Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley tells AASHA KHOSA that his party will support any ‘tough’ measure against terrorism.
First, BJP leader L K Advani did not fly with the prime minister to Mumbai after the terror attacks there, and then he did not attend the all-party meeting called by the PM. Is the BJP in no mood to cooperate with the government in combating terrorism?
The BJP will support all measures that take a tough stance on terrorism. We will, however, not support any measure that is soft on the menace. Building a political consensus should never be seen as a sign of weakness on the part of political parties and make them dilute their stand on such an important issue.
Our stand on this issue is very clear. We have told the government that the BJP is ready to support the move to have a federal investigating agency, which will investigate, fight terrorism and ensure punishment for terrorists, provided the government also comes out with a strong anti-terror law. We firmly believe that without this law, the federal investigating agency will be of no use.
Besides, we have offered our full support in assessment of what action — diplomatic or otherwise — should be taken against Pakistan for that country’s obvious involvement in Mumbai and other terrorist attacks in India.
Reading too much into Advaniji not coming for the meeting is a non-serious comment on the BJP’s strong commitment to elimination of terrorism. The party decided to send its leader in the Rajya Sabha instead of its leader in the Lok Sabha for the all-party meet. Advaniji was busy campaigning (for Assembly elections) and there was no urgency for him to rush back as the election had not been postponed.
What plan of action would you like the government to take immediately in view of the lessons learnt from the Mumbai attacks?
We are not only insisting on having a tough anti-terror law in place but also a better intelligence assessment of the security situation in the country. We expect the government to beef up the security forces. We are looking forward to a massive expansion in the intelligence agencies. These agencies should be made more professional and equipped with whatever they need to be a modern force capable of infiltrating into the terrorist organisations.
Besides, the government must continue to build up and maintain the pressure on Pakistan. That country should not be allowed to live in self-denial indefinitely.
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Also, the government must be clear that it has to act quickly against terrorism and de-link it from politics, particularly vote-bank politics. Any move towards this (improving the situation) should be solely linked to considerations of national security.
The UPA government would probably find it difficult to give a Pota-like law to the country in view of its known stand on the issue. In that case, would you continue to cooperate with the government on anti-terror strategies?
For the BJP, a strong anti-terror law is non-negotiable. There is no country in the world which is on the terrorists’ target and does not have a deterrent anti-terror law. The law will not only act as a deterrent but also enable the agencies to investigate the incidents of terrorism smoothly and effectively.
However, a suicide bomber is unlikely to be deterred by any law? Does it actually work against the modern-day terrorist?
Yes, such a diehard person does not care about law. But the fact is that an anti-terror law will enable better investigation and quicker punishments to the perpetrators of terror and also their collaborators. Such laws have become effective deterrent in other countries.
Looking back at the Mumbai attacks, where did the country fail in pre-empting the moves of terrorists and then in fighting them?
We have no reason to doubt the government’s assessment that an operation of the level which was carried out in Mumbai last week could not have been conducted without the active co-operation and support of Pakistan. The operation of this kind obviously cannot be conducted by the non-state actors without the support of state and official agencies. Whether the political establishment of Pakistan is involved or not, only time will tell. But as we have known, Pakistan is a country with multiple power centres, which are much stronger than the actual power centres.
Then, we feel, the Mumbai attack happened because of the absence of specific intelligence inputs and also because of the lack of communication of available intelligence.
After the Mumbai attacks people seem to have turned their ire against politicians...
One understands the public criticism of politicians. After all, the politicians are accountable and people have the right to criticise them whenever they go wrong. However, this time, it was a section of the society and the government-friendly sections of the media who were involved in targeting politicians, which was clearly aimed at deflecting attention from the government’s failure in tackling terrorism. Why else should they try to say that all the politicians are bad? How can the politicians who have always taken a tough position on terrorism be blamed for the Mumbai strikes?
It was former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who started the peace process with Pakistan. But how do you plan to deal with Pakistan in this changed scenario?
Vajpayeeji had started the historic peace process with Pakistan which the UPA government had continued. However, Pakistan is not only a geographic entity but a country that has several power centres, which makes the situation complicated. This emerging terrorist threat emanating from the Pakistani soil, along with the post-Mumbai attitude of Pakistan, has indeed brought the peace process to a naught.
The government has been consulting the BJP leaders on its future course of action in dealing with the threat from global terrorism. How convinced are you about the government’s ability to put a firm anti-terrorism policy in place?
This government’s DNA indicates that it is incapable of taking a strong position against terrorism. Its words have never been matched by its actions. However, we would be too happy if P C Chidambaram’s induction (as the Union Home Minister) makes a difference.