Fight against terror - record, reasons and suggestions
By: B R HARAN
The terror attack in Mumbai has claimed the lives of almost two hundred people including those from the security agencies and maimed more than three hundred people.
The entire nation condoles the death of innocents and prays the Almighty to give enough strength for their family members to bear the unbearable loss and for the speedy recovery of those injured.
This is the 19th major terror attack happened in the last four and a half years (7th attack in the last 7 months) of miserable administration by the UPA government. The enormity of the attacks could be realised from the fact that more than 1200 people have lost their lives and almost three thousand people have been injured in this period. No sensible, responsible and patriotic government would have brazenly continued in office after this Mumbai terror attack, and in the first place, no such government would have allowed the ‘internal security’ to reach such squalid levels!
It is not at all difficult to find out the reasons for this government’s utter failure in the fight against terror.
To divert the attention from growing criticisms and to dilute the fight against Jihadis, this government has allegedly gone to the extent of creating ‘Hindu Terror’, especially at the time of assembly elections at five states and the closely following general elections. The undue and full time focus of the Maharashtra ATS and state intelligence on this mythical ‘Hindu Terror’ has paved the way for free arrival and settlement of terrorists, who stormed Mumbai on 26 November. In the meantime, the terrorists also struck in Tripura and Assam totally exposing the sordid state of internal security in this country.
Many unanswerable questions arise with regards to the Mumbai terror attack and how the UPA is going to answer those questions!
It is a known fact that India has born the brunt of terrorism more than any other country in the last sixty years and it is also a known fact that the two Islamic neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh have played a vital role in it. These countries have terror infrastructures and the ISI helps in training the terror outfits like LeT, JeM and HuJI etc to indulge in cross border terrorism. They have also infiltrated into India and spread throughout the country setting up sleeper cells in all corners. They have established network with the indigenous organisation SIMI, which acts as an umbrella organisation for many other smaller outfits such as PFI, MNP, KFD, NDF, IM, and many others. The members are indoctrinated by religious scriptures and motivated by their faith, because of which, they even develop a mind to commit suicide for the sake of their religion. It is not only the terrorists, but also the helpers and facilitators, who are indoctrinated by these religious texts.
Whether it is physical terrorism (attacks) or mental terrorism (conversions), it is religion that matters and both the Abrahamic religions have wreaked havoc in India. Both of them are helped by other players such as NGOs & civil liberty organisations in the name of human rights, Communists and other P-sec parties in the name of secularism and the so-called intellectuals & liberals in the name of liberalism, civil rights and freedom of religion. To regain the lost glory, India must act against terror and terror-facilitators and for that, it needs to conjure up a great plan and execute it meticulously and professionally. It is high time India realises that it needs to wage a war against terrorism and the present and future governments would do well if they adopt the following strategies in their war against terror:
Terror attack: Shourie blames it on UPA
‘Complete failure of intelligence and the unlimited terror attacks on Indian soil has proved that governance has evaporated under the Congress led UPA dispensation’, said senior BJP leader Arun Shourie.
Speaking on ‘National Security and safety of borders’ at a public meeting organised by Chennai based ‘Vigil-Public Opinion Forum’ Shourie said, ‘despite inputs made available by the disorganised intelligence agencies, the UPA government ignored the inputs resulting in the worst terror attacks on Mumbai. India has lost count of the numerous terror attacks occurring every now and then and the UPA government has shown the world that it has lost the political will to tackle terrorism’.
Saying that Pakistan has been hostile to India from the beginning, Shourie added, ‘the neighbouring nation has been acting as a breeding ground for terrorists and it has been grooming fundamentalist elements right from their childhood through religiously fundamentalist syllabus not only in Madarasas but also in government schools.’
Stating that there is no point in differentiating between the state actors and the non-state actors in Pakistan, Shourie said, ‘ISI is the most lethal and efficient intelligence agency and the ISA and the Pakistan Army control the state and the non-state actors in Pakistan. ISI and the Army have been focusing on Talibanisation of the society.
For example, LeT has established its campus in a sprawling 2000 acres land just 60 kms from Lahore and its congregations have been attended by millions of people every time’. He recalled former President Musharraf’s statement that ‘Jihad is an instrument of Pakistan’s state policy’ and said that India must recognise this fact that Pakistan is its enemy.
Cautioning that India’s neighbourhood comprises of only failed States, he said, ‘India’s preparedness is not enough to meet the challenges and the NDA’s initiation of establishing marine infrastructures to strengthen the coastal security has not been improved upon by the UPA’.
