Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Government failure
The editorial in the latest issue of Organiser, titled 8220;Now a duplicitous game, after they let us all down8221;, observes: 8220;The ineptitude of the Manmohan Singh government in the face of national outrage in the wake of the Mumbai terror carnage could not have been better illustrated than by the miasma of the ongoing political and diplomatic shenanigans being enacted in Delhi. The first act of replacing a failed Home Minister with a failed Finance Minister has exposed the bankruptcy of the discredited dispensation. P Chidambaram has made it clear that he was reluctant to shift to the Home Ministry. There were talks of his being removed from the Finance Ministry because of his poor record on the economic front. He served the longest as Finance Minister. He survived so long because of his servility to 10, Janpath. Under him the economy has slipped downhill. The Congress could not have faced the electorate in 2009 with him as Finance Minister. But for the monumental tragedy in Mumbai, perhaps Chidambaram would have faced Shivraj Patil8217;s fate.8221;
Intelligence 8216;gaps8217;
In an opinion piece titled 8220;Need an iron hand to crush terror8221;, former CBI chief Joginder Singh writes: 8220;Mumbai was attacked on November 26th, 27th and 28th, 2008, by one of the most terrible attacks unleashed by the terrorists. The Prime Minister has said that the government will not cow down and will bring the guilty to book. He has also said that the laws will be tightened to ensure that the terrorists do not take advantage of the loopholes in the law. The security of the people will not be compromised.It is easier said than done, if the past experience has been any guide. With the passage of time, the gravity of the crime gets reduced and with the elections around the corner, the coalition partners would not like to be seen supporting any tough measures against the jehadis. More than anything, the official laughable stand of the government has been that the existing laws are enough. The Prime Minster has more than once pointed out the gaps in intelligence. Instead of saying that there has been a complete failure of intelligence, he has used the word 8216;gaps8217;. There is no doubt that there has been a complete failure of intelligence, whether it was July, 2006 train bomb blasts in Mumbai or 2008, September, serial bomb blasts in Delhi or the latest in Mumbai.
He adds: 8220;There is no doubt that it is the responsibility of the central government to maintain the integrity of the country against aggression both from without and from within. All this about negligence and failure of intelligence and failure of security agencies have been said again and again and since nobody listens, it must be said again. Some of the suggested steps are the use of high technology like the use of CCTV cameras, stricter border patrolling, having a National Citizens Register and involving the Muslim community in the fight against terrorism by enlisting them in intelligence and security agencies. If there is a will to fight terrorism and create a federal agency, the Government can do it overnight by an ordinance. The Government should stop giving the impression of being soft on terrorists.8221;
Compiled by Suman K Jha
