Centre had warned about attack on Taj

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Centre had warned about attack on Taj 28 Nov 2008, 0009 hrs IST, TNN MUMBAI: According to sources, the Taj hotel could have been saved had the state government taken the warnings issued by the Centre seriously. While deputy chief minister R R Patil, who also holds the home portfolio, has denied receiving any such information, sources say the Centre had on more than two occasions alerted the state government on the possibility of an attack on the hotel.  Sources said the security at the hotel was reviewed a few months ago in view of the warning. Senior police officials had reviewed the security arrangements and the hotel management had even shifted its existing parking lot to a nearby location. Since the warning had specified that the attack will be from the sea, a boat was provided to the hotel to check suspicious persons.  A month later, the additional security cover was withdrawn in view of the reduced threat perception. " The Centre had been issuing such notices and we do take them seriously,'' a senior official said. After a special cabinet meeting, Patil said that there was no specific warning from any of the central agencies on the possibility of a terror attack either on Taj or Oberoi.

Experts blame lax hotel security

Date:28/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112857501200.htm Experts blame lax hotel security Special Correspondent — Photos: PTI/ Courtesy India TV    A TV grab of two suspected terrorists involved in Mumbai terror attacks on Wednesday night. MUMBAI: With a little over a dozen gunmen holding the financial capital of the country to ransom, the hotel industry has come in for criticism for security lapses. Two of the iconic landmark hotels in Mumbai, the Taj and Trident (formerly Oberoi) have become a battleground between the army and navy commandos and unidentified terrorists, who have managed to take control of the five-star hotels. What irks security experts is how the heavily armed terrorists had hoodwinked the hotel security and walked into the hotels loaded with ammunition in bags and backpacks. Many like Ajay Gupta, Managing Director, SRG Techno, a solutions firm that offers consultancy to various police forces said, “Companies are paying a heavy price for not paying enough attention to security. Particularly for the hotels and customer-interfacing industry, there is a need for stepping up budgets for security as also a crying need for improved training of security staff.” The security staff are typically ex-service men who are not adequately trained in identifying behavioural patterns of customers / clients and identifying unnatural behaviour. Speaking to The Hindu as the gun battle continued raging between commandos and the gunmen almost 24-hours after the calm in the city was shattered, Mr. Gupta said the costs for employing trainers even from the U.S. would not be prohibitive at around $2,000 a day “but that is barely anything for large corporate houses and they should in fact, keep aside 2-3 per cent of revenues for security and its upgradation. There could also be legislation that ensures that companies adhere to security requirements to ensure security of public buildings.” There are lessons for other hotels and institutions to follow and according to Anil Madhok, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, “we will all learn from it and once it is over, we will know what steps to initiate. At the end of the day, no security is foolproof, how much can hotels do, particularly because we are not permitted to arm the security staff. Hoteliers will spare no cost to ensure safety going forward.” Mr. Madhok said that the Indian hotel industry, already weighed under the global meltdown, is now facing “a double whammy with the terrorist attack. However, business travel, particularly in India, tends to recover quickly as was seen after the Mumbai train blasts took place but leisure travel will take a big hit.” © Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

NCP MP chalked out poll plans while held up in Taj Hotel

Printed from NCP MP chalked out poll plans while held up in Taj Hotel 28 Nov 2008, 1759 hrs IST, IANS MUMBAI: The 40-odd hours that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Jai Singh Gaikwad stayed cooped inside his room in the Taj Mahal Hotel as fierce fighting raged on outside between terrorists and security forces were well spent - chalking out his election plans.  Gaikwad, who was rescued Friday afternoon from the hotel, did not seem hassled at all at the situation he had been in.  "My laptop was with me. I chalked out eight of my election campaign plans," Gaikwad told a reporter.  Gaikwad said he was in room No. 319 of the old building of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel.  "We were told to shut ourselves from inside when the firing started. First the hotel security talked to us, then Maharashtra Police came and then the NSG (National Security Guards)," Gaikwad said.  "We were quite comfortable inside. Jo bhi sarkar ne tayari ki, hum bade maze mein rahe (We enjoyed all the preparations done by the government)," Gaikwad told reporters.  The terrorists attacked the hotel around 10 p.m. Wednesday. The terror strike in Mumbai has claimed at least 143 lives and left about 370 injured.

History will decide if I am weak: Manmohan

Ashok Kumar (Expressindia.com)Posted online: Nov 22, 2008 at 2020 hrs

New Delhi, August 17: : It was the same Prime Minister but a different Manmohan Singh on Thursday in Rajya Sabha when the premier of the country was addressing the Upper House on the nuke deal.

The man who was always considered to be a novice in the political affairs started his speech with the very acceptance that he has been a late entrant to the political field.

Having said that, the PM then took a different course, something which was apparently aimed at, not only pacifying the complaining Left but also to spring a surprise on the Opposition benches. His strong conviction coming straight from the heart belied his novelty in the business of politics.

