UPDATE: BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has clarified that her remarks were personal and not part of the NDA briefing she was conducting with the press.
When Offstumped quoted Tom Friedman over the weekend to say that we are only limited by our imagination this was not exactly what Offstumped had in mind. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has made a damning charge. She was also unequivocal that she was not making an off the cuff remark. Unless she knows something that the rest of us dont, this stretches the limits of credible criticism of the UPA’s disastrous and pathetic handling of Anti-Terrorism even for this blogger.
Offstumped Bottomline: There is a subtle but important distinction between connecting the dots and imagining a conspiracy theory. A co-ordinated attack across 2 cities involving close to 30 different sites with the exact same modus operandi cannot be pulled off in a matter of 48 hours to shift focus away from the Cash for Votes scandal knowledge of which could not have been divined before the fact. The Congress’ attempt to mask away the taint of the Confidence Vote cannot be allowed but merely provoking moral outrage is no guarantee for success. Conspiracy Theories are not the way to go, this nation deserves better.
Filed under: War on Terror
Yossarin…
I agree that Conspiracy Theories dont help.
Lookit:
1. Jaipur Bomb blasts happen and almost immediately (think within a weeks time) Gurjar agitiation starts.
I agree that this one by SushmaJEE…if not proved will be a serious problem for BJP.
On the other hand what she said is also possible.
The general feeling in the country today matches Sushma’s line. Earlier, today while commuting to work, majority of my co passengers were talkin on the same lines.
Mate…agreed that such theories dont solve sinister plots like the bomb blasts, however, these back to back blasts have got the VOTERS to think on the same lines.
But Jiggs,
Thats the point, either way kangress loses the game and credibility, people know that played ugly in the vote of confidence and if they did not know, they will hate them for the blasts. I have only one worry, does everyone know that it is the center that is responsible for such co-ordinated blasts across states. I just hope people dont go around thinking the worst “BJP states dont have good security, congress states are better”, feel like laughing ha.
Sorry offstumped. Full marks to Sushma.
What do you think her ‘conspiracy theory’ is and why do you think it is dubious? Can you spell out the detail?
I dont know what she is hinting at, but it defies the logic and credibility, its not convincing me. I understand realpolitik but I cannot countenance realpolitik when the Nation is at War. Communal Riots have been engineered for political ends, there is enough body of evidence to show that but to allege that Terrorist strikes are being engineed for political ends without factual evidence and mere circumstancial conjecture is a stretch and not helping the cause of National Interest. I am actually disappointed with this response. It undermines the legitimacy of the actions of the Indian State and gives ammo to the jhollawallah apologists for the Maoists on the one hand and the Kashmiri separatists on the other. Something as serious this should be grounds to topple the government via a coup for basically a complete lack of confidence has been expressed in the democratic institutions. So if we are really at that precipice why not call for it, why stop short of an accusation and a bunch of open and unanswered questions ?
Why is BJP resorting to conspiracy theories and playing into the hands of Congress? This way they are only trying to take advantage of serial blasts and not doing any justice to the lives of innocents killed. They should be attacking Congress more on their Anti-terrorism policies and national security instead.
There’s 99% truth in what she said anyway. Congis are DIRECTLY responsible for all this mess by scrapping POTA, not allowing special laws to Guj, not taking enough pre-emptive actions even after umpteen number of attacks to please its vote bank.
Floating of such theories are a must in this situation and especially when a maximum of voting public vote on sentiments than anything else.
@Jiggs,
Even I felt the same when these bombings started happening.
http://offstumped.nationalinterest.in/2008/07/27/lk-advanis-letter-to-speaker-on-cnn-ibn-tapes/#comment-24874
Moreover the terrorists might be emboldened by the fact that the government can’t survive without the support of the ‘broker’ who is anyway a known terrorist supporter.
I’m conflicted on this one. The UPA government has the blood of innocent citizens on their hands, they deserve every ugly, even false accusation coming to them. The BJP can be said just to be playing smart politics, besides it could be a way of rabble rousing people into voting for them.
