Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002
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By Neena Vyas
The Opposition attack had been strong and unrelenting. Shivraj Patil (Congress), who moved the motion, forcefully pointed out that despite full support from the Opposition for the steps taken by the Government to tackle terrorism, the latter had in fact not come out with any plan or strategy to deal with the situation. He charged that the Government had depended too much on Western powers to put pressure on Pakistan to stop infiltration and cross-border terrorism. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, was forced to state that the Government would tackle the menace on its own and that it also recognised that all countries acted in their own national interest. Mr. Advani's claim that the world was slowly understanding that Pakistan was the epicentre of terrorism failed to impress the Opposition, which found his reply inadequate, as it had not unfolded any Government strategy to deal with the ugly situation. The Opposition found his reply "extremely disappointing", leading to a walkout. The motion was then put to vote by the Speaker and rejected. Mr. Advani spelt out the larger Jammu and Kashmir policy. The State, he asserted, was "not a disputed territory" and that it was in fact "an integral part of India" on which "there can be no compromise". He also assuaged the fears expressed by the Opposition of the growing interference by Western powers, saying that there would be "no mediation" on the issue. He also rejected the demand for a trifurcation or bifurcation of the State along communal lines, but said there was need for equitable development of all regions. `No return to pre-1953 status' He defended the Government's earlier rejection of the demand for autonomy by the State as it was for a return to the pre-1953 status; the Centre was though willing to talk about additional powers for the State. While the Deputy Prime Minister was unable to say exactly how the Government planned to tackle the menace, he indirectly claimed as an achievement the "big difference" between "Agra and Almaty" in the language emanating from Pakistan and the Western countries. Today, instead of talking about terrorists as freedom fighters, Pakistan was forced to recognise that killing of innocent people was an act of terrorism. Western nations were also beginning to see Pakistan as the "epicentre of world terrorism". However, "their assessment" was — with which India did not agree — that "Musharraf was the best bet to stop terrorism" originating in Pakistan. Mr. Advani claimed that his Government had traced and smashed "154 ISI modules" and that he had increased the fund for modernisation of the State police force to Rs. 60 crores in the last two years. The National Conference president and Minister of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah, lamented the impulse to communalise terrorist incidents — in fact, it was a Shiv Sena member who had earlier wanted to know whether the Congress was protesting the killing of Hindus — pointing out that of 13,000 deaths recently more than 11,000 were those of Muslims. He alleged that the Congress was trying to "play politics with the blood of innocents". Mr. Patil responded angrily, saying the Minister had regrettably failed to notice the waving of BJP flags in Jammu and that party "playing politics".
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