India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

Resigns Finally some of the Congress ministers have heard the voice of their ‘conscience’ and have resigned taking moral responsibility for the Mumbai Terror Attack. The first to go was Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. He was followed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who also head the state home ministry, sent his resignation to Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh on Monday morning. It must be learnt that R R Patil had won the election on the NCP ticket and is a part of the Sharad Pawar headed NCP and Congress alliance government in Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar had asked the CM to accept his resignation. According to the latest reports CM Deshmukh, too, have entered into the ‘race’ of taking ‘moral responsibility’ for Mumbai attack and has offered to resign. CM Deshmukh had held a press meeting on Monday in which he told that he had sent his resignation to the CVC which had not taken any decision about it. It must be leant that resignation is sent to the Governor according to the norm. His move once again indicates to what extent his ‘conscience has been shaken. A Congress Working Committee meeting was held on Saturday night in which every participant had ‘emphasized the need to ensure accountability from ‘higher to lower level’. Recent resignations are the result of the CWC meeting.

Damage Control Though some ministers have given resignation taking moral responsibility for the Mumbai terror carnage but this exercise appears to be only a ‘damage control’ process. Congress led UPA government is facing the criticism for its failure to take concrete steps against the terrorists. Terrorist have hit the city after city with serial blast but Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil remained stuck to his ‘post’. When Delhi was hit by serial blast he proffered to change his dress before appearing in a press conference. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, always, was ’shaken’ whenever terrorists triggered bomb blasts and killed innocent people. But he never acted upon on his own word that he had iterated after the Samjhota Express blasts. Shivraj Patil has resigned by not ‘listening to his inner voice’ but it is the external ‘voice’ that has forced him to quit the job, he was never eligible for.

Public Reaction On the other hand Mahrashtra government had proved only a ‘failure’. How a government can not save the innocent people from militants that fails even to save some ‘poor’ north Indians from the MNS ‘goondahs’. But it is not the performance of the Maharashtra government that is being debated in public in critical terms but its approach towards the Mubai terror attack is also unacceptable to the public of India. Maharashtra’s Deputy CM R R Patil had made a remark that “small incidents like this do happen in big cities”. His remark indicates that how serious he was about his duty. For him, when India was being attacked , it was a small incident. CM Deshmukh , too had to face the public flak when he visited the terror hit ‘Taj Hotel’ along with filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma and his actor-son. But his visit raised the eyebrows. Public reacted to his visit by circulating text messages through mobile phones. One of which was,”Don’t insult us by thinking of making a ‘realistic’ film glorifying or capitalising on this situation. God please save our country from such terrorism and such filmmakers.”

Questions Indian public has understood the ‘resign’ game and can not be pacified merely was changing some ‘faces’. Government will have to answer many questions. Intelligence agencies, already had warned about the terror attack through sea route. But nothing was done at the ground level. Even the information was not passed on to Coastal Guards and the Navy. Some top cops of Mumbai police died even when they were wearing protective ‘bullet proof’ jackets. It must be learnt that Mumbai police had rejected the ’substandard’ equipment. But they had been supplied the same in spite of their continuous hue and cry.

Anger Indian government has decided to take some ‘concrete’ steps to increase the internal security and has finally agreed to establish a Central Federal Investigation Agency and strengthen a legal framework in the fight against terror. These are initial steps that government of India has decided to take. Only time will tell when they are transformed into reality. But there is no doubt that Congress will have to face the public anger in the wake of Mumbai terror attack.

Public Anger After flushing out the militants form the heart of the Mumbai city government of India is busy to take some concrete measure to strengthen the internal and external security of the nation. Intelligence agencies are collecting the evidence to know about the source of the terror. Initial reports indicate towards the involvement of some Pakistan elements into the attack. Intelligence agencies have recovered satellite phones, garments, explosives that terrorists had brought with them and have been made in Pakistan. In the ‘flush out’ operation nine militants have been killed and one has been arrested alive. During the investigation he has revealed that he is the citizen of Punjab Province of Pakistan. Almost two hundred people have been killed in the terror attack. It has left not only India but all the world ’shocked‘. Though Indian government is hesitant but public has taken it as India’s 9/11. There is public anger against the government, militants and the country from where terrorists had got their training. There is so much anger in the public that some of the relatives of the security personal who laid their lives for the nation, refused to meet some prominent leaders. In first Incident, Gujarat CM had tried to give compensation of One crore rupees to the widow of Mumbai ATS chief Hement Karkare, which she politely refused. Similar kind of incident happened in Bangalore (Kerala) when slain NSG Commander Major Sandeep Unnikrishanan ’s father refused to meet Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and literally shooed him away. In another incident some Muslim bodies have declined to cremate the bodies of the militants ‘on the Indian soil’.

Public and Politicians Though ‘inner self’ of Indian politicians have taken some to wake up but public of India have reacted very sharply towards the attack. People are expressing their anger by circulating SMSs through mobile phones. In some messages politicians have been referred as more dangerous than the Mumbai attackers. People are not angry only with the ruling party but also with the opposition. Assembly elections are being held in some states. Both the ruling and opposition parties have appealed the voters to vote in their favor by raising the issues related to recent militant attacks. Politicians are trying to exploit the public emotions. But this time they have failed to feel the pulse of the public. For politicians Mumbai attack is nothing more than an issue but for public it is an attack on the sovereignty of the nation.

War On Terror Though public of India wants some ‘action’ but anger is not directed towards Pakistan. There is no doubt that the militants were recruited, trained and were sent from the soil of Pakistan. Some ISI elements may be responsible for the act but whole of the Pakistan can not be held responsible for the ‘attack’. It was not only a well planned terrorist attack on India only to kill people but it also has some ‘higher objectives’. Security analysts have expressed that such kind of terrorist attack can not be carried out by some ordinary militants. Involvement of Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taeba, ISI and Dawood Ibrahim can not denied. It might have taken months to plan and carry out the attack. It was the biggest militant attack on a sovereign nation after 9/11 and so its objects were. In recent years Pakistan, after Afghanistan, has emerged as the epicenter of terrorism. International forces are fighting a war against the Taliban supported Al-Qaeda terrorists hiding in the border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan government is also supporting the war and had moved more than 100,000 soldiers from its eastern borders to the tribal area to support the US led war on terror.

Objective For some months US and Pakistan military had intensified their war against the Taliban militants hiding in the tribal areas. They were under tremendous pressure because of the presence of the Pakistani military in the area. Peace deals between Pak military and the tribals had not worked amid international pressure. In such circumstances Pakistani military’s exit from the area could save them from the defeat and it was possible only because of increased hostilities between India and Pakistan. And Mumbai terrorist attack has served their objective. It is the first time in India that militants killed everyone who came in their way. Whether it were rag-pickers or foreign tourists they killed everyone. It shows that their intention was to raise public anger and to create a war like situation between India and Pakistan.