•Right, like the ULFA.

ULFA, NDFB — the whole lot. And, when there is a rising trend in all three, fear is widely prevalent, and I think it saps the energy of the nation.

•Also, affects the nation’s self-respect — anybody can come and do anything to you, and you can do nothing about it.

Well, I think the tipping point was Mumbai. Ten guys held the whole country hostage for about 60 hours.

•It was a humiliation.

It was a very sad development and no democratically-elected Government can then say “business as usual”. We have to respond and I think that’s the response.

•And the response is adequate so far?

Well, we have made some beginnings. I gave a report to the nation on December 31 about what we have done. There’s still a long way to go. Each of these three kinds of violence has to be dealt with differently. Cross-border terrorism, or terrorism launched from sources beyond India’s borders, have to be dealt with differently, and that’s what we are trying to do. We have set up the NIA; we have amended the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. We have mounted a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan; we have earned a lot of international support and in the next few days, we will present the evidence to the world.

•What kind of evidence?

It’s overwhelming! I have looked at it as a lawyer.

... contd.