Ideally there shouldnt be politics with national security, but the congressis have broken that rule a million times, even then the bjp should not stoop to the congressi level. but considering bhindranwale, and engineering riots for votebanks, can one really put this past the congressis ?
But BJP could lose their credibility in doing so, I’d happier if it was a different party doing this, or a different politician.
The question is this, are any means justifiable to prevent further terrorist attacks by toppling this incompetent-votebank govt ?
I don’t think she is hinting at any wild conspiracy theory. She is raising serious questions that deserve answers.
For the good of BJP and India, Sushma should rather shut her mouth. May be she didn’t think twice before saying whatever she has, but probably by now she would got some feedback, she must think about it and realize her mistake and retract the statement.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/28inter.htm
Good straight forward answers by HM of Guj. Lets hope that Modi Govt will follow those words with actions. We have huge hopes on the man. He can not let us down.
OT – What tough questions has she asked and of whom ?
Here are 10 tough questions I would have asked if I were in her shoes.
Qn1 . Who are the Indian Mujahideen ?
Qn2. Where are they based ?
Qn 3. How do they operate ?
Qn 4. Why are they doing what they are doing ?
Qn 5. Who is funding them ?
Qn 6. How come we know so little about them since Guru Al Hindi started claiming responsibility for this wave of attacks of mass terror ?
Qn 7. Manmohan Singh claimed credit for Mumbai 7-11 quoting the October 2006 news conference by the Mumbai Police. In that same news conference the Mumbai Police blamed elements in Pakistan for it. So if the Govt wants to take credit for the arrests in Mumbai is it prepared to accept responsibility and explain what specific steps it has taken since to nail these elements ?
Qn 8. Manmohan Singh went on record to say that it wont be business as usual after 7-11, can he pinpoint specifically how the business of his government has changed ever since, does he sleep on the other side of the bed or does he wake up with his eyes shut to ensure its not business as usual ?
Qn 9. In How many specific instances have the Intelligence Agencies imagined scenarios to connect dots and pre-empt plots ? If there were inded as many of arrests why are we no more closer to unmasking this elusive Guru Al-Hindi and his Indian Mujahideen ?
Qn 10. Where does the buck stop in Government Cabinet Mr. Prime Minister at Race Course or 10 Janpath or at the black hole called fate ?
Yossarin
The tough questions she has asked are:
Is it merely a coincidence that the dramatic serial bomb blasts have occured soon after the cash-for-trust-vote scam?
Who stands to or will attempt to, gain from them politically?
Why be so squeamish about facing these questions?
I applaud her courage for asking such questions without being cowed down by fear of getting dubbed a “conspiracy theorist”. No censorship, please.
By the way, the questions you asked are also good ones. Put them up on a blog post so that people can discuss them.
Put up Sushma’s questions too. They also deserve a debate, despite your summary (and illogical, I would say) dismissal of them as “conspiracy theory’.
Is it wrong to speak truth? The whole nation knows Congress is the mother of terrorism and riots. They take help from diverse Terror groups to come to power and sustain power by hook or crook.
In Asom, ULFA was founded by the Congress to destroy regional party AGP and they succeeded. In AP, they took help of naxalites-maoists to come to power. Lists goes on. Who created Bhrindanwale? By the Congress under Indira Gandhi. Who created LTTE and Prabhakaran? Congress under Indira trained him and Congress under Rajiv declared war against it.
Why Congress-led govt repealed the anti-terror law POTA, the very first act after coming to power? Why Congress don’t allow anti-Terror laws? Why Congress don’t allow to pass the Rajasthan and Gujarat anti-terror laws? When Congress repealed anti-terror law and don’t allow enacting anti-terror laws, it is clear that they facilitate, support terrorism (for their vote-banks and power).
BJP must made it clear to Congress-led illegal minority govt and the President that, as they are not allowing any anti=terror laws, they are solely responsible for all terror attacks (esp. in BJP-NDA ruled states). And BJP must make this statement clear by filing it in the Supreme Court.
