news details |
|
|
| India needs stringent anti-terror laws | | | Joginder Singh
After October 2005, Delhi was again targeted by terrorists who orchestrated a series of co-ordinated bomb blasts on September 13 killing as many 21 people and injuring over 100 people.
The bombs - the first of which exploded at 6.15 pm - went off within 45 minutes of each other and were placed in three posh and crowded commercial areas. All blasts were of low intensity, and the defused bombs used a cocktail of ammonium nitrate, gun powder, ball bearings and nails, with timer devices. Incidentally, they were similar to the bombs that were used by terrorists in Jaipur, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. They were all set off using electronic timers.
The Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown terrorist group with links to Pakistani radicals, has claimed responsibility. It first came to prominence in May 2008 when it claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in Jaipur (May 13, 2008) that killed 63 people, as well as in Ahmedabad (July 26, 2008) which left 56 dead.
The Gujarat government says the terrorists arrested by it had confessed that Delhi would be the next target, and the state had duly alerted the Centre. In the emails sent before the Ahmedabad blasts, the Indian Mujahideen had said, "In the light of injustice and wrongs done to the Muslims of Gujarat, we advance our jihad and call our brethren to unite and answer these irresolute kaffireens of India. We call you, O! Muslims of Gujarat, to elevate yourselves from the fears of these wretched Hindus, to unify all your courage and bravery that you have in your hearts."
Indeed, Delhi has been a frequent target of terrorists as the figures in the table show:
It is sickening how the terrorists use religion to justify their heinous acts. In the name of freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, they are out to destroy our country.
Those in power keep saying that terrorism will be dealt with strongly, but we do not even have a specific anti-terror law in place. The question which the highly-protected government leaders should ask is: How long will our people live in fear in our own country?
This is not about "terror" or "low-intensity strikes" or "bomb blasts". This is war on our country. And Indians, who have nothing to do with terrorism, are just caught in the war. The sooner the Union government realises this, the better it will be. It should remember that all is fair in love and war. It cannot make excuses and not fight this war.
There are no rules in killing an enemy who is out to kill you. The government should rise above its vote-bank politics and enact strict anti-terror laws. Incidentally, anti-terrorist laws passed by the Rajasthan and Gujarat Assemblies are gathering dust in New Delhi. The Centre must take action soon, as it is of no use locking the stables after the horses have bolted.
If the government cannot assure security, it should forget about development and foreign investment, industrialisation and higher economic growth. The government on its part should stop making statements full of bravado which are not backed up by action.
Apart from this, citizen and market welfare associations should spend money on hiring private security personnel and installing CCTV cameras and other monitoring equipment in their localities. Instead of depending only on the police force, citizens should themselves spend some money to improve their security. The police anyway is busy providing security to the politicians who, according to an observation of the Delhi High Court, are not "national assets".
The choice before India is simple: defeat terrorism or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must.
Author is a former director of the CBI |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