Listing the speeches made by Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil inside and outside parliament and the talks of NSA Narayanan over the years in regard to the threats faced by India via sea route from Pakistan based terror outfits, he said, ‘Though the UPA is aware of the threats, it has failed in its preparedness and exposed its incompetence’.
Seriously cautioning on China’s maneuvers around India building bases with the help of Burma, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Shourie said, ‘though India has the capacity to handle enemies like Pak and Bangladesh, it must be very careful with China, which has nothing but utmost contempt for India. China has always treated India as just a ‘claw of the Crab’ meaning a ‘hooked nail of US’ and addressed it disrespectfully as a ‘potential nuisance’.
He said, ‘war is won only by overwhelming force and for that every aspect of governance has to be good’ and appealed to the audience to send ‘competent and patriotic’ people to Parliament, every time when they get opportunity to vote.
Dr Kalyanaraman, director, Saraswathi Research Foundation, in his welcome address said that India is under siege surrounded by enemies and it has to revamp its security system completely. Noted columnist Gurumurthy and BJP State president L Ganesan were also present on the occasion.
The terror attack in Mumbai has claimed the lives of almost two hundred people including those from the security agencies and maimed more than three hundred people.
The entire nation condoles the death of innocents and prays the Almighty to give enough strength for their family members to bear the unbearable loss and for the speedy recovery of those injured.
This is the 19th major terror attack happened in the last four and a half years (7th attack in the last 7 months) of miserable administration by the UPA government. The enormity of the attacks could be realised from the fact that more than 1200 people have lost their lives and almost three thousand people have been injured in this period. No sensible, responsible and patriotic government would have brazenly continued in office after this Mumbai terror attack, and in the first place, no such government would have allowed the ‘internal security’ to reach such squalid levels!
It is not at all difficult to find out the reasons for this government’s utter failure in the fight against terror.
- The first move by this UPA government after coming to power in May 2004 was to repeal ‘POTA’, the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The repealing of POTA has become, in other words, Protection of Terrorists Act!
- The UPA government refused to hang the dreaded terrorist Afzal Guru, the mastermind of Parliament attack.
- Its state government in Kerala passed a resolution for the release of hardcore terrorist Abdul Nazar Madhani from Coimbatore prisons. It didn’t prevail upon its ally, the ruling DMK in Tamilnadu, to appeal against the release of Madhani, giving scant regards to the death of sixty innocent people and injury of over 200 people in the Coimbatore blasts. (It is no surprise that Unnikrishnan, father of martyred Major Sandeep, showed the doors to Madhani’s supporters!)
- It restrained the Gujarat government from taking severe actions against the accused in the Godhra train carnage and the subsequent riots. It didn’t approve the Gujarat government’s ordinance (Gujarat Organised Crime Act 2001) on terror. It constituted the Bannerjee Committee with a deliberate intention to exonerate the Godhra accused showing slight respects to the 59 people, who were roasted alive.
- It facilitated the illegal immigration of Bangladeshis through IMDT Act and Foreigners Act.
- It restrained the Armed Forces from taking stringent actions against the Kashmiri militants and joined the Kashmir parties like NC & PDP in maligning the Army. It reduced the number of forces deployed in the borders in the name of confidence building measure and facilitated infiltration of terrorists.
- It allowed SIMI to regroup and spread to all corners of the country.
- It allowed the mushrooming of fundamentalist institutions such as Madrasas and even started funding them in the name of modernisation and minority development.
- It has not given freedom to the intelligence agencies to carry out their jobs, but blamed them every time when a terror attack occurred. It has also not allowed the investigation agencies to complete their job and so far, there is not even a single terror attack thoroughly investigated and charge sheets filed.
To divert the attention from growing criticisms and to dilute the fight against Jihadis, this government has allegedly gone to the extent of creating ‘Hindu Terror’, especially at the time of assembly elections at five states and the closely following general elections. The undue and full time focus of the Maharashtra ATS and state intelligence on this mythical ‘Hindu Terror’ has paved the way for free arrival and settlement of terrorists, who stormed Mumbai on 26 November. In the meantime, the terrorists also struck in Tripura and Assam totally exposing the sordid state of internal security in this country.
Many unanswerable questions arise with regards to the Mumbai terror attack and how the UPA is going to answer those questions!
- How many terrorists have entered Mumbai? How many of them have moved to other cities? Will such attacks happen in other cities?
- Why no action was taken on the information supposedly given by the Fishermen Union about the smuggling of RDX into Mumbai? As RDX has not been used in the present operation by the terrorists, where is the smuggled quantity?