I salute Smt Sushma Swaraj, for speaking out the heart. Not many people have guts to speak out heart, as all politicians want to be politically correct. Let Congress prove they have not done it to divert attention from Cash for Vote scam. Let Congress tell the nation, why they down’t allow anti-terror laws, and allowing terror after terror attacks in the country. The fact is that Congress-led govt itself a fraud on the nation, what right this illegal govt have to govern the nation? Is India any different than some lawless African states?
Bharat
=====
You forgot to mention Bhindranwale, Bharat. Indira Gandhi encouraged him and turned a blind eye to his acts of terrorism as long as they affected only her political rivals.
Ot,
Bharath has mentioned Bhindranwale.
Folks ,
the spineless patil opens his trap:
Existing laws enough to deal with terror acts: Patil ( CNN IBN exclusive)
why doesn’t he remove his own Z and Z+ security?
Ans when did cong govt DEALT with terrorist using law? They only denounced the terror acts and said : terrorist are also humans
OT – slight problem, there is no impending election so to talk of political benefit is silly at best. The congress could easily reverse thr argument and suggest the opposite. In fact a better explanation for this could have been the iMuj’s miscalculation that the govt wud have fallen and on on series of terror strikes would have been a crushing blow to the nation’s morale and economy.
Sushmaji’s remarks may be indicative of a deeper shake up inside the bjp, tome will tell.
It is really foolish of BJP to float conspiracy theories like this and gain people’s trust. Congress has wider media reach and power and it can easily rubbish Sushma Swaraj’s questions. What BJP needs is to ask irrefutable, unanswerable questions that Congress cannot dismiss or rubbish as mere conspiracy. In that way, I think Yossarin’s questions are hard-hitting, eloquent and brilliant. I wonder if any BJP media managers or political advisers ever read blogs like this!
>>The congress could easily reverse thr argument and suggest the opposite.
Fine let them. The mere act of presenting an argument doesn’t settle the debate. There are ways to settle it. For instance, we may compare the number of media articles bolstering Congress’s arguments vs those supporting the BJP argument to see who is really benefitting. The taunting and ridiculing of Narendra Modi has already started — it is an undeniable fact that Ahmedabad blasts give a huge handle to Congress media camp to claim that Modi is not the tough guy he is projected to be.
So the question of who is attempting to gain politically from the blasts can be settled in the light of available evidence, not mere claims. And from thenre we can proceed to see if the beneficiary is merely accdentally benefitting, or whether he actively or passively planned for reaping the benefit.
I agree with Yossarin. It is totally unnecessary for BJP to talk like this. Even if that is the case, it is for IB to find out. These kine od allegations hurt the nation.
Well the terrorists have preferences just as they tried to influence the elections in Spain and in the US. But that does not mean we can level allegations against the opposing political camp without any evidence.
I do not think it is also political prudent to throw such allegations at time of crisis. People will get turned off. I am not sure what the BJP is thinking.
Coming right after the trust vote fiasco, this does not look very inspiring.
OT – A hallmark of a winner is the swagger of confidence and an image of being in control. The hallmark of a loser is desperation to paint one’s self as the victim.
Mr. Modi demonstrated why he is a winner and Sushmaji demonstrated why the rajya sabha based 2nd tier of bjp leaders are increasingly finding themselves as losers. Yashwant Sinha’s remarks yesterday on the US are another example.
This goes to further bolster swapan dasgupta’s story on internal sabotage.
BJP puts UPA govt in dock
BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, NEW DELHI
Read it in The Asian Age, July 28
…
When asked if she was pointing towards the Centre and alleging that the Congress-led UPA government had a role in the blasts, she said, “I have said what I wanted, it is for you all to interpret the rest.”
Claiming that “circumstantial evidences” have their roles in every case, the BJP leader also alleged that the blasts were an “attempt to win-over the Muslim votes which got divided after the pro-American deal pursued by the government.” Ms Swaraj claimed that the blasts and its locations had enough “circumstantial evidence” to support her charge.
