Day 4 after Hyderabad blasts, fireworks in Parliament.
BJP Leader LK Advani charges the Congress with communalizing the fight against terrorism, says Minority Appeasement resulting in Appeasement of Terrorism, once again calls for POTA to be reinstated. In response Parliamentary Affair P.R. Dasmunshi changes the subject rakes up Advani’s Jinnah remarks and Ram Mandir issue.
Meanwhile the Hyderabad Police have released a sketch of a 25 year old man who was seen around the incidents with a black bag.
Media outrage continues with Indian Express and Praveen Swami in The Hindu keeping up the investigative work and the Times of India with its newfound love for Internet based Opinion Building for the first endorses Offstumped’s Characterization of the attack in Hyderabad as an Attack on India and an Act of Treason and hence calling for a commensuarate response.
It remains to be seen how far the mainstream media’s activisim on this issue will be sustained. Yesterday Offstumped highlighted the MHA’s year end review and its internal presentations where it acknowledged “Pak ISI Backed” terrorism in India.
Today Offstumped sheds further light on from multiple sources within the Government.
On 22nd April 2004, the ADC to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh compiled a comprehensive paper on Terrorism with a specific focus on Pakistan and ISI activities in Hyderabad. The ADC’s paper is not academic but highly factual with specific names and dates of individuals recruited by the ISI over the years.
The movements of all the ISI trained people, communal offenders, ex-convicts have to be watched carefully and the Police Force has to be sensitised and motivated. The Madrasas (Muslim religious schools) should be prevented from being used as recruiting centres for militants.
Now note that by April 22nd the Manmohan Singh UPA Government was firmly in the saddle in New Delhi and the Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy Government in Andhra Pradesh. Also note that as early as 2004 there were warning signals at the highest levels of the State Government with enough evidence in the public domain.
If that was not proof of enough this paper should blow your mind. This is a status report on the Investigation of Pakistan ISI Related Cases compiled by SP, Intelligence Hyderabad put together in 2004 while POTA was still in force. This report is a must read for every Indian. Its salient features are
- A table listing all ISI Modules unearthed in Andhra Pradesh between 1992 and 2003
- A detailed explanation of how POTA cases should be investigated and handled
- A detailed explanation of how POTA can be used to conduct surveillance and intercept communication
- It also goes into great detail about the AP Organized Crime Control Act which the YSR Government now wants to revive rather belatedly
What is however even more interesting is the description of how some ISI modules got away from the law on account of lapses in prosecuting some of those cases.
More recently on 21st April 2007 in a meeting of Director Generals of Police and Chief Secretaries a report was presented on activities of Pakistan’s ISI in Punjab.
A month earlier the MHA also published its status paper on Internal Security dated 31st March 2007 where it had this to say
Terrorist Infrastructure in POK and Pakistan yet to be dismantled
Recruitment of Indian youth by LeT and HUJAI-BD linked to LeT & JeM for training in Pak/PoK and their re-launch into India for sabotage and subversive activities.
In the face of this overwhelming body of evidence in the public domain the Government at the highest levels continues to persist with a Ostrich like attitude with its head in the sand on dealing with terrorism.
While it makes noises every now and then there is very little to show by way of action. For example according to the MEA’s annual report on August 24-27 2006 during the 7th Home Secretary level talks in Dhaka
India reiterated its concerns on the activities of Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) operating from Bangladesh’s territory. India expressed its deep concern with regard to growing anti-India activities of the ISI from Bangladesh soil and, in this context, pointed out that incidents of terrorism in India have revealed clear links with Bangladesh individuals/outfits like Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI).
So what did the Government do to follow up on this ?
If as early as 2006 clear evidence existed why was no action taken till August 2007 ?
Why did 44 Indians have to die in Hyderabad for us to revisit the HUJI question ?
Today Home Minister Shivraj Patil, whom the JD-U called a “showpiece” rather aptly, provided no explanation but made some outrageous remarks instead.
The Home Minister first rejected the demand to reinstate POTA by calling it a “draconian” law and that it would create “more terrorists”. One can expect uninformed Members of Parliament to make exaggerated claims but one would expect The Home Minister at the very least to quote facts to susbtantiate his remarks.
What facts does the home minister have to substantiate his claim that an anti-terrorism law like POTA created more terrorists ?
None. Instead the Home Minister’s response in Parliament went to great lengths to clarify what his Government wont do. It wont reinstate POTA, it will “do nothing to create a Federal Agency”.
So we know what he wont do, but do we know what he will do ?
