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It could have been worse, says Advani
By Our Special Correspondent
AHMEDABAD, DEC. 15. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, said today that he still shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had even one terrorist managed to enter the main Parliament building on Thursday.
He said this while inaugurating the Regional Telecom Training Centre (RTTC) at Jagatpur on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar highway.
Mr. Advani said the courage and presence of mind of the security personnel had saved the day. Otherwise, it could have been ``a tragedy even worse than the September 11 attack against the U.S.''
The terrorist organisations usually claimed responsibility after an incident ``to catch the headlines'' in the media. But Thursday's attack did not seem to be a publicity stunt. The terrorists had come with a ``definite mission to finish'' the political leadership and destabilise the democratic set-up. ``The credit for keeping the democratic structure intact goes to the securitymen who foiled the terrorist attack even sacrificing their own lives,'' Mr. Advani said.
The Communication Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, the Union Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Harin Pathak, and the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, were also present at the RTTC inaugural function.
Mr. Mahajan, Mr. Pathak and Mr. Modi stressed the need for expansion and modernisation of telecommunication facilities to enable it to play a dominant role in the global economy. Mr. Mahajan said that in the next three years, the number of telephone connections in the country would go up to about 10 crores from a mere 1.5 crores in 1998. Earlier, Mr. Advani inaugurated modern health equipment at the Government-run civil hospital in Ahmedabad.
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