Guys,
Stop Blaming the Police and intelegence agencys for failures.
The Congress has taken away the tools from them where they can arrest terrorist before the crime happens. The laws are only for the crimes that have already been commited.
So even if intelegence agencys know about the suspects who could do this they can not arrest them till they kill and mame hundreds of People.
So the Kangress Laws are only for reaction and not for Action.
We are Doomed if these basterds Kangress stay in power for another 5 years. I wish some one from shivraj Patils home gets killed in next blast, then he will understand the pain & suffering
Sometimes destruction is the start of new development. While the attitude and aggression adopted by Ms Swaraj is certainly striking it also is very discomforting in its tenor. Her comments at first may look like mad rants but when the leader of a party who if BJP comes to power will rank in top 5 of the cabinet makes such a comment, I am not ready to dismiss her comments off the cuff. Nay sayers do not want to believe in anything the BJP says and believers wil believe in everything that it says. SO the TEST for all of us is that whether her comments make us feel concerned, make us think , invoke fears of internal sabotage and betrayal by UPA and friends when I applied this criteria the depths of my heart said there might be something to it.
Yossarin we do not want conspiracy theorists but we do need watchdogs and intelligent men listen to the signs in the air and not dismiss them. And those who dismiss the danger signs be it men or civilizations face one thing Hubris.
I tend to agree with Aryan on this one.The BJP must do whatever it takes to win. I am really scared what would happen if the Kangress came back to power for next 5 years.It might even results a nuclear terror attack on India. So BJP must win this election. The only way to win this election when 100% of the MSM is against you is sometimes invent even outlandish stories. I think the 90% of the Indian voters are idiots with very short memory. They will forget everything happpened to India in the last 4 years and vote for the Kangress if they give them something free like TV sets in Tamil Nadu. Kangress knows that and they will do exactly that. The only way to stop them is just throw some mud. The good thing is the in our country you can accuse anybody of anything without giving any proof. Even if she is managed to create doubts in 15% of Hindus I say that is good enough. Anyway most of the Muslim population already thinks most of these bomb blasts are carried out by BJP/RSS.(This is from relatively well off internet savvy muslims. God knows what % of poor muslims think that way). So If Sushma can create some doubt in the minds of low info Hindu voters about Kangress involvement in these, I would say all the power to her. If this is what is needed to get elected so be it. Bottom line is if you have to crawl throug the sewers to get elected do it. Because Indian voters are too stupid to won through logical arguments or reasoning. I might sound condescending but it is the truth
Hmm Karthik I do not agree with your means but after I look at the ends. Not bad.
UPDATE: BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has clarified that her remarks were personal and not part of the NDA briefing she was conducting with the press.
The media has wrongly attributed her remarks as the BJP’s official position.
Karthik, You are sounding naive. You cannot discredit an extremely well established party like Congress by overnight wild accusations. Majority of people still believe Congress brought India its independence! You surely cannot taint them as anti-nationals. Also BJP cannot go to election with the idea that average Indian voter can be influenced (fooled in your words) with propaganda like these. BJP would have learnt that lesson during last general elections with their ‘India Shining’ campaign!
I come from TN and I don’t agree with your point that free TVs won election for DMK. It was sheer alliance arithmetic that won them the election. The fact that JJ managed to get maximum ever seats (60+) by losing party in TN history just shows it was not free TVs or other sops..
Ravi,
Congress is doing a pretty good job proving itself to be a traitor, it doesnt need the ‘help’ of BJP’s propaganda =)
But aryan,
some of the points discussed here are valid and maybe i shd retract some of my inferences. It is difficult extend each and every incident to electoral outcomes. lets wait at least until campaigning starts.
So Smt Swaraj is claiming that she was taken out of context?
And to think that this buffoon of a girl was once India’s Health Minister and even today is the numero uno campaigner for the party. LOL!