Not a single new idea from the Home Minister on how his Government intends to pre-empt terror and eliminate it.
Offstumped Bottomline: The Manmohan Singh Government’s delinquency on acting against Terrorism and its state of utter denial on the need for urgent Counter-Terrorism measures is symptomatic of a larger malaise.
The all pervasive environment of tolerance on the part of the Indian Public and the Indian Media despite such overwhelming evidence in the public domain is unforgiveable.
We, the people, have failed the victims of Mass Terror in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Varnasi, Delhi, Malegaon and the Samjhauta Express by not raising the political costs for the Government of the Day to hold it accountable for its inaction.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Although congress might have failed on all accounts, but it seems successful in making terrorism a commodity. Political cost has gone down rather increase. Opposition seems to have no voice in Indian Media.
But I get small hope from saying “Yeh public hai sab janti hai”. UPA will pay for making our country victim to Islamic terrorism.
It is no coincidence that the rise of BJP and rise of Islamic terrorism in our country happened more or less togather.
From the demolition of the Babri Mosque by RSS/BJP mobilised mobs in 1992 to organized attacks on Christian missionaries and the Muslim community–the growth of the BJP had been accompanied by some of the worst human rights violations that India had ever seen. These politics of hate culminated in the Gujarat massacres of 2002. India had not seen riots on this scale for nearly a decade, since the aftermath of Babri Mosque.
The weakening of secular institutions and values put in place by Nehru and the Congress party right after independence – were ingrained by the Indian society – and prevented Islamic terrorism inspite of the Kashmir problem which has been there since 1947.
The 2004 election results after the BJP rule were also an indicator of the deepening disparity between India’s elite, who were reaping the benefits of the BJP’s “reforms,” and the majority of India’s rural and urban poor to whom the slogan “India Shining” sounded like a bad joke.
Congress’s matra of :-
(a) inclusive economic growth with social equality
(b) re-establishment of secular institutions and values in the Indian society
is the way forward for our country – which will also SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF TERRORISM !
ROW,
The very first premise is incorrect. Islamic terrorism has been in existence since 1180s when Mr Saladin declared jihad against Christian occupied Jerusalem. In contemporary times, biggest riot took place in 1947 killing 10 lakh people. Islamic agression and riots have always been there, so called hindu movement (i will refrain from calling retaliating) started with ramjanmabhomi mobilization. Values put in place by Nehru and Congress party are not securalism but cowardice. Even Gandhiji stated that given choice between violence and cowardice, he will never choose cowardice. Congress has already sold its soul, conscience and spirit. Inclusive growth and secularism are just makeup on dreadful reality of national treason.
A political divide was sought to be created in the country on the issue of fighting terrorism by the BJP, which is “just addressing the gallery”…
A number of ISI operatives had been nabbed during the past three years of the UPA Government – more than that captured during the BJP goverment.
BJP’s claims that acts like POTA would help in tackling terrorism, is incorrect. Infact, some of the outrageous terrorist attacks like the attacks on Parliament and Raghunath temple occurred when the dreaded Act was in force.
Advani remembers Jinnah in Pak. and Ram temple in Parliament. It is BJP which is “communalising” the issue of terrorism in the country today !
ROW – why are you hijacking a blog post about the incompetence of the government to push your dislike for a different party?! Whatever the BJP is, how does it absolve AP and central government in 2007?
As for your claims of BJP’s rise with Islamic terrorism, first of all correlation does not imply causality. Secondly, have you heard of Afghanistan? Islamic terrorism picked up in India as the retirees of that war were sent to India. Gujarat was not a culmination of anything beyond BJP’s claim of having a riot free administration.
Comrade Righto Wrongo,
Calm down. Everybody here now believes that you are a die-hard Congress supporter. Act I is complete. Stop the slogans and move on to ACT-II. Decorum demands that you stop spamming someone else’s blog.
One small issue: UPA came to power in late May 2004, not April 2004.
Niraj – i hope so
ROW – thanks for the refresher on the congress mantra, Indians have a horrbly short memory and it is important to remind them how they were taken for a ride
Old Timer, Manu – keep them coming, we need RoW to remind us how “Right” we are and how “wrong” they are
X – Faux pas acknowledged I should have checked the dates
ROW, nice mantras.
Meanwhile we’ll be counting the dead and the terror attacks – close to 500 dead in about a dozen attacks and counting in the past two years with no arrests or prosecution in sight. But we’re secular people and we don’t punish non-Hindus – may be just Muslims, Sikhs and other Indian religions minorities are fair game.
