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Congress, BJP fight over who is worse in fighting terror

	February 11, 2008

A battle royale is on between the Congress and the BJP over tackling terror and security. The Congress has criticised BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate L.K. Advani for his questioning of what he calls “the UPA government’s failure in ensuring internal security.” The Government joined the issue on Friday, Feb. 8, releasing facts showing improved threat management





What is your record,, Congress asks Advani



The Congress on Feb. 7 charged the BJP with trying to mislead the people with its “double standards” on internal secur¬ity and terrorism.



Hitting back at senior BJP leader L.K. Advani for his criti¬cism of the UPA government, the Congress asked why the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government was unable to prevent the terror attacks on the Akshardham and Raghunath temples, Parlia¬ment and the Red Fort and innumerable similar incidents.





Advani slams PM



Picking on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani on Feb. 6 accused him of turning India into a haven for terror. Claiming “terrorists feel this is their government and are having a free run,” Advani, named the next prime ministerial candidate by the NDA, said there was need for a “strong leader” to make the 21st century India’s.



Addressing a rally in Jabalpur, the first since the terror threats to his campaign rallies, Advani questioned the delay in hanging Afzal Guru, sentenced to death for his role in the Decem¬ber 2001 Parliament attack.



Advani also raised the issue of continued infiltration of Bangladeshis: “As MP from Assam you (Singh) should answer why infiltration of Bangladeshis is still on the rise, and what has the UPA government been doing since the Supreme Court orders on the IMDT Act.”



He said Madhya Pradesh as the choice for his first rally was significant because it was the exact centre of the country. He said the rallies that were announced would be rescheduled, but not cancelled.



“No terrorist can terrorise any political party in India. We do not succumb to threats, but on the government’s request, have decided to rearrange the programme a bit,” Advani said.





BJP rallies to be replanned



While the BJP went ahead with Advani’s Jabalpur rally on Feb. 6, it would be redrawing the schedule of the other rallies to be addressed by the party’s prime-ministerial candidate over the next two months. This follows the meeting between National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and senior BJP leaders including Advani and Jaswant Singh on Feb. 4th night when he requested them to cancel the campaign in view of intelligence reports that Advani may be targeted by suicide squads. Narayanan reportedly advised Advani to keep his appearances at public places like rallies to the minimum for about a month till the extent of the threat was verified. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said on Feb.5 that ignoring the advice of NSA would not be an intelligent move.





Alert in Goa, Mumbai after terror warning



Goa and the Maharashtra capital, Mumbai, have been put on high alert after reports that terrorists may be planning attacks there. The Goa Government on Feb. 7 said terrorists had planned Bali like bombings in the state at beaches and tourist hotspots. But they gave up the idea because of logistical problems includ¬ing failure to gain access to RDX.



Goa Inspector General of Police Kishan Kumar said : “The alert from Intelligence agencies has warned that Goa and Mumbai were among the principal targets of arrested terror mastermind Riyazuddin Nasir and his accomplice Asadullah Abu Bakar, both of whom were arrested on January 10 from Karnataka. Following the specific alert, the state’s top police brass reviewed security arrangements. Police sources said Riyazuddin alias Mohammad Ghouse, a native of Hyderabad, had undergone a year’s training at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan.



Riyazuddin is the son of Mohammed Naseeruddin, a Hyderabad-based cleric who is in jail in connection with the killing of former Gujarat minister Haren Pandya in 2003.



Hemant Karkare, joint commissioner of the Mumbai police’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), said his department planned to inter¬rogate Riyazuddin in this matter very soon.





Life-term for three in Kandahar hijacking



A special CBI court in Patiala has awarded life sentences to Abdul Latif, Dalip Kumar and Yusuf Nepali for abetting and conspiring with terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar in Afghanistan on December 24, 1999. They were found guilty on various counts, including murder.



Handing down the 69-page judgment in the case, which took nine years and involved 120 witnesses, the judge, Inderjit Singh Walia, sentenced the three to life imprisonment for colluding with those behind the hijacking that was aimed at seeking freedom for top terrorists - Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Zargar and Sheikh Ahmed Omar Sayeed.



The court also awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for attempt to murder, five years’ term for kidnapping, abduction and wrongful confinement.



The proceedings were held inside the Central Jail in Pa¬tiala, where an anti-hijacking court was set up under the IPC provisions and the anti-hijacking law. While the accused have been lodged in the Patiala Central Jail since 1999, the main accused in the case are still at large even as the Interpol has issued notices.





