People's Democracy

THE December 13 attack on Parliament House, the most important symbol of Indian democracy, has stunned the whole nation and the world. This was the first time in independent India that a dastardly attack took place on the building. It came not very far behind another deadly attack on the J&K assembly building on October 1.

It was reported that all the five terrorists who entered the building were killed. Apart from one gardener, six security personnel including one policewoman were also killed while doing their duty. In fact it was the security personnel who saved the situation for us.

Though the whole nation heaved a sigh of relief when the plan was foiled, the episode has left behind a series of puzzling questions.

The most puzzling thing about the attack was the ease with which the heavily armed terrorists could enter this high-security zone and reach the main entrance of the Parliament House. These terrorists were armed with AK-47 rifles and hand grenades, and one of them was a human bomb who eventually exploded himself. Moreover, the car in which they had entered the building was found full of lethal RDX and other ammunition; their quantity was enough to blow up the whole building if only our security personnel had not diffused all this explosive by risking their own lives.

The attack came despite the information the government had about the possibility that terrorists might target the Parliament House itself. Prime minister Vajpayee had talked about the possibility in a meeting, not to talk of a couple of statements the union home minister L K Advani had made in this regard. Then, on the basis of the statement given by a person arrested in Mumbai, Maharashtra deputy chief minister cum home minister Chhagan Bhujbal had also informed the centre that such an attack could take place. Thus the centre had no dearth of information about it. As the media reported, defence minister Fernandes had asked for Z+ security on that very day; he had earlier been moving around without security.

The attack on parliament came as a sequel to a series of security lapses in recent past. It was during the BJP-led regime that a plane was hijacked to Kandahar, terrorists entered the Red Fort, a few more similar things took place, and the drama of a plane hijack was enacted. Then --- in the first case of its kind --- a member of parliament was gunned down in broad daylight, not very far from the Parliament House. All these episodes go to show the sorry state of security environment today. People are wondering what security of life and property they may have in such a situation.

Immediately after the attack was foiled, Advani refused to accept that there was any intelligence failure or breach of security. He tried to wriggle out by saying that terrorists could after all attack the Pentagon as well. His plea is that there is no way a suicide squad’s plan may be thwarted. This is a bogus logic, to say the least. If the home minister cannot ensure the safety of the very seat of governance, nothing can really be more pathetic. And what may be expected from him about the safety of the common citizens?

For two days the government also remained ignorant about the way the terrorists entered the building. In those days, the government spokesmen kept saying that the terrorists had entered the building from the Vijay Chowk side, while a TV visual later revealed that they had effected their entry from the Parliament Street side. This also exposes the state of the government’s functioning.

Immediately after the episode was over, senior BJP leaders let loose a barrage of jingoistic statements --- possibly with the aim of concealing their own utter incompetence. The language used was that of tit for tat. The prime minister said bombastically that the war against terrorism had entered a decisive phase, while the home minister talked of "extermination" of terrorists and their supporters. However, when mediapersons asked Advani to elaborate the idea of "extermination," he simply appeared non-plussed and tried to wriggle out by saying that he had said all that he wanted to say.

Most irresponsible of all this was the talk of "hot pursuit," meaning that our armed forces would enter the Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in a bid to flush out the terrorists and destroy their training camps. Virtually everybody in the main ruling party, from top leaders down to the minnows, talked about the supposed need of "hot pursuit" for two or three days. It was only a severe criticism in the media, followed by a categorical statement from the army’s top brass about the very futility of the idea, that compelled the BJP leaders to give up this irresponsible talk. And the army should be knowing. For it is they who would have been asked to implement the idea if the political leadership had really decided about it.

Or was it the US secretary of state Colin Powell’s advice to the Indian government that proved more decisive in making the latter give up the idea of hot pursuit?

It is nobody’s contention that the government must not act tough against terrorism. It must. But pursuing the idea of "hot pursuit" is certainly not the way to go about it. As the CPI(M) has warned, any military misadventure would not serve the purpose of finishing the terrorist organisations. On the contrary, any military action, even a limited one, would spark off a full-scale war in the subcontinent. One must also remember that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers today. As a war has its own inexorable logic, nobody can say with certainty that a war between the two nations would not lead to a nuclear war.

Instead of talking about hot pursuit, it would be better if the regime places all the evidence about the terrorists and their supporters before the world community, including the USA, and before the UN. This way the government of India can bring pressure upon the Pakistan government to act against the terrorist organisations who are funded by it and are operating from the Pakistani soil. This would be the only sensible course of action in the circumstances, would be in the country’s best interests and would convince the world community about the justness of India’s case. It is another matter that such a course of action would not allow the BJP to rouse jingoistic feelings among the people for its narrow ends.

There is no doubt that India is today facing a severe onslaught of terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir and in north-east. Valuable lives of our securitymen are getting lost in this fight, innocent civilians are being killed, children are becoming orphans, women are losing their husbands. Valuable public properties and civic amenities are being destroyed, causing untold hardships to our people.

It is also true that the threat of terrorism has increased manifold after the USA’s Afghan war. With the Northern Alliance taking over in Kabul, General Musharraf has lost his game in Afghanistan, at least for the time being. He is also facing the wrath of fundamentalist groups at home. Therefore it would not be surprising if he takes some desperate step against India in a bid to save his own skin. On the other hand, the Taliban soldiers who have run away from their own country are ‘unemployed’ at present and may be used to create troubles in J&K. It is therefore a tough time for India and the government needs to avoid any rash action lest it gets isolated in the world arena.

At the same time, the government has singularly failed to address the root causes of terrorism and extremism through determined political measures, win the confidence of the affected people and isolate the anti-national forces. Thus it is repeating the same mistake which the earlier Congress regime had committed. Instead, as detailed in these columns earlier, the main ruling party has been out to rouse passions in the country and to target the minorities, particularly in view of the fast approaching UP polls. And this is precisely what it again sought to do after the December 13 attacks.

As an integral part of this very game, the BJP also sought to create an environment in favour of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and to push it through the parliament. Advani is itching to move the bill in parliament. Jitendra Reddy, a BJP MP from Andhra Pradesh and a minnow in the party, was heard saying on TV that the attack could not have taken place if only the parliament had passed the POTO. Perhaps the man was ignorant of the fact that POTO is already in force for the last two-odd months. The point is simple: the December 13 attack took place despite the POTO, and it would be the height of naivete to believe that the POTO’s transformation into an act of parliament would curtail the possibility of terrorist attacks. After all, were the terrorists deterred by the earlier TADA? Whom are the BJP men trying to fool?

On December 18, making a statement in Lok Sabha about the attack, Advani again patted his government’s back that it had foiled the attack. He also said Pakistan is "unable to reconcile itself with the reality of a secular, democratic, self-confident and steadily progressing India, whose standing in the international community is getting inexorably higher with the passage of time." This way, the representative of a party that always fumbles against secularism, sought to appropriate the credit for Indian secularism; those notorious for undemocratic acts are talking of democracy; and the government that lowered India’s standing in the world is claiming that our international standing "is getting inexorably higher" in its dispensation!

But that apart, the basic point is something else. The discussion in parliament has shown that the whole country solidly stands against terrorism and extremism but is not in favour of any rash action. Nobody can take any exception if the government takes determined measures to address the root causes of terrorism and to eliminate once for all the menace that seriously threatens our unity and integrity as well as peace and progress in South Asia. But this requires a non-partisan, non-sectarian approach on part of the government. The post-December 13 situation is also one in which the very sincerity of the present BJP-led NDA government is under scanner, and if the government fails in this test, it would have nobody else to be blamed except itself.