Immediately after the gruesome bomb blasts in Hyderabad, the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil made an interesting statement. He said, it was not an easy job to prevent terrorist attacks and ?the country is very big and even if we have the information that something is likely to happen sometimes we do not know when and where this is likely to happen?. How sad, the terrorists are so unhelpful that they do not tell in advance the place and time of their silly pastime!
This seems to be the Home Minister'stake. Home Ministry sources have revealed that the centre had advance intelligence information that something serious was going to take place. But obviously, the government did not bother much, as the new anti-terror mission is to be soft and polite to terrorists and their cohorts. After all, the Home Minister is on record saying it was the harsh law that bred terrorists?not Osama bin Laden, ISI or madrasas?and created problems for the innocents.
The centre could have been more vigilant about the vulnerability of Hyderabad particularly after the sad Mecca Masjid bombings, a few months ago and the murderous fanatic attack on writer Taslima Nasrin last month. There was sufficient indication that Hyderabad is not only a sensitive spot but also a hotbed of jehadi machinations. But with amazing disdain the UPA has preferred to look the other way.
Hyderabad blasts where 44 people were killed are only the latest of many previous macabre terror attacks since the UPA came to power. The perpetrators have gone untraced. Not a single terror attack in the country since this government assumed charge has been solved. The government has grown so brazen in its lethargy that when the Lok Sabha expressed its pain and anguish over the Hyderabad attacks the Home Minister as usual tuned in his familiar template and said there was no need for a more effective mechanism to deal with the situation. More interestingly, a so-called latest status report on internal security situation placed in the Lok Sabha contained only stale information which was circulated almost a year ago.
The Home Minister waving the 60-page report had asked the members to go through the report as it contained, according to him, material listing the seriousness of the government in dealing with terror. In the interregnum at least four major terror attacks had taken place, including Malegaon, Samjhauta blasts and Mecca Masjid. But the document presented by the minister was an exact replica of those mentioned in a similar status paper released nine months ago. Also during this period there were a number of Naxalite and North-east terrorist attacks on the innocent public and security personnel. In fact, there cannot be a more telling instance of the centre'sineptitude.
It is not simply the communalization of terror investigation and pandering to vote bank syndrome. The centre is unapologetically callous and inexplicably indulgent to terror outfits and their political masters. For instance, after the attack on Taslima in Hyderabad by the MIM goons, an outfit supporting the Congress both at the centre and the state, there was no charge sheet or arrest against the culprits. But there was a charge sheet filed against the Bangladeshi writer for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
Shivraj Patil declares at the top of his voice in the Lok Sabha that he will not invoke POTA or any other stringent criminal procedure codes against the terrorists as that will harass the alleged or perceived criminals. He also says with equal fervour, there are effective laws already in place to tackle terror and ensure safety. But the question remains why is the success rate of his ministry such a big zero? We are not looking for answers here. For, they have to come from elsewhere.
But one thing is clear as daylight. This government has no will to fight terror or punish the guilty, rather it believes it is safe and rewarding not to disturb the blood thirsty out-laws in their nefarious designs. And so Hyderabad blast is only yet another of the long list of unresolved acts of terror unsettling the nation. And the guilty is out, perhaps ensconced in the salubrious climes of sarkari patronage plotting another dastardly attack on the state.
