UPA hypocrisy exposed by Antulay duplicity

UPA hypocrisy exposed by Antulay duplicity By Aditya Pradhan in Mumbai Mr Antulay’s reaction in the Parliament is a classic case of how the war on terror is compromised in this country. Every earnest effort made by the security agencies has been questioned and investigated by the secular governments. Former police chief of Punjab KPS Gill who brought terrorism in Punjab to a glorious end often states this at public meetings about how his officers are still doing the rounds fighting court cases.  Nor was this strict adherence to protocol not seen when the NDA government was in power and the POTA Bill was passed. Congress party survives on the belief that public memory is short. Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay’s statement that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare’s death has been caused by Hindu radical groups is not surprising. The alliance at the Center which prided in scrapping POTA, so much so that its Common Minimum Programme (CMP) stated that as a matter of policy change to woo the minority community, should be expected to have cabinet ministers who would toe a Pakistan line of argument. Also, not surprisingly, there has been a deafening silence from the prime minister’s office on the issue. Mr Antulay when asked to clarify added for good measure: “I don’t need to explain anything to anyone”. After all, Mr Antulay has only taken a leaf out of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s book on how to pander to minority communities. Till the time of going to press the Congress Party spokesmen were on a part-denial mode. Abhishek Singhvi’s statements to the media were laced with “our party completely disassociates from the minister’s statement in the Parliament”. The party spokesman who otherwise would not stay his hand when suggesting what Narendra Modi or Yeddyurappa should do, maintained a sanitised version of “we cannot suggest if the PM or the government should sack Antulay”. One wonders why this politeness does not extend to opposition party-led state governments. Nor was this strict adherence to protocol not seen when the NDA government was in power and the POTA Bill was passed. Congress party survives on the belief that public memory is short. Look at the ardent plea made by the new Home Minister P. Chidambaram that the new anti-terror law has to be passed with everyone’s consent in the House. “We could make all the necessary amends as we go on”, he said on the floor of the House while introducing the new anti-terror Bill. It must have been deja vu for Opposition leader Shri L.K. Advani.  Also, in this whole episode post-26/11, the BJP should be credited for showing its true nationalist colour. Shri Advani’s unconditional support to the government in its war on terrorism was a true reflection of the national mood. Earlier BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad made it clear in media briefings that BJP would support the government in any of the tough decisions to be taken in the war against terror. Juxtapose this to the post-Parliament attack in 2002. By evening of that fateful day Congressmen were busy cornering NDA ministers asking: “you passed POTA Bill with all the fanfare. Did that prevent the attack on Parliament?” The other major concern was that police will misuse POTA. It took one viewer’s opinion shown on the ticker on NDTV 24x7 to put things in perspective: “traffic regulations are flouted everywhere, every time. Does that mean that we do away with traffic rules?!”  Mr Antulay’s reaction in the Parliament is a classic case of how the war on terror is compromised in this country. Every earnest effort made by the security agencies has been questioned and investigated by the secular governments. Former police chief of Punjab KPS Gill who brought terrorism in Punjab to a glorious end often states this at public meetings about how his officers are still doing the rounds in the courts because some human rights NGOs have questioned their action. The government does not provide any succour though it will take all the credit for bringing the tragic saga to an end in Punjab.  Antulay’s conspiracy theories may come in handy to pander to the minority community. Antulay can be forgiven for his comment in view of what the prime minister said a year ago in the midst of passing the Indo-nuclear deal that minority communities have priority in access to national resources.  But in Mumbai it is not just the politicians which have become discredited. Former Home Minister of Maharashtra R.R. Patil who has become so arrogant to say such small terror attacks in big cities are quite normal recently told a reporter: “will bullet proof jackets and better fire power prevent terrorist attacks?!”  The government’s hypocrisy and lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation have been underscored by pseudo-secularism. The other grave concern of the citizens of Mumbai is related to the lack of proper training given to any the state departments in dealing with a crisis seen on 26/11. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, went on record to say that most of the security agencies and state utilities were at a loss in dealing with the crisis. Fire tenders came in late, policemen were found removing their safety gear at ground zero, some policemen even quietly left for home when they were informed of the terrorist attacks, police were found more engaged in crowd control than saving lives, television media was hysteric so much so that news anchors were howling at everyone on air and the most defining moment was the large crowd outside Taj hotel brandishing cell phone cameras trying to take pictures of terrorists who were still engaged in a pitched battle with the commandoes. If the terrorists had dropped a grenade from the top floor of Taj hotel on the crowd below the area would have looked like a scene out of ‘Saving Private Ryan”. Intelligence has failed, but the way various agencies were bickering over who is to be blamed for the crisis was most unnerving.  It’s tragic that Ratan Tata says his hotels will have their own anti-terror systems and personnel in place. Does this mean that the state has become so inept in providing security to its people. It is sad to see Bollywood actors scampering for enhanced personal security systems. It only means that the state has completely failed in providing security to people. As one Mumbai local train debate on the issue concluded that the world has entered the 21st century of sophistication but India is still caught in R.K. Narayanan’s Malgudy Days of simplicity and immaturity.