BTW may be you should include pak in both your mantras also, somehow, to make you plan work. I am sure your Nehru family can do it. Keep up the good work and high hopes for your family party.
The stated position of Mr. Right or Wrong’s favourite party is that Pakistan is behind all acts of terrorism in India. All attacks are “planned on foreign soil.” There is a “foreign hand.” The foreign hand and foreign soil is Pakistan as stated repeatedly by Mr. Right or Wrong’s party members and these days Bangladesh is also being named.
And when did Pakistan began its campaign of terror against India motivated by the strategy of “bleeding India through a thousand cuts”? After the 1971 disaster for Pakistan – long before BJP was a force.
Pakistan’s campaign of terror against India is rooted in Pakistan’s congenital hostility towards India, its state, political system, its diversity and its majority religion. India is the reason Pakistan actually exists. And Pakistan’s hostility towards India has existed since the time of its birth – 1947 – when there was no BJP and the Jan Sangh and RSS had very little following.
The insinuation that the rise of Islamic terrorism is a direct consequence of the rise of BJP exposes the lack of a basic understanding of terrorism in India as well as India’s recent history.
It also exposes the lack of knowledge of motivation for terrorism – especially the Islamic kind – for this motivation is rooted more in irrationality and hate and less in reason and legitimate grievance. Mr. Right or Wrong seems to think otherise – that Islamic terrorism is somehow justified and that it is an expression of legitimate grievance – by offering a cause-effect hypothesis of Islamic terrorism in India.
In any case, I dont see what BJP’s possible role – if any – in the rise of Islamic terrorism in India has anything to do with Congress’ failure in preventing terrorism.
Will BJP’s possible role somehow excuse the Congress if Congress govts. – both at the Centre and the States – repeatedly fail in controlling terrorism? Mr. Right or Wrong’s statements along with his favourite party’s statements about BJP – whenever asked to explain their failures in controlling terrorism – sound more like an excuse for failure.
“You were the reason there’s Islamic terrorism in India. So we wont control it!!!” That seems to be the attitude. Isnt it ridiculous!
A country which 82% Hindu’s, if needs various organisations like RSS, VHP then there is definitely something wrong, RoW
.
How many countries we must have seen where a majority community need organisation to protect themselves.
Ridiculous as is.
I would blame Congress’s mantra for the rise of RSS and VHP to protect the majority community.
Had they realy been secular. We never needed these organisations. Alas they would have nobody to blame for their goof-ups on terrorism
.
while RoW was very concerned while talking on N-Deal that various parties are not together (read BJP)on national issues, he was not at all concerned while blaming the BJP (nothing in their hand being in opposition) for a national issue. RoW, why don’t to consider having all the parties in such a big issue?
The BJP wasn’t in power during the ‘93 bomb blasts.
If that incident doesn’t represent the “rise” of Islamic terror,then I don’t know what does!
ROR,do you mean terrorists think like this
“Hey look BJP is in power.Lets go bomb some cities”
“heck,Congress is in power.Lets wait”
If voting for the general elections in India were to be limited to this group (readers of Yossarin blogs), BJP will win hands-down and come back to power !
Unfortunately (for some), the actual voters for the general elections in India are a more enlightened group – who have given the mandate to Congress-led UPA and all recent poll surveys have also indicated that Congress is set to further gain their seats in the Parliament and BJP will loses their seats !
So, if you guys are serious about solving the “terorism menace” – advise your Party leaders to co-operate with the Govt, instead of disupting Parliament sessions and holding dharnas !
RoW – According to your logic, Hindus should be killing Muslims by the thousands in retaliation to the ethnic cleansing of their co-religionists from Kashmir, where, btw, Islam came long after Hinduism.
p.s. can we hold the “secular” sonia party responsible for the cold blooded murder of thousands of sikhs in 1984 or doe we somehow put it on BJP as well?
Panditji – That’s right, Hindus have killed Muslims by the thousands in retaliation to the ethnic cleansing of their co-religionists from Kashmir, and fo various other reasons ! What do you think happened in BJP-sponsored Gujarat riots in 2002 ??
Look guys, if your approach to solving the terrorist problem is by pinning all the blame on Congress Party – then you are wasting your time & energy.
GROW UP AND GET REAL !!
ROW – man you are the lone valiant warrior holding up the congress flag. I took the liberty of looking you up and surprisingly found that we share a lot in common professionally. Glad to have your perspective as a high-tech industry leader, it being diametrically opposite notwithstanding. Keep them coming hopefully we will agree more than disagree over time.