India’s interests betrayed in Egypt

The Prime Minister of the Union of India is oath-bound to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. And also to faithfully discharge his duties towards all manner of people in accordance to the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

Now India is no stranger to terrorism. Terrorists have been ripping us apart for decades and thousands of innocent lives have been lost under jihadi attacks. These only increased in intensity and frequency in the last few years. Bomb blasts became a routine and the people, appalled at our leaders' inaction, accepted it as a fact of life. Then 26/11 happened. This attack on Mumbai was no routine bomb blast. But we had professionally trained fidayeen attackers wrecking havoc in India's commercial capital. They held the city hostage for over 60 hours and by the time they were neutralised over 300 innocent lives had been lost. Landmark buildings were in flames, many lives were disrupted. People were enraged at this assault on their lives and the PM addressed the nation. Condemnations and promises were a part of it -

The dastardly terror attacks that took
place in Mumbai last
night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many
others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of
senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign
countries. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and
sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to
look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical
treatment of injured.

[...] We are not prepared to countenance
a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated
with impunity by terrorists.

[...] We will take the strongest possible
measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are
determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and
security of our citizens.

[...] We will take up strongly
with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us
will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are
not taken by them. [Link] (Emphasis added)

In the seven months since then, all we saw was a bunch of files exchanged between us and Pakistan. Leave inflicting costs on our neighbour aside, even diplomatic measures weren't forthcoming. When Singh and Gilani met in Egypt last week, this resulted -

Both Prime Ministers recognized that
dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to
the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister
Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including
all outstanding issues. [Link] (Emphasis added)

We had Singh assuring the nation, all the while, no dialogue would take place unless Pakistan acted credibly on ending terrorism. And now we have the same Singh agreeing to de-link terrorism from discussions with Pakistan. It gets even worse -

Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that
Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas. [Link]

Balochistan featured in the joint statement. When it is India that is among the worst affected by terrorism in the world and clearly was the victim in the Mumbai attacks, thanks to Singh, Pakistan manages to paint itself as a victim. It was Singh's responsibility to ensure keeping pressure and onus on Pakistan. But what really happened, in his presence, was that both the nations came out as equally aggrieved parties. It is astonishing that images of destruction and innocent blood did not come to Singh's mind when he met Gilani and issued the joint statement in Egypt. And this is the same person who is known to have lost sleep on at least one other occasion. So much for guarding India's interests. Singh's attempt of passing the buck and seeking refuge under "bad drafting" is juvenile to say the least. It lends all the more credence to the fact that he was not being diligent in Egypt.

Singh, being the PM, ought to realise the responsibilities of his position and the potential implications of his actions on nation. He has demonstrated an inability to do so on multiple occasions. This particular joint statement has grave implications. Singh's judgement is a suspect. Until he proves otherwise, it must be concluded that Singh is incapable of keeping our national interest above all else.

Secular props

Kavita Karkare (widow of former ATS chief Hemant Karkare) is the latest to be propped up by our 'secular' media to drum up 'humanitarian' support for 'Mumbai's Butcher'. In an interview to NDTV, mrs. Karkare says -

'Initially, even I was angry, but now I think I am overcoming that anger. Because, every time anger and violence will not help solve this problem (of terrorism),'..

This sounds eerily similar to the secularspeak adopted by the editors of the same media house. Similar, if not exact, words were heard in television debates held after the Mumbai carnage in Nov 2008. Perhaps that is what we hear on television rather than her own voice.

It indeed is curious as to how the flag bearers of 'secularism' gang up supporting elements that ought to be condemned and brought to justice. Every incidence sees a repeat of the 'secular' interests being protected first, rather than the larger interests of the society and the nation. At every such instance the 'secularists' manage to cloud the public intellect with their secularspeak and hijack public discourse with their agenda. The Kashmir issue, the Amarnath land row, Babri Masjid, Gujarat, Kandahar, Islamic terror, Mumbai carnage etc. are all being undermined by bleeding hearts, not allowing an honest discussion, sincere and hard look at the reality facing us today or call spade a spade.

The Mumbai attack of Nov 2008 was an opportunity for the usual suspects -- and also the non-performers in the government -- to redeem themselves, yet what we have been seeing is the same 'secular' agenda being pushed again. And now attempts are underway to 'defend' Ajmal Kasab's 'Human Rights'.

