The Centre will come out with details on the arrest and release of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru by the NDA Government, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in an attempt to turn the tables on the BJP.Earlier, reacting to senior BJP leader L K Advani’s criticism of the Centre’s handling of the Afzal issue, the Congress had maintained that Afzal had been picked up by security agencies but let off after questioning, barely two months before the Parliament attack. Jaiswal went a step further, saying the Government would provide all information on the episode within 24 hours.When asked if it was the Prime Minister (Atal Behari Vajpayee) or the Home Minister (Advani) who had issued orders for his release, he said: “Orders for arrest or release are not issued by the Prime Minister or Home Minister.”“These things take time,” Jaiswal said, referring to the clemency petition of Afzal that is pending with the President. Advani had wanted to know if Afzal had been given “unofficial clemency” by the UPA Government.The Minister, meanwhile, reeled off figures in an attempt to counter Advani’s criticism of the Centre’s handling of the internal security. Citing figures for the last four years, Jaiswal claimed the situation had shown a huge improvement, and the level of militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir had fallen by 70 per cent.The year 2003 saw 3,401 incidents that left 314 security personnel and 795 civilians dead. The figures for 2007 stood at 1,054 incidents and 105 soldiers and 154 civilians dead. The number of terrorists killed in 2003 was 1,494 terrorists. This fell to 460 in 2007 as the situation improved, Jaiswal said. He claimed the government wanted a 100 per cent improvement but nobody should vitiate the atmosphere by making comments on the security situation.He accused the NDA’s Prime Minister candidate of creating an atmosphere of fear and tension, saying his intention seemed to be to generate insecurity by talking of terrorism.BJP slams Cong on terrorNEW DELHI: Reacting strongly to the Congress’ charges against L K Advani, the BJP on Friday said the core issue regarding terrorism is “whether one fights terror and terrorists with commitment and conviction or with convenience and an eye on the vote bank.” “This is the crucial benchmark that differentiates the BJP and the NDA from the Congress and the UPA,” said BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad.At a rally in Jabalpur on Wednesday, Advani had trained guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for alleged failures on the security front. The Congress, on its part, cited Advani’s alleged failure as Home Minister on Thursday. Not letting the issue go, the BJP on Friday said the Congress’ charges are “not only amusing but also an attempt to conveniently gloss over its own dismal record which had led to the growth, consolidation and spread of terrorism across the vast tracks of the country, leading to the loss of more than 70,000 lives so far.” Prasad said all problems of security that the country faces today are the legacy of Congress misrule.