In the past 16 years, I have supported no other party than the BJP. But today BJP is just a laughing stock in the eyes of the people. Maybe we should take Turkey’s example and ban BJP for Hindutva activities. Then a (economic) right wing Congress and a left wing Communists can still provide India with options.
This interview of the Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah is worth reading.
The contrast with the Chaparasi at Home Ministry in New Delhi is too stark and unfortunate.
‘Terrorism and riots are not interlinked’
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/28inter.htm
Balaji is back with his not so subtle dmk strategies
>>Balaji is back with his not so subtle dmk strategies
Old habits die hard…indeed..;)
Balaji is dravida variety of Chinese communists!!
Hmmnn…We had one other dravidan variety as Balaji …called Samurai…
Leave the troll alone guys….
may this Balaji and Samurai are same…
It is quite obvious that the terrorist want to hit at will and be safe. Their best bet is a meek, docile and incompetent central government, which is against tough laws that will weaken their network. Hence the terror organizations would do everything possible to ensure that the a party like the congress wins the next elections (even if they may not have the explicit support of the congress) so that they can continue such attacks in perpetuity.
Hence the need to target BJP states and to puncture the myth that BJP is strong against terror, which it was bound to make as a major election issue. And also to divert attention from the other embarrassments for the government.
I do not see any reason why this charge should be claimed as outlandish. By not acting tough against terrorists the congress is helping the terrorists and the timing and location of blasts suggest that the terrorists are returning the favor. Its an obvious quid pro quo, too hard to ignore.
balaji, there is no need to ‘ ban ‘ any party.
with its activities, congress might get BANished to double digits and there are enough indications pointing to this .
as for the lal brigade , its upto the people of the two states to take them to task!
yossarin,
I must admit I too got the same idea when the Bangalore blasts took place and we were in the thick of discussing the cash-for-votes scam!
But I agree with you. Even if there is an iota of truth in what Sushama Swaraj says, it is going to be damn difficult to prove it. And this is precisely what will expose the BJP to further ridicule from the mainstream media. We already saw that happen in the news reports yesterday itself
Great interview in rediff by Amit Shah, the Home Minister of gujarat. He has rightly pointed out, that fear among the minds of terrorists and their supporters is the way to rid India of this scourage. This thought flows right from what Shri Ram has said in Ramayana, “Bhay bin Hui the Priti”.
Currently terrorists are having enjoying a free run in a terror haven called India.
And if you thought UPA govt would be tough on SIMI at least now…then you are wrong.
http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front_page&file_name=story2.txt&counter_img=2
Yoss Boss,
Let me put this on record, demanding an answer from you.
1. Do you have any idea about Jarnail Singh Bhinderwala?
A Congress created ‘Frankenstein’, which ultimately consumed the ‘master’ in Nov. 1984? Any doubt on 1984 Sikh Massacre?
2. Pray tell me who was the ‘Home Minister’ in late 80s when arms were smuggled in to Har Mindir (Golden Temple)?
3.Why was, BADAL arrested?
4. Zail Singh as president?
5. Hidayatullah as the longest serving CJI!
6. Most recently, this assembly elections in Punjab, name the party who had promised to bail out this ‘Shady’ Baba Ram Rahim (OH! WHAT A SECULAR NAME!) of ‘rape and murder charges’ for the support in the Malwa region of Punjab (where this PARTY DID get majority)! Since the PARTY did not win , so the trouble started.
7. Yoss Boss, I am sure you would very nearly get the timings right about how and when riots used to break out just months before genral election in UP and Bihar… circa 70s – 80s…..!!!
BTW, Sushma – as I know you too know what real politicking is- said nothing which warrants such an indignation!
As BarabarIndian too has said and I agree, these are not NORMAL TIMES,why to rush and ‘discount’ this theory/probability with out even giving it a cool thought?
Why it can not be possible?
Sushama is a senior leader and surely know what she is talking about.
Let us not ‘foreclose’ it. It has happened earlier and since the present dispensation is MUCH MUCH more ‘desperate to retain power – by any and all means’, so why it could not happen this time?
