Date:16/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/16/stories/2008051654961001.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Jaipur blasts

With bomb blasts occurring at regular intervals, the life of the common man has become precariously insecure. The Jaipur bomb blasts have once again exposed the callousness of the powers-that-be. The government’s soft stance on terrorism and its failure to put it down with an iron hand have emboldened the terrorists to strike at will.

A.S. Farida,

Kancheepuram

India is soft on terror. Our leaders should desist from playing politics over the dead and get down to serious business. What is needed is a central agency dedicated to fighting terrorism and naxalite violence. We also need tough laws to deal with terror, and a visionary leadership that cares more about people than remaining in power.

Shashank Agiwal,

Bellary

The Jaipur atrocity is just another incident in our country’s history. Our leaders have expressed their anguish and pledged to book the culprits.

From tomorrow, they will be back to their routine. Terrorist attacks will continue to take place and our people will get used to them.

M.T. Raju,

Visakhapatnam

Serial blasts have become so common in India that they do not occupy the minds of the people, politicians and the media for more than a couple of days. That the investigations into the serial blasts of Hyderabad, Ajmer, Varanasi and Lucknow have not yielded any credible results has strengthened the terrorists’ resolve to strike at will. Unless the Centre visibly demonstrates that it is hard on terror and that lives do not come cheap, the people will not have faith in the government.

Amaruvi Devanathan,

Mesquite, Texas

One big terror strike takes place in some part of India regularly, thanks to the appeasement policy followed by our political parties and the educated elite who fail to exercise their franchise. If we continue to remain silent spectators to the acts of our politicians, India may have to witness serial blasts on a monthly basis, then on a weekly basis, and so on.

S. Ramalingam,

Vellore

Our intelligence agencies have no clue to potential terror targets. They issue only general warnings. India is a vast country and there are hundreds of towns and cities where, at a given time, over 1000 people gather. They are most vulnerable to such terror attacks. It is time we revamped our intelligence network and a coordinated effort was launched to eliminate terrorism.

Amit Mehrotra,

Moradabad

We, the people, will be grateful to terrorists if they tell us the motive behind their acts. If they want to avenge the acts of some fundamentalist organisations, let them attack the groups directly. They should not harm the innocent people.

K.N. Ramani,

Coimbatore

Every time a terrorist strike takes place, the government sheds crocodile tears. By not implementing a strong anti-terrorist law, it has given the terrorists the licence to kill more. Our porous border with Bangladesh allows many illegal immigrants to cross over. Our politicians help them to get voter identity cards and passports to further their vote-bank interests.

Tuneer Banerjee,

Kolkata

The Jaipur blasts are a tight slap in the face of the so-called “tight” security arrangements. There are many loopholes in our security system. Most of the time, the authorities ignore the warnings of terrorist groups. Red alerts are sounded after the terror attacks. Why can’t the common man get 24-hour security?

Komal Gupta,

New Delhi

There is no doubt Pervez Musharraf controlled the terrorist forces in Pakistan to some extent. The leniency shown by the new government has encouraged the forces that will once again show their hatred for India. There are plenty of soft targets in India, and for a terrorist from a neighbouring country — be it Bangladesh or Pakistan — porous frontiers allow easy access.

K.R.A. Narasiah,

Chennai

Sometimes, you have to take action that is expedient rather than principled. Terrorists are ruthless and ruthlessness should be met with ruthlessness. The government has been found to be too soft where drastic action is due. One can’t always be at the receiving end.

K.G. Koru Kuttan Nair,

Cherpalcheri

The argument that POTA should be brought back or its equivalent enacted to prevent acts of terror is unacceptable. We have seen that laws like TADA, POTA and MOCA only aggravate the situation.

It would be more worthwhile to build trust among all sections. Community policing should be encouraged in all areas. And our government should form an efficient agency that can think like terrorists.

Zaved Ahmed Khan,

Vellore

The oft-repeated mantra that POTA and other such draconian laws be introduced is no solution to terrorism. Such laws, which are responsible for imprisoning people like Dr. Sen and Ajay with concocted evidence not admissible under normal criminal laws, will only encourage laziness and tardy investigation. Torture and unnecessary detention of innocent people will further the cause of terrorism and encourage fresh recruits to terrorist ranks from affected families.

Kasim Sait,

Chennai