The reaction of the Urdu newspapers to the recent bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad has been more of dejection and helplessness than just anger. Rashtriya Sahara, in an editorial on July 28, wonders why after the Bangalore blasts, when high alerts were declared in various places and the Central Government had expressed apprehension of terror acts in Gujarat only three days earlier, the state government and its intelligence wing were not alerted. Given the low intensity of the blasts, the paper expresses the view that a new terrorist group has been activated that wants to spread fear and panic. It writes that POTA is no solution for an end to terrorism: “some political interests can indeed be served by such a measure and innocents between eight and eighty years of age can certainty be sent behind bars.”

Delhi-based Hamara Samaj (July 28) says that the government should effectively deal with the persons or groups involved in organised terrorism, or the chain of bomb blasts would get longer. It has also taken note of the fact that both the states concerned are ruled by the BJP. Hind Samachar, in its editorial on July 27, writes that following the earlier blasts some persons were held, but none of the real culprits and their apex leaders could be caught and the police and intelligence agencies are going about dissipating their energy. The paper opines that the Indian government would also have to take steps taken by the US after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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