Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mumbai Terror Attacks: A Colossal Intelligence Failure

The present Cong led UPA government in India is an embarrassment of massive proportions. They have been more interested in playing politics with India's security than staying alert to protecting the nation against real terror threats. In past month, they have been too busy coining and establishing a new term, "hindu terror" for narrow political ends. For this, they have dedicated a lot of attention and resources to fabricating false cases against some innocent so called "hindu terrorists". With attention of intelligence agencies, media and entire nation thus diverted to cheap games, of course, India was caught unawares of planning and execution of "real terror attacks". This is a colossal intelligence failure, probably one of the worst in history of independent India. Just imagine, how blatant and shocking these attacks have been! Foreign terrorists arriving by boats to India's western shore, landing near the financial capital of the nation. For all practical purposes, this is nothing but an invasion by a small militia! And, none of this made even a blip on radars of India's security agencies?

This present UPA government is focused on appeasing minorities and playing politics with national security ever since they came to power. One of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's first decisions was to repeal the POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Act) law passed by the BJP-led NDA government. This was an anti-terror law, not an anti-hindu or anti-muslim law. Only the pseduo-secularists with their eyes on minority vote bank could label this as an anti-muslim law. The need of the hour is to stop playing communal politics with national security. That will go a long way in helping India do a much better job fighting terrorism and preventing future terror attacks.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported in an article titled, "Murder in Mumbai" that "A lack of political leadership is to blame":

"A lack of political leadership is to blame. Yesterday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised that "every perpetrator would pay the price." Yet his Congress Party has done little more than bicker with its coalition allies over the past five years on how best to fight terrorism, as Sadanand Dhume writes here. Or it has tried to deflect responsibility by blaming Pakistan. It may pay a price for its incompetence at the national polls next year."

In another article published by WSJ, author Sadanand Dhume blames Cong-led UPA governement's scrapping of POTA:

On taking office in 2004, one of the first acts of the ruling Congress Party was to scrap a federal antiterrorism law that strengthened witness protection and enhanced police powers.

Recommended Reading:

Newsweek: Flunking the Intelligence Test
Newsweek: Right Tilt
IBNLive: Govt knew about the threat, did nothing: Arun Shourie

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent analysis. Until the Indian government stops pandering to leftist and Islamic sentiments we will continue to be vulnerable. Hopefully the Indian people will now realise that the BJP is the right choice to protect India in the future.

Anonymous said...

We need a national govt to deal with war situation. BJP might exploit this situation for political gains & to come in power (Just like Obama exploited US Financial downturn); once they come to power,they will not go on offensive mode (proactive); rather visit Pak for futile talks. what we need at the moment is national consensous on Economic development, war on terror etc, rising above all political ideologies. THEN WE WOULD SUCCEED AS A GREAT NATION - Otherwise,we would be helpless innocent victims of fundamentalism, sectarianism etc

FallenDevotee said...

Thanks for the comments. I hope too that people of India elect BJP-led government as the security situation gets worse and worse. Lately, it seems there is no security at all, the terrorists seem to be striking at will, at a time and place of their choosing. However, I would look for a dramatically different governing style from BJP compared to last time. They need to show they are different, not a different Congress, slightly right of the center.

Anonymous said...

I think we should change our constitution to give complete freedom to police and CBI and they should not be controlled by the Governments. That way we can then expect a fully functional intelligence and police force rather than the current setup where the Government tells them what to investigate (most of the times tying their hands due to minority votebank and upcoming elections). Felt sick, sad and anger by Dr.MMS's speech to the nation. I never voted before but now i am going with BJP, dare to call me a facist if you like, but i would rather have BJP sort this mess than Sonia's Congress.

Manoj Gursahani said...

Let's stop playing the blame game, and politicize the issues,in a sensitive time like this.
Instead let's create a sounding board for newer tougher laws to be enacted to counter terrorism.

FallenDevotee said...

Manoj,

These are hard cold facts of a careful analysis. The anti-terror law (POTA) was politicized and communalized by the present Govt. Unless we understand and accept this how can we make sure that India is better prepared to meet such challenges in the future. It is imperative that our leaders stop playing politics with nation's security. To that end, it is our duty to point out where the current leadership has gone wrong. If we do not learn from history, we will be bound to repeat it.

Varun