Advani said it

The editorial says that the UPA government should take additional measures on a 8216;war footing8217; to bolster internal security and that the states should 8216;redouble8217; their efforts in combating this menace. But it terms RSS/BJP reactions after the attacks as 8216;unfortunate8217; and 8216;destructive8217;.

8220;Having said this, it is equally important for us as a country to look inwards and exterminate all such viruses that sow the seeds of division within us. It is in this context that the RSS/BJP reactions are ominous. It is not merely unfortunate but it would be downright destructive to see a window of opportunity in these dastardly attacks to whip up communal passions in order to regain the BJP8217;s waning political base in the country, given the ongoing elections in Karnataka and forthcoming elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,8221; it says.

Acknowledging that certain militant Islamist organisations are in the dock, the editorial says that such outfits will have to be isolated. 8220;While no organisation/outfit has claimed 8216;credit8217; for this savagery, clearly the needle of suspicion points to the involvement of some Islamist terrorist organisations. Such outfits will have to be8230; expelled from India8217;s social and political life,8221; it says.

Break in Nepal

In an article on Nepal8217;s Constituent Assembly elections, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat has hailed the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal as a setback to US diplomacy in South Asia. 8220;At every step, from the formation of the interim government with the participation of the Maoists to the holding of the Constituent Assembly elections on April 10, US plans were thwarted. The example of tiny Nepal defending its national sovereignty and standing up to US dictates should be a lesson for the rest of South Asia,8221; writes Karat in an article titled 8216;Nepal: Portents for South Asia8217;.

Karat writes that the Nepal poll results represented a 8220;vital break in the now familiar pattern of intervention and influence by US imperialism in the affairs of South Asia.8221; He says that even the people of Pakistan have started resenting US policy in their country and expresses the hope that the same trend will play out in Bangladesh.

8220;Its hypocritical stance of promoting democracy has been repeatedly proven to be a sham in South Asia. In Pakistan, its US8217; firm support to the Musharraf regime despite its authoritarian measures evoked strong opposition from all sections of the people. The people of Pakistan deeply resent the US 8216;war on terror8217; which has been imposed on it. The results of the elections to the National Assembly saw a rejection of this US sponsored regime. In Bangladesh, the United States alongwith its European allies, is extending full support to the military sponsored regime and is working for some sort of guided democracy to be set up there. Here again, the people of Bangladesh will assert themselves and the struggle for the restoration of democracy will pick up momentum and popular support,8221; writes Karat.