The month of May has brought two major tragedies in India’s neighbourhood. First came the cyclone in Myanmar, followed by an earthquake in China. Thousands of people perished. People all over the world have expressed sorrow and sympathy, and extended a helping hand, to their brethren in these two countries. However, these being natural calamities, humanity has no option but to come to terms with them, while continuing its efforts to mitigate their painful consequences.
In contrast, what happened in Jaipur yesterday was not a tragedy but a well-calculated crime against humanity, barbaric and sinister. The serial bomb blasts at eight different crowded places in quick succession, in which over 70 innocent people were killed and many more injured, is the latest instance in terrorism’s war on India. Like all other previous acts of terrorism, this too is aimed at bleeding and weakening India, creating mayhem and tension, and ultimately at undermining our national unity and security.
The enemy in this war must be countered and defeated with the same unity and resolve that India displays when it is faced with external aggression.
I am confident that the government of Rajasthan, led by Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje, will do its utmost to nab the evil hands and minds behind this crime and bring the culprits to justice. I do hope that the Central Government will extend full support and all possible assistance in this effort.
However, I would like to emphasise that the fight against terrorism is a national issue, and the role and responsibility of the Central Government in dealing with this menace is much more than that of any State Government. The UPA government, which will shortly complete four years in office, has such a dismal record in discharging this responsibility that it instills no confidence whatsoever.
In these four years, the UPA government has failed to investigate, prosecute and punish the guilty in any of the numerous terrorist attacks that have taken place in different parts of the country — Delhi (2005), Jammu, Ayodhya (2005), Varanasi (2006), Bangalore (2005), Mumbai (2006), Malegaon (2006), Hyderabad (2007) and Rampur (2008), to name a few. This failure is not due to inefficiency of the investigative agencies. Rather, it is mainly due to the soft, weak and apathetic approach of a government that is unwilling to summon the requisite political will to mount a comprehensive attack on terrorism for fear of losing its vote-bank. Evidently, terrorist outfits have come to believe that they have nothing to fear so long as the UPA government is in office at the Centre.
Guided by the same vote-bank considerations, the UPA government repealed POTA soon after assuming office in May 2004. What is worse, the Congress party and its allies took perverse pride in having disarmed the law enforcement agencies of the most potent legislative weapon they had in combating terrorist outfits. Their campaign against POTA was most irresponsible, short-sighted and inimical to national interests.
Because of the Vajpayee government’s efforts, and the subsequent global outrage over 9/11, the United Nations Security Council passed a special resolution urging member states to enact special laws to effectively combat terrorism. Enacting POTA was India’s response to this UN appeal. Since the Congress was unwilling to support it, we had to convene a Joint Session of Parliament to pass it. Therefore, by repealing POTA, the UPA government has not only weakened India’s fight against terrorism but has also dishonoured a key international commitment.
Terrorism is a highly networked and complex phenomenon in which many ingredients get combined together for perpetrating a major action. Some of them, at the tactical level, are: Trained and motivated manpower, procurement and transportation of explosives or weapons, selection of targets and collection of intelligence regarding them, shelters and escape routes, movement of funds, and communication between group members and their controllers. The Indian State’s response has to be multi-pronged and consistent on all these fronts over a sustained period of time.
Withdrawal of POTA has done immense harm by not only impairing the capacity of law enforcing agencies and demoralizing them but also, more sinisterly, by sending a wrong message to the terrorists about our national resolve to fight and finish them. It has been interpreted by them as increase in tolerance threshold of the Indian State which has started showing signs of wilting under militant pressure.
The BJP believes that re-introduction of POTA is the need of the hour. It is one of the several legal, political and administrative initiatives that must be taken to strengthen India in its war against terrorism.
In contrast, what happened in Jaipur yesterday was not a tragedy but a well-calculated crime against humanity, barbaric and sinister. The serial bomb blasts at eight different crowded places in quick succession, in which over 70 innocent people were killed and many more injured, is the latest instance in terrorism’s war on India. Like all other previous acts of terrorism, this too is aimed at bleeding and weakening India, creating mayhem and tension, and ultimately at undermining our national unity and security.
The enemy in this war must be countered and defeated with the same unity and resolve that India displays when it is faced with external aggression.
I am confident that the government of Rajasthan, led by Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje, will do its utmost to nab the evil hands and minds behind this crime and bring the culprits to justice. I do hope that the Central Government will extend full support and all possible assistance in this effort.
However, I would like to emphasise that the fight against terrorism is a national issue, and the role and responsibility of the Central Government in dealing with this menace is much more than that of any State Government. The UPA government, which will shortly complete four years in office, has such a dismal record in discharging this responsibility that it instills no confidence whatsoever.
In these four years, the UPA government has failed to investigate, prosecute and punish the guilty in any of the numerous terrorist attacks that have taken place in different parts of the country — Delhi (2005), Jammu, Ayodhya (2005), Varanasi (2006), Bangalore (2005), Mumbai (2006), Malegaon (2006), Hyderabad (2007) and Rampur (2008), to name a few. This failure is not due to inefficiency of the investigative agencies. Rather, it is mainly due to the soft, weak and apathetic approach of a government that is unwilling to summon the requisite political will to mount a comprehensive attack on terrorism for fear of losing its vote-bank. Evidently, terrorist outfits have come to believe that they have nothing to fear so long as the UPA government is in office at the Centre.
Guided by the same vote-bank considerations, the UPA government repealed POTA soon after assuming office in May 2004. What is worse, the Congress party and its allies took perverse pride in having disarmed the law enforcement agencies of the most potent legislative weapon they had in combating terrorist outfits. Their campaign against POTA was most irresponsible, short-sighted and inimical to national interests.
Because of the Vajpayee government’s efforts, and the subsequent global outrage over 9/11, the United Nations Security Council passed a special resolution urging member states to enact special laws to effectively combat terrorism. Enacting POTA was India’s response to this UN appeal. Since the Congress was unwilling to support it, we had to convene a Joint Session of Parliament to pass it. Therefore, by repealing POTA, the UPA government has not only weakened India’s fight against terrorism but has also dishonoured a key international commitment.
Terrorism is a highly networked and complex phenomenon in which many ingredients get combined together for perpetrating a major action. Some of them, at the tactical level, are: Trained and motivated manpower, procurement and transportation of explosives or weapons, selection of targets and collection of intelligence regarding them, shelters and escape routes, movement of funds, and communication between group members and their controllers. The Indian State’s response has to be multi-pronged and consistent on all these fronts over a sustained period of time.
Withdrawal of POTA has done immense harm by not only impairing the capacity of law enforcing agencies and demoralizing them but also, more sinisterly, by sending a wrong message to the terrorists about our national resolve to fight and finish them. It has been interpreted by them as increase in tolerance threshold of the Indian State which has started showing signs of wilting under militant pressure.
The BJP believes that re-introduction of POTA is the need of the hour. It is one of the several legal, political and administrative initiatives that must be taken to strengthen India in its war against terrorism.
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