Political will and responsibility?

Will the Mumbai terrorist mayhem persuade the various political parties to unite at least for the security of the country? The Mumbaikars will mourn their dead, their losses, and gradually go back to life. But the lamentable personification of Mumbai as a resilient city should not make one forget the horrific tragedies of terrorism. Some incorrigible politicians still cannot resist a possible opportunity to score points over Mumbai’s dead. Gujarat chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the home of the late Hemant Karkare with an offer of compensation to the family. Modi’s act to say the least, was ghoulish. He had unleashed a relentless character assassination campaign against Karkare for his investigation into the Malegaon blast. BJP leader and Prime Minister in waiting, L.K.Advani did not exactly cover himself with a non-partisan position. Mr. Advani, as an elder statesman and politician should have led his party by example to form a political coalition across the board on the issue of terrorism irrespective of any religious position. Unfortunately, elections and votes are not too far away from the minds of politicians. It is a pity that the response of the Indian political actors across the board has been appeasement, finger pointing, political scoring, shifting blame and hand wringing. The vote bank always looms large in the political spectrum.
BJP Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh went to Kabul in 1999 to get Indian hostages released from the hijacked IC-814 Indian Airlines flight in exchange for the release of three hardened terrorists. One of them, Omar Sheik Saeed later went on to abduct journalist Daniel Pearl who was beheaded. Another, Maulana Masood Azar, the religious mentor of erstwhile Harkat-ul-Ansar, went on to form the Jaish-e-Mohammad with the help of the ISI. The third was Mustaq Ahmed Zargar who mowed down a large number of men, women and children in Kashmir.
Earlier, the Congress had released a number of terrorists in exchange for Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayed’s abducted daughter. The Indian Parliament was attacked in 2002, and that has been followed by periodic terrorist attacks, uncovering of SIMI’s role, birth of the Indian Mujahideen, revelation of the Hindu militant organization Abhinav Bharat and their acts of terrorism, culminating in the devastation of Mumbai. It is people’s outrage which forced the government and the ruling party to initiate some long delayed steps. Unfortunately, however, politicians are still rearing to get at each other’s throats, looking at the parliamentary elections in early 2009. This disease is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Perhaps at the cost of being repetitive, the role of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh and Home Minister R.R. Patil in connection with the Mumbai carnage must be highlighted as an example of political callousness. For once, there was enough intelligence available in advance to take some precautionary steps. It appears both were so obtuse as not even to call for a security meeting. Both reflect the general quality of India’s political community today. In connection with the Mumbai horror, statements by two politicians must be recorded for posterity. After being turned away from the home of NSG Commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Kerala Chief Minister Achutanandan remarked that if had not been for Sandeep, “not even a dog would have visited the house”. And commenting on the outrage against politicians in Mumbai, BJP Vice President Muktar Naqvi retorted that a few people “Wearing lipstick and powder” and “tie and coat” holding candles do not represent the people of the country. Can anything be more deplorable? These are quintessential politicians. The political parties must now apply themselves to weed out the rotten ones from their midst.
"In a democracy we need political parties with the right kind of politicians".