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Centre tries to shift blame

Centre tries to shift blame

Author: Pioneer News Service
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 16, 2008

On backfoot, Cong looks for way out

As the 'prescient' Central agencies and 'all-knowing' Home Ministry wave the time-worn HuJI-SIMI placard and claim to provide prior intelligence inputs to State Governments about the designs of terror outfits, the country has been presented with a murky spectacle of blame game over Tuesday's serial blasts in Jaipur.

Reeling under fierce attack from the BJP for scrapping the anti-terror law, POTA, and blocking moves by Gujarat and Rajasthan to introduce their State-specific Acts to crack down on jihadis and anti-nationals, the Congress has virtually washed its hands of the Centre's role in tackling the issue of national security and blamed the State Governments for not acting on the 'specific' intelligence inputs about impending terror attacks.

The Congress leadership has reason to be worried about the political implications of the Jaipur blasts as they have come in the midst of electioneering for the Karnataka Assembly poll. With Karnataka witnessing an unprecedented rise in terror incidents during the UPA regime, the Congress has been forced to shift the blame on the BJP for the blasts.

Claiming that specific intelligence inputs had been given to Rajasthan by the Central agencies 45 days back, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: "There was specific intelligence inputs and a written warning about 45 days back but still the State Government did not take any precautions or pre-emptive steps. Therefore, rather than trying to blame the whole world, it would have been better had they tried to act on actionable intelligence."

Observers felt that Tewari's assertion raises certain serious issues. If the Centre had such specific information about an impending terror attack, and the State Government did not act on it, what was done by the Home Ministry to safeguard the lives of so many innocent citizens? Was any attempt made to nab the perpetrators? How specific were the intelligence inputs, and if it was indeed pinpointed, why did the Central agency not nab the masterminds?

Also, how could a Congress spokesman have access to such classified piece of intelligence inputs?

A senior BJP leader told The Pioneer his party would welcome if the so-called specific input was made public so that the nation could know who was responsible for such crass negligence. "Terrorism is a national issue and the Congress should not try to politicise it. In case the Rajasthan BJP Government failed to act on intelligence inputs, then why did Hyderabad blasts take place when the Congress was ruling the State," he asked.

The Centre may also have to do some serious explaining to the nation for claiming to have 'specific' intelligence inputs about the blasts. If its claim was right, then why has it not been able to come out with the details of the plots and perpetrators and the nature of explosives used in the blasts.

Security experts believe that to save their own skin, of late the intelligence agencies are leaving nothing to chance and providing generalised inputs to the State Governments. "It is like crying wolf far too often," said a former IB official. "A situation has come when the officials are throwing such inputs straight in dustbins," he said.

As the blame game sharpened, the Congress lashed out at Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who had questioned the motive of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's visit to Jaipur. The Congress even criticised the Chief Minister saying that there was lack of faith in her because "Rajasthan has no CM after 8 pm".

"Congress has never tried to politicise a tragedy. But the manner in which the BJP has reacted... People have died in Jaipur and all that Arun Jaitley could think of was a sterile national debate. The BJP would be better served by maintaining law and order in the States under its rule and by providing better governance in them rather than trying to score brownie points by blaming the Centre for everything... The perception in Rajasthan is that after 8 pm there is no CM. It tells its own story of governance in Rajasthan," Tewari said.

Launching a counterattack on the Congress, the BJP accused the Centre of going soft in handling terrorism. Party spokesman Ravi Shanker Prasad pointed out that between 1999 and 2003, the security forces killed on an average 2500 terrorists every year, but this has come down to around 1100 terrorists every year under the UPA.

"The BJP is not trading political charges by using such statistics. We are simply trying to highlight the magnitude of the problem, which demands firm resolve of the Government of India and proper coordination between the Centre and the State Governments irrespective of political divide. Sharing credible intelligence is required because the conspiracy is not only State-specific but is national in character with international links wherein citizens of all faiths and innocents are brutally killed," Prasad said.

The BJP also demanded that the Government wake up to this harsh reality and in the national interest take appropriate steps by enacting effective laws to crush terrorism permanently.

"Terrorists have been consistently striking at will at all centres of economic prosperity, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and now Jaipur, a major international tourist destination. The nation cannot continue to pay such a heavy price for ever. The people of India have a right to expect that the UPA Government will match its words with specific action that will deter and finally defeat the designs of the terrorists and their patrons by unshackling the security forces and boosting their morale," he said.

Meanwhile, the party has decided to hold conference on the issue all over the country from next month. Announcing this at a protest demonstration organised by the BJP's minority wing here against the serial blasts in Jaipur, party leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain blamed the UPA Government's policies for the terrorist attacks.

"The BJP would hold conferences all over the country against terrorism from next month, starting with the national capital," he said.

Hussain said the conferences will be addressed by senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj.


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