Politics over the fight against terrorism continues as a cautious Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today extended a conditional support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The party, which led the government during the Kargil war and then almost waged another war against Pakistan in 2002 — mobilising military in “Operation Parakram” — today remained silent on its support if the UPA finally decides to strike Pakistan to dismantle its terror modules.
Rather, the BJP today listed a ten-point agenda and said it “will whole-heartedly co-operate with the UPA government” in these steps. Coining the new term “jihadi terrorism”, the BJP, after its core committee meeting to discuss the Mumbai terror aftermath, said “we expect the government is assessing the stern steps that are required to ensure that Pakistan desists from pursuing. As a nationalist party, the BJP shall stand by the government in the effective steps it takes in this regard”.
“Consensus cannot be ex-post facto, it can arise only from consultations. There must, therefore, be a full and comprehensive sharing of facts”, the core committee resolution said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister P Chidambaram met Opposition leader and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani to discuss the security situation in the country.
The list includes immediate suspension of ‘peace process’ with Pakistan, enacting the sternest possible anti-terrorism laws, enabling all states to have uniform anti-terrorism laws — in particular, in clearing all pending anti-terrorist laws that have already been passed by the state Assemblies (a clear indication to the GUJCOCA of Gujarat), and undertaking a total overhaul of the intelligence machinery of the Union government, among other things.
Even as the Manmohan Singh government is moving towards creating a federal investigative agency, the BJP wants “a comprehensive Federal Security Law” along with the establishment of such agency.
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“We welcome the fact that the present government is contemplating creation of a federal agency. But you can’t have a toothless agency without a federal law,” said senior party leader Arun Shourie.
While asking the UPA to effectively use the international platforms to corner Pakistan, the BJP also reminded the Centre about its failure to curb terror attacks. “The UPA must accept that in 2008 alone, there have been 48 terrorist attacks in 18 cities. If all other violence are taken into account then around 2,300 citizens have died on this account. These facts establish the gross failure of the UPA in protecting the country from jihadi predators. The UPA must first demonstrate clarity of assessment, commitment of purpose and a total resolve in this fight for our national security.”
It also upped its ante against Pakistan stating it as the principal exporter of terrorism. “All these attacks couldn’t have taken place without assistance of the Pak authorities,” said Jaswant Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. The main Opposition party also asked the US and other NATO countries that “We also hope that you will see that each time you step in to bail it out, you only embolden Pakistan to continue on its destructive course.”