Main accused still in Pakistan



Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Vijay Shanker said that there was no question of being satisfied as the main accused in the case were still living in Pakistan.



The CBI chief said all evidence had been provided to Pakis¬tan and India had requested that all the five hijackers should be handed over to it. “We approached them at the highest level both politically and diplomatically but Pakistani authorities remained uncooperative. If this is the attitude, how will the fight against global terror succeed ?” Shanker told reporters.



On December 24, 1999, IC-814 with 179 passengers and 11 crew members was hijacked by five armed men, while it was on its return journey from Kathmandu to New Delhi. The plane landed at Amritsar’s Raja Sansi International Airport after Pakistan re¬fused it permission to land initially.



It was then taken to Lahore and Dubai. Amid high drama, the aircraft landed at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, from where an eight-day ordeal for the passengers and crew began.



The freedom of the hijacked people was ensured after the release of the three terrorists lodged in Indian jails. To intim¬idate the Indian authorities, the hijackers killed 25-year-old Rupen Katyal and stabbed Satnam Singh, who survived multiple injuries.





Terrorists may target places of worship



The United States has warned that the Lashkar-e-Taiba, another Pakistan-based terrorist outfit would continue to launch terror attacks on India, possibly targeting places of religious importance.



Director of National Intelligence J Michael McConnell, a top US intelligence official, has said that LeT and other terror organisation could target government buildings, transportation network and places of religious importance. The assessment is part of a 47-page report on Annual Threat Assessment which was submitted to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.





Ban on SIMI extended



The Centre on Feb. 7 decided to reimpose the ban on Stud¬ents Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for two more years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The has been decided by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in view of the assessment that the organisation continued with unlawful activi¬ties. The group is alleged to have close links with Pakistan-based terror outfits, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.



SIMI was first banned by the Centre on September 27, 2001, after security agencies concluded that its cadres were involved in setting up sleeper cells of militant outfits and were provid¬ing logistical support along with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. A large number of SIMI activists were arrested from across the country after the ban. The ban was reimposed twice. Now, the outfit would be banned for the fourth time.



The organisation is alleged to be involved in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the Malegaon blasts.





Congress-DMK trying to sort out controversy over LTTE activities



Reports say that the Congress and the DMK are trying to sort out their differences over the activities of banned organisation LTTE in Tamil Nadu. Relations between the two alliance partners had hit a new low on Feb. 3 with Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi daring the Congress to withdraw support on the issue of the State Government being soft on the banned organisation.



Speaking at a wedding ceremony, Karunanidhi said, “if you want to dethrone us by levelling false allegations, I am ready to face that change of power in Tamil Nadu.” He was particularly upset over the charge hurled at the state government by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram who had alleged that the LTTE continued to operate in the state unhindered and asked the Gov¬ernment to nip the issue in the bud. Karunanidhi asked the Congress not to be a party to a conspiracy to topple his govern¬ment.



Making amends, the next day, Karunanidhi said in Chennai on Feb. 4 that the state government is firm on preventing LTTE activities in the state. He said in the last twenty months, 11 LTTE volunteers and 92 supporters had been arrested in the state, 40 of them booked under the National Security Act.



On its part, the Congress said on Feb. 4 that Karunanidhi was a valued coalition partner in the UPA and that there was no question of a communication gap. Asked about the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s remark that he was ready for a change in power, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said : “Whatever issues, if at all, will be completely sorted out between the valued partners, and not through the media.”



There are reports that Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Feb. 6, reported¬ly to ease tensions between the two parties in Tamil Nadu. Details of the discussions were not known. Reports say that Kanimozhi reportedly proposed a peace formula to the UPA chair¬person in view of the coming Rajya Sabha elections. Sources say that despite his outburst against local leaders of the Congress critical of him, Karunanidhi is keen to bury the differences since they could harm the prospects of the two parties in the Rajya Sabha elections.





Compromise on Sethusamudaram issue likely



Reports say that efforts are also being made to work out a compromise within the UPA on the Sethusamudaram project. Sources say that the Government’s affidavit will be filed in the Supreme Court next month to seek permission to carry out an archaeologi¬cal study of the area before a decision is taken on the project. To keep the DMK in good humour, the affidavit is likely to reaf¬firm the Centre’s commitment to the project.