- How come Dawood Ibrahim’s henchmen are still allowed to operate in Mumbai? Is it true that he has arranged for the smuggling of weapons and facilitated terrorists’ entry into Mumbai?
- Is it true that thousands of Bangladeshis are into fishing business illegally along the western coast? If so, why no action was taken to curb their activities and apprehend them?Why were the warning inputs from R&AW and IB ignored?
- When there was specific information that 5-star hotels were targeted, why were the guests at those hotels not screened and their rooms not checked?
- Why was maritime security so slack despite specific intelligence warning that terrorists might use the sea route?
- What is the reason behind the irresponsible statements from Jaiswal, the Minister of State for Home? Why did he talk about the so-called ‘Hindu Terror’ despite knowing that Pakistani terrorists are very much involved in this terror attack?
- Malegon blast accused Lt Colonel Purohit has served in Military Intelligence and in RAW too; the former ATS Chief Late Hemant Karkare has also served in RAW; was there any politics within RAW? Has Purohit’s forceful detention on alleged involvement in Malegon blasts got anything to do with intelligence on Mumbai attack? In other words, are there any links between Mumbai and Malegon attacks? If not, why did Jaiswal make such a reckless statement?
It is a known fact that India has born the brunt of terrorism more than any other country in the last sixty years and it is also a known fact that the two Islamic neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh have played a vital role in it. These countries have terror infrastructures and the ISI helps in training the terror outfits like LeT, JeM and HuJI etc to indulge in cross border terrorism. They have also infiltrated into India and spread throughout the country setting up sleeper cells in all corners. They have established network with the indigenous organisation SIMI, which acts as an umbrella organisation for many other smaller outfits such as PFI, MNP, KFD, NDF, IM, and many others. The members are indoctrinated by religious scriptures and motivated by their faith, because of which, they even develop a mind to commit suicide for the sake of their religion. It is not only the terrorists, but also the helpers and facilitators, who are indoctrinated by these religious texts.
Whether it is physical terrorism (attacks) or mental terrorism (conversions), it is religion that matters and both the Abrahamic religions have wreaked havoc in India. Both of them are helped by other players such as NGOs & civil liberty organisations in the name of human rights, Communists and other P-sec parties in the name of secularism and the so-called intellectuals & liberals in the name of liberalism, civil rights and freedom of religion. To regain the lost glory, India must act against terror and terror-facilitators and for that, it needs to conjure up a great plan and execute it meticulously and professionally. It is high time India realises that it needs to wage a war against terrorism and the present and future governments would do well if they adopt the following strategies in their war against terror:
- The first and foremost thing to do is to immediately complete the formalities for hanging Mohammed Afzal Guru precisely on 13 December, the 7th anniversary of Parliament Attack. The second thing is to ask Tamilnadu government to appeal against the acquittal of Madhani in Coimbatore blasts case and send him to gallows. This will send the right signals to the terrorists.
- Speed up the investigations of all the previous unsolved cases and give full freedom to the authorities and ensure no interference from politicians and human right activists. Close the ongoing farcical investigation on September Malegon blasts and release the falsely apprehended people and pursue it from the perspective of SIMI’s involvement.
- What happened in Mumbai could happen in other cities also! Moreover, there is absolutely no idea on how many terrorists have entered the country. If such an attack happens simultaneously in all metros and cosmos, what will the governments do? Is there any guarantee that such a thing will not happen? The NSA has very recently said that 800 sleeper cells have been formed throughout the nation. It becomes imperative that those sleeper cells are identified and Jihadis are apprehended. To apprehend those sleeper cells, the investigative authorities must be given the full freedom to search all the so-called ‘ghettos’ and if needed they must be allowed to search the worshipping places too if needed. The community leaders must be reined in and made to cooperate with the investigating authorities in the interests of the nation.
- The citizenship of people in such localities must be confirmed and all those who are illegally staying in Indian Territory must be sent back to their respective countries or put behind bars. It is said that crores of illegal immigrants, particularly from Bangladesh have infiltrated into India and they all must be mercilessly shunted out.
- Prevail upon Pakistan and make it to deport Dawood Ibrahim and his gang and hang them after legal proceedings in fast track courts. Pick up all those connected with the D-Company, irrespective of their social or political status and put them behind bars. Take enough steps and strategise operations to crush the so-called underworld.
- Enact a law like POTA, if possible more stringent than that, immediately and approve any such laws passed by state assemblies.
