Opinion Soft and softer
There have been blasts in Boston and Bangalore. In Boston there was palpable shock for the American counterterrorism forces that 12 years after 9/11
There have been blasts in Boston and Bangalore. In Boston there was palpable shock for the American counterterrorism forces that 12 years after 9/11,there could be twin explosions on such an iconic dayPatriots Day in such a historic city. Whoever planted those devices was aiming at maximum damage and yet,tragic as three deaths and a hundred injuries are,this was luckily a small affair.
Still,the US authorities are taking it seriously. The President has liaised with the Governor of Massachussets and the Mayor of Boston. The police authorities of Boston are cooperating with federal forces. The terrorist will be caught whether native or alien and be punished. The country is united and willing.
Contrast the Bangalore blasts. They occurred just as the Home Minister had been humiliated by state Chief Ministers who refused to turn up for a meeting which could have discussed counterterrorism coordination. Chidambaram tried when he was Home Minister to implement a counterterrorism strategy but gave up. It seems like Sushil Kumar Shinde is not having much luck either.
The Bangalore blast will be tackled no doubt,but the politics has descended into a farce. The Congress tweets that the blast will help the BJP win more votes. Cue for the BJP to climb onto the high horse of national unity. There has been no sense of urgency or even seriousness from Delhi.
While the media headlines and the party spokespersons are obsessing about NaMo versus RaGa,about communalism versus secularism,about inclusive development versus rapid growth,the cohesion of the nation is being taken for granted. But it is quite clear that as far as terrorism is concerned,individual states do not believe they can cede any powers to the Centre no matter how serious the threat. We are not in this respect willing to be a nation but content to be a collection of states. Five years after 26/11,there is still no national strategy to fight terrorism and indeed no high priority assigned to the task.
There have been other danger signals. I have already complained about each state having its own foreign policy. But Jayalalithaa went one further by banning Sri Lankan IPL players from playing in Chennai. She even wrote to the Prime Minister about it. As far as I know,the PM has not responded to this blatant challenge to national sovereignty. The IPL surrendered,but then the Chennai Super Kings profited from the ban,and the BCCI is Chennai friendly!
But neither IPL nor BCCI should have any say in this matter. If someone has a valid visa to enter India,they should be free to go wherever they wish to. Tamil Nadu is not a nation state but a unit of the Union of India. Its attempt to restrict movement of people within its boundaries should have been immediately and firmly shot down.
Way back in 1962,Annadurai,the patron saint of the AIADMK,had threatened to secede from India during a speech in the Lok Sabha,but one thought that moment had passed. If it is being revived for the greater glory of the Chief Minister,we should all be alarmed. We have instead silence.
It is not that coalition dharma is any excuse,but even that is not available as the AIADMK is not part of the UPA II. It may seem a lot of fuss to make about something to which the IPL has voluntarily surrendered,but this sets precedent which India will regret. Bal Thackeray wanted non-Maharashtrians to have second-grade status in Mumbai. Even today Uttar Pradesh migrants to Mumbai get harassed by Raj Thackerays MNS. The Congress is in power in Maharashtra,but courage has not been its forte for two decades now. Somehow Mumbai has survived these bouts of parochialism,but for how much longer?
West Bengal is becoming an anarchic state where the police stand by while political parties settle their scores with impunity. What if Presidency College gets destroyed. What matters more Ma,Mati and Mamataor a mere 200-year-old educational institute? At any other time there would be Presidents Rule in West Bengal.
It was said in the 1960s that India was a soft state. It is getting softer. How soon before it dissolves?
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