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Editorial: Ugly terror strikes again
IN TERMS OF scale, or the number of casualties, it is far from being the worst terrorist attack India has suffered. But in terms of purpose, or the sheer audacity of the choice where the outrage was perpetrated, there are clearly no parallels. The bloody siege of Parliament represents an attack on the citadel or the very symbol of India's democracy. As the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, suggested, this was not a mere attack on a building but an assault on the very nation itself. Although it resulted in the tragic death of six persons, mainly security personnel, and in injuries sustained by many others, the assault was mercifully short-lived and contained without further damage. Conducted at a time when a sizable number of the country's top political leadership was present in Parliament House, it is impossible, even while one deplores what actually happened, not to wonder about what might have been. The cataclysmic potential of an attack such as this is mind-boggling and it is only for this reason that the shock and the tragedy of the incident have been accompanied by an undercurrent of relief. At the same time, the act of brutality committed within the walls of the Parliament complex is an ugly reminder of the extreme vulnerability of India - even its most secure and fortified places - to the menace of terrorism, particularly to suicide attacks.
Security personnel have come in for justifiable praise for preventing the terrorists - armed with machine guns, grenades and explosives - from storming the building and causing even more mayhem. While the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, has stated ``there was no security breach'', the facts seem to suggest that the security cordon in Parliament is easily breachable. The question is how a car with militants armed to the teeth was allowed to pass through the outer gates and enter the compound. Clearly, the checks conducted on vehicles need to be tightened much further; one of the things that this attack establishes is that such checks should be thorough and go far beyond a cursory examination of an entry pass. While the five militants who stormed the Parliament complex have been killed, they could not have perpetrated this outrage without the support of a well-knit organisation. It is vital that those responsible for investigating the attack determine the identity of the group and come down both quickly and heavily on it. A failure to do so will only heighten the vulnerability of a nation which has been rudely shaken by the attack.
Parallels have been drawn with the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly a few months ago and attention has been directed to the Al-Qaeda plot to attack Parliament House (which was unearthed following the recent arrest of one of its operatives in Mumbai). However, the plain truth is that little, or nothing, is known about who planned or organised the siege yet. In this context, it is important to observe a measure of restraint and not fall prey to the easy temptation of indulging in conjectures and, more importantly, resorting to a tired and superfluous jingoism. Thursday's startling attack demands only immediate responses. First, to radically upgrade the existing security arrangements inside Parliament, something the Government has promised to do in consultation with the Lok Sabha Speaker. Second, to determine the identity of the organisation behind the attack and bring the conspirators to book.
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