While the 'secularists' will be what they are, the other side of the divide has also failed to effectively frame their argument. They continue to fail in calling the left and 'secular' bluff. They have failed to effectively and convincingly argue their point. Instead the 'oppressed minority' theory continues to be in vogue. In spite of actually being the victims and even with the facts on their side, they fail to articulate themselves. They fall for the 'secular' hit and run trap and expend all their energies on proving themselves innocent. In these 5-6 weeks since the Mumbai carnage, we haven't heard anyone make coherent, well articulated argument putting things in the right perspective. The 'secular' charade continues.

More lip service

Manmohan Singh has apologised to the nation over the Mumbai attacks. However, he owes much more than that. He, along with Sonia, has blood on his hands. Sitting over specific intelligence inputs is akin to complicity in murder.

That it took Manmohan Singh this long to realise his folly is a sorry indication of his clouded intellect. This realisation ought to have dawned on him back in Aug. 2004 (soon after he took over as our PM) when a bomb went off in Assam (ironically represented by him in the Rajya Sabha) killing innocent school children. That should have been the incident to startle Singh from his slumber and jolt him in action. Since then, there have been at least a dozen major terror attacks on our soil and yet it is now, after about 3000 lives have been lost, he realises his mistake. Unconvincing. So much for his concern for the aam aadmi!

There is one critical realisation that has not yet dawned on Singh. It is actions that define a leader, not words. Throughout his tenure, all that Singh has ever delivered is sermons to the nation. What baffles one and all is when Singh knew so much on what the government should be doing, why has there been no action on his part. L K Advani, in the Lok Sabha, rightly asked the question, "Are you here to govern or tender advice?". And Arun Shourie, in the Rajya Sabha, has made a compelling argument indicting the ruling dispensation of criminal apathy are dereliction of duty.

Perhaps no other Prime Minister has hurt our national interest so much as Manmohan Singh. He has been nothing short of a monumental letdown.

The people of the nation are angry precisely because of the UPA's failure to act on any significant matter. The current outpour is only a culmination of over 4 years of frustration. Mere words or assurances will no longer placate the them, action, rather concrete and decisive action in the nation's interest will. The opposition too has vowed its complete support to steps in this regard. It is questionable if the PM will shun partisanship and appeasement to stand up and deliver for the nation.

We won't learn, we are Congressmen

That is the message from the Congress leaders. Mumbai was a war zone for about three days. Hundreds of innocent Indians died, some of our bravest men lost their lives protecting us and yet the Congressmen fail it get it.

Vilasrao Deshmukh and R R Patil stepped down, not willingly and accepting failure, but rather reluctantly and under pressure from the 'high command'. No concern for integrity and morality. Narayan Rane is even worse, having failed to score the CM chair, the man has now revolted against his party. Our country burns and the Congressmen squabble for power. That is Congress's definition of national interest for you.

Indian security forces were not hasty

Isreali intelligence personnel seem to believe that Indian security personnel acted in haste in storming to flush the Jihadis out in Mumbai. While this may have been true elsewhere that was facing such a situation for the first time, it is not true in India's case. India has seen decades of Jihad waged on its soil by Rabid Islamists. And we have all the intelligence and evidence one could have against Pakistan. In fact, we probably have more than enough evidence that conclusively connects Pakistan with all the terror unleashed in India. Our political leadership has been inept in using it to secure India's interests. And that is the sad part.

Sold out souls

The recent terror attacks in Mumbai have left this blogger shocked, enraged and dismayed. My nation has been under attack for years now. This is only an escalation. But this has eluded our political leaders. The media slant, even in such times, is disturbing. CNN-IBN has not even bothered to wait for the situation to get under control to start putting a spin on it. Read this for a conclusive proof of them having sold out their souls. This line is particularly galling -

What baffles the security agencies is the sacred thread tied on his wrist which many say could be a plot to show that the attack was undertaken by probably an extreme Hindu group.

While all other reports prove that this is an Islamic terror attack. Read here, here, here and here.

And here, CNN-IBN is already trying to protect the gutless wonder Shivraj Patil. Completely soulless and sickening.

Terrorists wage war in Mumbai

There should be no doubt that India is under terror attack. It has been for a few years now, but the terrorists have ratcheted up scale and intensity. Will the leaders, particularly Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil have the intellectual clarity to realize this or will their pusillanimity continue? It is time the people held them responsible of derelection of duty and give the current leadership the boot.