes.

Offstumped Bottomline: UPA and its Communist Partners will put their political agendas above taking a tough stance on extreme left terrorism, it is time the nation called Naxalism what it really is – Extreme Left Terrorism with no positive agenda. By encouraging it across the border we are only paving the way for another one of our neighbours becoming a State Sponsor of Cross Border Terror.

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