Terror’s wake up call

We would have been able to identify them if the Government of India had created that most fundamental requirement to fight this war: a computerised database. This can only be useful if it is created at the level of the Government of India, with links to every police force in the country. Without this database state governments have no way of fighting this war. Of course, the state governments must do their bit and the Maharashtra Government needs to be publicly reviled for wasting time arresting bar girls and smokers instead of setting up a competent anti-terrorism unit.

Last week’s attacks in Mumbai would have required months of planning. People trapped in the Taj and Oberoi told their rescuers that the terrorists seemed to know exactly where everything was, from the elevators to the number of exits. There must have been dry runs. Were Maharashtra’s intelligence agencies sleeping? When security was tightened a few months ago at Mumbai’s hotels, did the police create contingency plans? Were they prepared for an attack by armed men? State governments have shown themselves to be singularly useless in fighting terrorism but the final responsibility for Indian cities being such easy targets lies with the Government of India, with the Prime Minister personally.

There is a war being waged against India by sophisticated, highly motivated mujahideen who believe their evil jihad has the sanction of Allah. To fight them we must first admit that there is a jihad. This neither Sonia Gandhi nor the Prime Minister is able to do for fear that they might hurt Muslim sentiments. They don’t appear to see that by not admitting that Islamist terrorism is a reality, they virtually condemn all Muslims as being part of the jihad. If you notice the ease with which the Government of India labelled the Sadhvi and her colleagues as Hindu terrorists, you know that dangerous political games are being played that endanger India’s security.

It has to be said here that the Bharatiya Janata Party is as much to be blamed as the government. Its demand that Hindu terrorists be treated with respect is outrageous and irresponsible. As for its own record in fighting terrorism while in government, the less said the better. One of the blackest chapters in our war against Islamist terrorism is the shameful handling of the hijacking of IC 814. It is hard to forget the generosity Jaswant Singh showed in personally escorting Maulana Azhar Masood and Omar Sheikh to Kandahar. Or the generosity the Government of India showed by not doing a thing to punish them later. We know they fled to Pakistan and lived under ISI protection but do we not have our own covert agencies? Is RAW unable to assassinate two sick monsters?

The jihad against India is a national problem. The Prime Minister is most to blame for the pusillanimity of India’s response but the opposition parties must rise above petty political considerations and lend their full support. The jihad seeks to destroy all the things that make India what it is. We cannot let this happen.