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We will take `appropriate decision', says Advani

By Harish Khare

New Delhi May 17. The Vajpayee Government today secured the unanimous support of Parliament to deal effectively with the unabated cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, while the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, who spoke for the administration, promised that the Government would take ``the appropriate decision''. The expression of support and Mr. Advani's announcement came during a seven-hour debate in the Lok Sabha in the wake of the latest terrorist attack in Jammu last Tuesday. The Rajya Sabha also had an almost four-hour debate.

The two Houses adopted a similar resolution, resolving ``to fight against such senseless acts of terrorism which are against humanity as a whole in a united and determined manner and declares this Nation's commitment to see an end to this menace.''

Contrary to the expectation that the Government would spell out its military/diplomatic options, Mr. Advani avoided the trap of giving in to the agitated members — mostly from the NDA corner — all eagerly insistent that Pakistan be taught ``a lesson''. All that Mr. Advani would say was that the Government was mindful of the seriousness of the situation but gently reminded the House that the Government's response could not possibly be detailed in Parliament.

Nonetheless, the Home Minister did cite facts and figures of Pakistan's complicity in cross-border terrorism. He said that terrorist organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad, supposedly ``disbanded'' earlier, had been permitted to resurrect themselves. As many as 70 to 75 camps were operative and training terrorist-cadres, and that after the Taliban defeat in Afghanistan, about 2,000 hardened mujahideen had been ``settled'' in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Yet Mr. Advani stopped short of giving any indication of the nature of the ``action'' the Government would take. He was careful to say that the ``final'' decision would be taken in consultation with the military leadership, and that before any ``action'' was decided upon, the Prime Minister would have a round of discussion with the Opposition leaders and could possibly address the nation.

The Government seems to have achieved its purpose by mobilising the public anger over the Kaluchak massacre into a parliamentary expression of support for ``action''; in particular, the debate provided an occasion for the BJP and its allies to let off steam against Pakistan as well as to give a mouthful to the United States for its ``moral and diplomatic ambivalence'' towards terrorist attacks by Pakistan-trained and Pakistan-based militants. The Minister of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah, also accused the Western nations of paying only ``lip-service'' to fighting terrorism in this region.

In fact, Mr. Advani also joined the U.S.-bashing. He told the Lok Sabha that only yesterday the American Ambassador had come to see him and he had told the envoy that the Indian public opinion was ``deeply disappointed'' over the U.S. stance which had ''encouraged'' Pakistan to continue its proxy war against India. While not wanting to gloss over India's disappointment with Washington, Mr. Advani assured the House that ``we are not dependent upon others'' and that the menace of terrorism would be sorted out by ``our troops, by our people''.

On its part, the Opposition was unequivocal in extending support to the Government. Indeed, beginning with the Leader of Opposition, all non-NDA parties appeared keen on ensuring that the Government did not, by default, run away with the ''patriotism'' plank. Speaker after Speaker repeated the ``we-are-with-you'' theme, though also underlining that it was for the Government to take ``action.''

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was present during a large part of the debate in the Lok Sabha and for some time in the Rajya Sabha, but he did not intervene and left it to Mr. Advani to reply. Though at one point, the senior Congress member, Margaret Alva, lamented that neither Mr. Vajpayee nor Mr. Advani, nor the Defence Minister nor the External Affairs Minister was present.

However, one man who did sit throughout the debate in the visitor's gallery was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. And, at the end of the day, Farooq Abdullah was a deeply disappointed man as he, like any other parliamentarian, did not get to hear what ``action'', if any, the Government proposed to take.

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