Who know Sushma might be forewarning you?!
PI.
ps: I will wait for reply.
Ooops!
[...which ultimately consumed the ‘master’ in Nov. 1984?]
Sorry, October 30th,1984.
PI.
Yossarin. If Godhra Trains are suggested to have been burnt by Hindus themselves so that they can go about killing Muslims Then why isn’t it possible for Kangressi’s to go about bombing BJP state’s to tarnish Law&Order record of BJP state governments.
On a slightly related note, do you know that SIMI is represented by Salman Khurshid (Sonia’s left hand) in Supreme Court. Can I suggest you that you do a post on those people who have supported SIMI poltically, morally, legally or otherwise.
YossBoss…
Whats your take on this one?????
“Learn from Gujjars: Indian Mujahideen ”
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080058992&ch=633529429253401250
This is again another theory, however, I always thought that their was some fishy in this Gurjjar Agitation immediately after the Jaipur blasts.
Here think cats out of the bag…..
” Even if there is an iota of truth in what Sushama Swaraj says, it is going to be damn difficult to prove it. And this is precisely what will expose the BJP to further ridicule from the mainstream media. ”
So? what would be new?
A train coach full of burning Hindu devotees was ridiculed by this ‘mainstream media’.
This is so grosteque, dhimmedia and psecs conveniently forget the murdered kar sevaks.
That commission set up by this p sec govt. ought to have its balls cut out. Imagine blaming the passengers of the train starting the fire.
Also, this has been not publicized pruposely, about 50 odd Hindu women are still missing from that train, no body seems to care about investigating there mysterious missing from the train.
M.O.D countered the NHRC with this and no reply.
Concur….
Y, Kindly delete comment#50.
Yossarin….
This thing gets more serious, yesterday Proki troops cross the LOC and today IAF has made a startling revelation, here read on:
“Pak violates Indian airspace”
http://www.timesnow.tv/Newsdtls.aspx?NewsID=12219
I am tellin you…mate…all these machinations by Porkis are related to the upsurge in violence in India.
The ongoings look akin to the run up to kargil war….
[...] are still at War is reason enough to not lose our focus from the enemy into the imaginary world of Conspiracy Theories where reality blurs into [...]
Rediff readers feedback.
Only LEFT protects muslims AND MINORITIES- congress is BOGUS.
by Anup Nair on Jul 30, 2008 08:01 PM Permalink | Hide replies
For once, Sushma has spoken sense.
Sushma swaraj has spoken not her mind, but the mind of her super sharp-minded mentor, Advani.
Advani normally gets it right most times and he has got it this time too. Only ignorant masses keep carping about terrorists and their diabolical plans. Those people who are into the system do know how to pick up he threads and tie the loose ends.
If you remember, Sitaram Yechury (CPM) himself echoed the same line when he said when the first of the bombs went, that it was only a diversion from the present mess.
I doubt if these explosions are caused by real muslims, but by those Congress politicians who have a hidden agenda, in making the muslims think like their bonded slave. Those politicians want the explosions to make sure the muslims are cornered (for no fault of their own) and when they got nowhere to turn, then they offer a helping hand. These UPA politicians atleast expected a riot to begin with in MODI’s gujarat. But Modi being cleverest of all does not want any riot that HE DID NOT BEGIN.So he did not play ball. So there it is, Congess’s gameplans lying in tatters.
Whoever has even a modicum of brain, will reflect and arrive at the truth.
In the meanwhile, its the poor muslims who are resigned to their miserable fate, waiting and dreading the knock on their door by the heavyhanded police.Poor souls
Express India vote.
Were blasts a plot to distract attention from the trust vote?
Till now result:
Yes 59.57%
No 37.23%
Can’t Say 3.19%
http://www.expressindia.com/
[...] this day I have been joining issues with some of my ‘well meaning’ friends like Chindu and Offstumped, over what Sushama Swaraj said and [...]