Author: Babita Basu
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 10, 2011
URL: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/the-enchanted-word/entry/eight-unsolved-blasts-since-2005-wake-up-mr-chidambaram
We, as a people, are indignant. Are our lives
cheap? Don't we deserve an iota of stability and security in our daily lives
as we commute between our workplaces, homes and public places? Why is a high-visibility
target like the Delhi High Court left sans CCTVs and with non-functional metal
detectors even as women and children are frisked in shopping malls? India
has gone through six terror attacks since you've assumed office as Home Minister
and every time, you found someone else to blame.
What did you have to say in the aftermath
of the Pune blast at German Bakery on February 13, 2010 that in which 17 people
were killed and more than 50 hurt?
"We had the intelligence. We shared it
with Maharashtra which, in turn, shared it with the Pune Police, who, in turn,
alerted the German Bakery. The bakery manager acknowledged the advice. Yet,
Pune case happened. There is a clear case of failure on the part of the police
and the citizenry," you said.
If the state was alerted about the possible
venue of the blast accurately, why didn't the MHA and central security agencies
coordinate to make sure ample preventive measures were taken and security
beefed up in high-risk areas? Countries in the West are taken by surprise
during terrorist attacks, more often than not. But here, it seems, there was
none. Why the slip, then? The body count was 17, and the media, by habit,
does not follow up the extent of the injuries and their long-term debilitating
effects on the lives of the victims thereafter.
And what about the Varanasi blast on December
7, 2010 that left 2 dead and 37 injured, some of them grievously? "We
had cautioned the UP government in the run-up to the 26/11 anniversary and
December 6
a specific advisory of threat to Dashashwamedh Ghat was sent
this February. There may have been some laxity on part of state police,"
you said. The Chief Minister of UP, Ms Mayawati, of course, denied having
received any warnings. A repeat scenario again, where, despite having had
forebodings of an attack, the sheer lack of co-ordination and follow-ups led
to the loss of lives.
In both cases, there was no intelligence failure.
This time around, the low-intensity and apparently aimless blast near the
Delhi High Court was nothing but a dry run of what was to come in September.
And yet, the security lapses weren't looked into - the metal detectors at
the specific gate had been malfunctioning a day earlier and the hawk-eyed
terrorist outfits took the leap right away.
And what about the Mumbai blasts on July 13,
this year? Any leads yet? None whatever.
"Everyone has to report what he or she
sees - an unidentified object or a suspicious person or a suspicious object
or any suspicious movement. Ours is too vast a country. Everyone has to remain
alert," you have said in the aftermath of the recent blast at Delhi High
Court. You mention that the Central paramilitary forces have recruited nearly
1 lakh people in the last two years, and will add another 1 lakh this year.
The state governments will also recruit about 1 lakh security personnel, yet
leaving a vacancy of about five to six lakh, by your own admission.
While you are upset with the BJP 'projecting'
Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj before the Press to criticize the government
for the blasts and call it "pretentious bipartisanship" you yourself
have admitted slackness on part of the police and have cited "accumulative
neglect" in security systems over many years. Mostly under the Congress
regime, may we say? Because your party has mostly been in power at the Centre,
Mr C! And why would the lack of coordination keep leading to the loss of lives?
If the NIA, NSG and a Delhi Police crack team led by the commissioner of police
can come together now to crack a blast that's already taken place, why can't
they coordinate to prevent many more to come? Can't we banish our egos and
stand united as true professionals and patriots, for the sake of our country,
and for our lives?