By Allabaksh New Delhi (Syndicate Features): As one who has a sentimental attachment to the Pink City (Jaipur) the news of terror strikes of May 13th resulting in the death of more than 60 persons had brought a sinking feeling. Inevitably, one empathised with the unknown families of the innocent victims. But even when no familiar name had figured in the casualty list there was an overpowering urge to heap curses on the perpetrators of the inhuman crime.
That would have meant shouting in a vacuum for the identity of the perpetrators, as is usual in such cases, was not known. But the class of politicians provided an alternative receptacle for receiving all the maledictions. After May 13 blasts in Jaipur, leaders on either side of the political divide lost no time in blaming each other. The state government decried the Centre for not providing it timely warning based on inputs from the intelligence; the Centre accused the state government of ignoring warnings. This has become a sickening but standard practice after all terrorist attacks.
In between, the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi sought to bail out his party colleague and chief minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje by dismissing advance warnings from the Centre on likely terrorist attacks as no better than ‘weather reports’ from the met office that are famous for being inaccurate. Modi will probably be sobered by the thought that his frequent boasts that terrorists ‘dare not’ attack BJP-ruled states because the party in power has a ‘tough’ reputation against terrorism has been proved horribly wrong.
It is bad enough that after being frequently subjected to terrorist attacks since early 1980s the whole of India has come to be regarded as a ‘soft’ target. What is perhaps more deplorable is the way these tragedies are sought to be politicised. A bomb planted by a terrorist may fail to go off but politicians will never miss an opportunity to start a blame-game series after a terrorist attack. Up to a point it is understandable, maybe even necessary, to pull up the party in power after the loss of innocent lives in a terror attack because the people do expect the government to have by now strategies in place to reduce if not eliminate terrorist offensives. As in most unexpected tragedies, the grieving tend to think that preventive measures would have averted the calamity that befell them. Their cries are natural.
But the same cannot be said truthfully about the copious sympathies expressed by politicians who use such sad occasions mainly to target their rivals and thereby hope to impress the voter with the show of their concern. Rajasthan goes to polls before the end of the year to elect a Vidhan Sabha.
It is said that after 9/11 seven years ago terrorists have not been able to launch any major offensive against the US, which has adopted ‘tough’ anti-terror legislation despite some domestic opposition. Sure, there are those who think the US has adopted laws that violate human rights and so on. But unlike India there are lesser chances of the so-called ‘tough’ laws in the US being used blatantly for political purposes. A ‘tough’ law in India quickly reveals itself to be a ‘draconian’ measure because of its frequent misuse by those in power. It also becomes an instrument to harass or defame an entire community, risking further divisions in society.
The BJP needs to be reminded that even as its goes on pressing for bringing back POTA it had firmly opposed a previous ‘tough’ law, TADA, by describing it as ‘draconian’. The BJP’s belief that the best way to end terrorism is through a ‘tough’ law is astounding.
In so far the idea of a federal terrorism agency goes, it is not for the first time, the demand has come upfront. Such an agency still does not look likely to take shape though. Yet, what is baffling is why certain measures that are not ‘controversial’ and can be implemented without waiting for completing legalities and clearing political hurdles continue to be held in abeyance. The security and intelligence agencies can be toned up without a new legislation or resorting to a massive additional recruitment, though it will entail training the personnel in new techniques.
An even easier task would appear to be better coordination among the states in dealing with a terrorism problem, including tip offs. But any optimism on this front looks exaggerated when in one city alone policemen show contempt for cooperation among themselves when they fight over ‘jurisdiction’ even as an accident victim bleeds profusely on the road.
For over 20 years a constant refrain heard from those who denounce the government for its ‘soft’ approach is to demand action - expulsion - against ‘illegal’ migrants from Bangladesh. Foreign nationals who enter India illegally should certainly be thrown out. But look at how the Rajasthan government plans to deal with the problem of ‘illegal’ Bangladeshis after the May 13 blasts.
For years, the BJP has been demanding action against ‘illegal Bangladeshis’, most of whom actually claim to be Indian nationals hailing from two or three districts of West Bengal. The Raje government now admits that there are some 50,000 Bangladeshis in the state. Of them, at least 10,000 are in Jaipur itself. This means, as a ruling party in Jaipur, the BJP has done nothing to come to grips with the problem. Now it wants to quarantine them into a transit camp till their eventual deportation.
The Raje sarkar expects to complete a survey of illegal Bangladeshis in a month, by which time it hopes to receive information about the ‘Bangladeshis’ from district authorities in West Bengal. The deadline set by the Rajasthan government cannot be met even if it is assumed that the Marxists in West Bengal agree to ‘cooperate’ fully with the Saffronites in Rajasthan. And what happens if the district authorities in West Bengal confirm - as they well might - the genuineness of the claims made by the ‘Bangladeshis’ in Rajasthan? Will the ‘Bangladeshis’ be allowed to stay and live peacefully in Rajasthan or will they still be thrown out of the state? And thrown where?
There is, however, no denying that a lot of Bangladeshis do sneak into India and some of them have taken to various undesirable activities, including terrorism. The land and sea borders of our country remain as porous as they were when terrorism was an unknown word. Perhaps looking at the geographical and other realities it is impossible to eliminate illegal migration into the country. But there are things that can be done to reduce the chances of illegal entry - by strengthening surveillance and intelligence gathering techniques.
Why have all the recommendations and measures of various experts and committees to improve intelligence-gathering system and beef up security at the borders not been implemented? Despite their crying need, reforms that can be introduced without recourse to legislation or building a census have proved elusive and ‘tough’ laws are out; so how does the country grapple with the problem of terrorism? (Syndicate Features)
