Friends,
The dreadful terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which according to official estimates have led to the tragic death of at least 183 persons, including 22 foreign nationals, and injured hundreds of others, have shocked the nation. The completion of operations led by the NSG against the heavily armed terrorists at the Taj Palace Hotel on 29th November marked the end of the nightmare, which Mumbai witnessed since the night of 26th November. The terrorists had mindlessly killed innocent civilians in many places including the Chattrapati Shivaji Railway Terminal, Leopold Café, the Taj Palace and Oberoi Trident Hotels, Nariman House and two hospitals. Nine terrorists have been killed by the security forces and one has been captured and taken into custody. These terror attacks, besides killing several innocent civilians, have also led to the death of several security personnel from the Mumbai Police and the NSG. Officers like the ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, NSG Commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and others, who led from the front in the anti-terror operation, sacrificed their lives in the combat. The country will remain grateful to them.
While the successful completion of the anti-terror operations in Mumbai has brought some relief, the sheer magnitude and ferocity of these attacks have created deep rooted anguish and insecurity among people across the country. This attack has come in the backdrop of a sharp rise in the number of terrorist attacks across the country over the last few months. Despite growing outrage at the increasing frequency of the terror strikes, the UPA Government has failed to take appropriate steps to effectively deal with the terrorist menace. The belated resignation of the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the callous statement made by the Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil, leading to his resignation, point towards sheer ineptness at the highest level of the Union and State Governments. The Mumbai terror attacks, while clearly bringing out the rigorous planning and training undergone by the terrorists, have also exposed the glaring gaps in India’s intelligence and security apparatus. The fact that these terrorists could use the sea route to make their entry into the city has shown the poorly protected coastline in India. The blame game between different arms of the Government on whether there were intelligence inputs forewarning the attack also show a clear lack of coordination. Questions have also been raised regarding the speed of deployment of the NSG and marine commandos. These issues have to be addressed by the Union Government on a war-footing. Further laxity on the part of the Government in revamping and modernizing the intelligence and security apparatus would be totally unacceptable.
Immediate and strong steps need to be taken against those forces which are indulging in terrorist activities in the name of religion. Initial investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks suggest the involvement of the extremist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is based in Pakistan. Concrete evidence of their involvement must be swiftly collected and presented before the international community and the UN Security Council, so that pressure can be built on the Government of Pakistan to decisively act against the terror groups. Pakistan is also besieged by the scourge of terrorism. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the explosion at the Marriott hotel in Islamabad and the Lal Masjid episode have shown that the terrorists who are acting in the name of Islam are as much the enemies of the Muslims as they are of people belonging to other religions. Several commentators from Pakistan have repeatedly pointed towards the complicity of the Pakistani military establishment and the ISI in aiding and abetting these extremist groups. Democratic opinion in India and Pakistan need to unite in marginalizing these sections which are enemies of peace and stability in South Asia. Moreover, the anti-terror operations in the sub-continent, in order to be successful, need to be delinked from the US-Israel sponsored “war on terror”. The imperialist aggressions against Afghanistan and Iraq, have caused enormous death and destruction of innocents, which far from curbing the terrorist menace create fertile grounds for its proliferation.
It is also important in the present context to ensure that those political forces in India, who seek to cynically utilize the terror attacks to polarize the people on communal lines and whip up jingoistic sentiments through war mongering against Pakistan, are not allowed to gain ground. The cheap attempts by the likes of L.K.Advani and Narendra Modi to encash the widespread anti-terror sentiment for narrow electoral ends need to be thoroughly exposed. The refusal of the widow of late Hemant Karkare to accept the Rs. 1 crore compensation announced by Narendra Modi, who along with his saffron brotherhood was busy vilifying the ATS Chief for being “anti-Hindu” till a few days back on account of the investigation and arrests in the Malegaon blasts case; has come as a tight slap in the face of such forces. The refusal of L.K.Advani and the BJP President to attend the all-Party meeting convened by the Prime Minister clearly shows that for the BJP, doing vote-bank politics on the issue of terrorism is more important than unitedly fighting terror.
SFI appeals to the student community to stand united and firm in these difficult times and defeat all attempts to terrorize or divide the people. Only a firm unity of people irrespective of religion, region, caste and creed and effective steps by the Government to counter terrorism, can defeat the nefarious designs of the extremist elements. It is such resolve that we have to muster in order to meet the challenge posed by terror.
Sd/- P.K.Anand, President, SFI-JNU. Sd/- Roshan, Secretary, SFI-JNU.
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