- Bring amendments in the various sections of ‘Freedom of Religion Act’ enshrined in the Constitution. There should not be any special privilege for minorities and all religions must be equally treated. The right to ‘propagate’ must be cancelled and only right to ‘practice’ must be allowed.
- Construction of one religious worshipping place in the close vicinity of another worshipping place must be prohibited. A severe anti-conversion law must be enacted and publishing of literatures denigrating other religions, Gods and Goddesses must be sternly punished.
- Take over all the Minority educational institutions and convert them into ‘secular’ government institutions and employ enough teachers and admit enough students from all communities and fix a government syllabus with all subjects like any other normal institution. Importantly, the ‘true history’ of this nation must be taught, so that, the students are groomed with patriotism.
- Screen all the NGOs, Human Rights Organisations and Minority Religious Institutions, find out their funding sources, and make them function in a transparent manner and ensure government auditing of their accounts. Stop the flow of foreign funds immediately.
- Immediately implement the recommendations given by the National Police Commission and make the police and CBI autonomous. Keep ‘merit’ as the only criteria for recruitment and appoint enough police personnel to the satisfactory level of police-people ratio and train them professionally to highest standards.
- Increase the number of NSG and set up such groups in all metros and cosmos. Develop necessary infrastructures for their training. Respect and honour the Armed Forces, listen to their grievances and take care of them.
- Set up a ‘Federal Investigative Authority’ immediately and make it autonomous. The anti-terror law must also ensure the unstinted cooperation from the state police and investigating agencies to the Federal Investigative Authority.
- Revamp the central intelligence agencies like RA&W and IB, recruit more officers, develop the necessary infrastructures for training at high standards and ensure perfect coordination between them and state intelligence agencies.
Terror attack: Shourie blames it on UPA
‘Complete failure of intelligence and the unlimited terror attacks on Indian soil has proved that governance has evaporated under the Congress led UPA dispensation’, said senior BJP leader Arun Shourie.
Speaking on ‘National Security and safety of borders’ at a public meeting organised by Chennai based ‘Vigil-Public Opinion Forum’ Shourie said, ‘despite inputs made available by the disorganised intelligence agencies, the UPA government ignored the inputs resulting in the worst terror attacks on Mumbai. India has lost count of the numerous terror attacks occurring every now and then and the UPA government has shown the world that it has lost the political will to tackle terrorism’.
Saying that Pakistan has been hostile to India from the beginning, Shourie added, ‘the neighbouring nation has been acting as a breeding ground for terrorists and it has been grooming fundamentalist elements right from their childhood through religiously fundamentalist syllabus not only in Madarasas but also in government schools.’
Stating that there is no point in differentiating between the state actors and the non-state actors in Pakistan, Shourie said, ‘ISI is the most lethal and efficient intelligence agency and the ISA and the Pakistan Army control the state and the non-state actors in Pakistan. ISI and the Army have been focusing on Talibanisation of the society.
For example, LeT has established its campus in a sprawling 2000 acres land just 60 kms from Lahore and its congregations have been attended by millions of people every time’. He recalled former President Musharraf’s statement that ‘Jihad is an instrument of Pakistan’s state policy’ and said that India must recognise this fact that Pakistan is its enemy.
Cautioning that India’s neighbourhood comprises of only failed States, he said, ‘India’s preparedness is not enough to meet the challenges and the NDA’s initiation of establishing marine infrastructures to strengthen the coastal security has not been improved upon by the UPA’.
Listing the speeches made by Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil inside and outside parliament and the talks of NSA Narayanan over the years in regard to the threats faced by India via sea route from Pakistan based terror outfits, he said, ‘Though the UPA is aware of the threats, it has failed in its preparedness and exposed its incompetence’.
Seriously cautioning on China’s maneuvers around India building bases with the help of Burma, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Shourie said, ‘though India has the capacity to handle enemies like Pak and Bangladesh, it must be very careful with China, which has nothing but utmost contempt for India. China has always treated India as just a ‘claw of the Crab’ meaning a ‘hooked nail of US’ and addressed it disrespectfully as a ‘potential nuisance’.
He said, ‘war is won only by overwhelming force and for that every aspect of governance has to be good’ and appealed to the audience to send ‘competent and patriotic’ people to Parliament, every time when they get opportunity to vote.
Dr Kalyanaraman, director, Saraswathi Research Foundation, in his welcome address said that India is under siege surrounded by enemies and it has to revamp its security system completely. Noted columnist Gurumurthy and BJP State president L Ganesan were also present on the occasion.
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