As a politician who has changed colours from the Shiv Sena to the NCP, what makes you think you are secular? If Bal Thackeray had made you the chief minister, would you have still been Secular? Aslam KhanWhen I joined the Sena, it was fighting for the sons of the soil — anyone who was a resident of Maharashtra. It deviated from its agenda after 1990 and started dividing society on communal lines. Soon after that I quit the party. I have proved my credentials as a secular politician on various occasions. The question over Thackeray making me chief minister does not arise as I have never played into somebody else’s hand.August 25-twin blasts are a clear outcome of massive intelligence failure on the part of the state police. Not only are there wrong people in wrong posts here but the department has failed in cultivating grass root sources. Considering that this network cannot be build overnight, the malady appears to have been in the police department for long. Why was this not noticed before? S VithalOur recent breakthrough in the case in the form of the arrests in the case has proved that the police are very well competent. The culprits were arrested in record time. Terrorism has become an international problem faced everywhere from the United States to Israel and right upto Indonesia. If there is any problem with our department, why it is happening there? It is not the fault of the department but the growing menace of terrorist networks who are well-equipped and run a sophisticated international network through various countries.Regarding the postings, one has to keep in mind that the postings are done by the Director General, commissioners and superintendents of police in their respective jurisdictions. About the IPS officers, the recommendations come from the a committee comprising DG, home secretary and the chief secretary in consultation with the nod of the chief minister. The allegations are part of the propaganda by political parties and also some disgruntled officers in the department.No Home Minister in any state has come under such scathing criticism from respected former police officials as you have. The words of a man like Julio Ribeiro must certainly hang heavily upon your conscience. Have you ever thought of resigning? Mahesh ShantaramMr Rebeiro has been targetting since long. Ironically, the allegations have been the same all the time. Now, I must reveal something. Mr Ribeiro heads anti-piracy cell of the music industry and gets monetary benefit from it. He always wants the commissioner and other top police officers to attend his meetings and insists that they should dance to his tunes. They cannot attend his meetings everytime. As such, he wants to pressurise us but Chhagan Bhujbal never succumbs to any such tactics.Shiv Sena and BJP are after me because after we came to power, several police officers close to those two parties were shifted. TV images exemplify the utter confusion that prevailed at the blast sites. This means that valuable evidence gets lost and casualties increase. All this could be stemmed if you have Quick Reaction Teams located suitably to arrive at the site in time. This is a tried concept. Why is Maharashtra so callous? Maj. Gen. (Retd) Sudhir JatarWhenever a blast happens, the first job of the police is to save lives of the injured. This gets priority over collecting the evidence. In case of Mumbai blasts, people in the area rushed to the help of the injured which was the need of the moment. Police reached later but still the investigation has been on the right track.It was heartening to know that police have nabbed all those who were involved in the twin-bomb blasts but I would like to know the new steps your government have taken to avert such incidents in the future. Balram BhaduTackling this menace is difficult but possible with the coordination of Central and state intelligence networks and constant monitoring which is why we have formed the anti-terrorist squad. It will concentrate on keeping track of movements of various terrorists organisations and mafia gangs, the narco-terrorist network and also funding of the terrorists. It will surely help the police to keep a tight vigil. We have also formed Quick Response Team on the lines of the Special Protection Group which performed an operation to flush out terrorists from Akshar Dham temple in Gujarat.What do you think is the single-biggest motivation behind the emergence of this new breed of educated terrorists? HusseinMisplaced ideology plays a major role in this. It may sound political for many but the fact is that what happened in Gujarat came in handy for the terrorist organisations to recruit youths who were deeply hurt. This new breed of well-educated terrorists is a serious problem. They do not have any criminal links and do not work for money like the petty criminals in mafia gangs. Our police find it difficult to trace them.There is a close connection between Pakistan’s ISI and some Mumbai-based underworld groups. Considering the effectiveness of Mumbai Police’s special units in curbing the underworld, why can’t terrorism be uprooted from India’s financial capital? AnandakumarAs I said above, the terrorists are educated youths with no track record. If a mafia gang is involved, the police can track them down. However, the modus operandi of international terrorist networks are different. The plans are made in one country, monetary backup comes from another and training is imparted in third. They enter in India from a number of places and once inside the country, they can go anywhere to execute the plans — New Delhi, Akshar Dham or Mumbai.