The vigour with which he spoke not only encouraged his party members to applaud him continuously by regular patting on the benches but he also made it clear that his words will not only reach the listeners but also pierce through. This he managed by disclosing his humble background and the revolutionary decisions which he took in his earlier stints as the Finance Minister and varied capacities.

Manmohan ensured to provide ample illustrations to support his strong and emotional words and to prove that his expressions are not hollow claims which is why he asserted in a challenging way, let history decide how tough I am as the Prime Minister of the country.

Nonetheless, Manmohan made it clear that his political novelty cannot prevent him form taking decisions which will put the country on the path of development. Citing other reforms which he ushered in the economic field, he said that the only constant is change and one cannot shy away from this eternal truth.

Admitting that there is risk to all kind of reforms he said he was confident of taking this decision to ensure the power security in the country. He elaborated that the sole motivation of nuclear programme is to generate energy as the threat of insecurity is always looming large over the energy supply from the conventional sources.

Allaying fears arising out of the deal on the autonomous nuclear policy Manmohan Singh assured the House in clear terms that the country will not agree to any dilution which will lead to the undermining of the nuclear policy. He said that the nuclear deal is guided by the July 2005 statement.

He asserted that we respect the autonomy of our nuclear scientists and establishments; as such there will be no curbs on India’s nuclear programme. Looking fully convinced the Prime Minister said that he does not feel the need to apologise for the close relations with the United States. He also clarified that India will not join the non proliferation treaty as a non nuclear weapon state.

WHEN THE PLOT IS LOST

WHEN THE PLOT IS LOST

Malvika Singh

Just past dinnertime on November 26, Mumbai was held at ransom by terrorists and the stark reality of years of inept, lazy, weak and corrupt governance hit us smack on the face. It jolted us into witnessing and experiencing, yet again, the trauma of being saddled with leaders who do not act at once. It is terrifying to watch our elected representatives, who hold high office but are incompetent, who are ostensibly responsible for our safety, for maintaining law and order and are therefore accountable to the citizens of India, but are unable to speak out extempore when the situation so demands, who stammer and stutter as they attempt to speak about the the horror and the methods of tackling it. The first fourteen hours of this brutal, meticulously planned, carefully orchestrated assault have exposed the incompetence of both the government of Maharashtra and the government of India in dealing with such situations. Our political class stands naked and exposed. It is a happening such as the Mumbai mayhem that makes ordinary citizens take a firm position vis-à-vis the continuous exploitation of their patience and civility. Enough is enough. With the exception of the home minister making some inane comments on television that were devoid of any humanity or strength of purpose, no national leader either arrived at the scene of the crime or addressed the nation when it needed to hear them. They would not be disturbed in their ‘beauty sleep’, they would call an ‘emergency’ cabinet meeting at 11 am in the next morning, 13 hours after the first shots were fired and people killed, and Indians would be disregarded yet again. This is the impression of our leaders’ attitude which becomes more evident every passing hour. Into the abyss Anywhere else in the world, the top leadership would have been there with the people, standing side by side in the enormous, inexplicable tragedy. Our governments seem to have lost the plot and they will lose the election as a result. This ‘attack’ and the whimper of a response from the governments only proved that they are incapable of taking decisions and leading from the front. All that the episode evoked was an advice to the ministers to stay at home! The difference between the recent assault and those in the past is that this has been deliberately placed at the door of those who make and influence policy, who are privileged but misuse their privilege, who have exploited this land and the patience of its people. There are many things being ripped apart and exposed for all to see. Political failure to govern the people is all too apparent. Misplaced priorities have resulted in this complete administrative and political breakdown. Nearly five years of competent policies as well as the proper delivery of goods have come to naught with this one act of utter failure on the part of the government. When the government should have taken charge, it chose to remain silent. This is wholly inappropriate and unforgivable. It has turned citizens away from the government, forcing them to brace themselves for a dictatorial regime in place of a democratic one. This incomprehensible ineptitude has caused India to regress into the abyss of a soft and ineffective State. The Union home minister must be removed from office, now. He is responsible for the unchecked social anarchy that has pervaded our land — a chaos brought about by the Naxals, Maoists and other insurgent groups infiltrating into the country from across its western and eastern borders. Someone at the top has to go, and go now. Someone has to take charge. Someone has to force the accountability of the ruling class. A State can operate competently within the democratic framework if only there is a strong political will and administrative expertise.

Polls: Government could be severely jolted

Printed from Polls: Government could be severely jolted 27 Nov 2008, 1906 hrs IST, ET Bureau NEW DELHI: For the Congress, which is slugging it out to oust the BJP from its power-perch in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan, while battling it out to retain Delhi, the latest episode in the long list of jehadi strikes couldn't have taken place at a more inopportune time.  The jehadis struck less than 12 hours before the polling was to start in Madhya Pradesh, and less than three days it was to commence in Delhi. Elections to the Mizoram and Rajasthan assemblies follow soon after, and the party has been left fending the ``soft-on-terror'' charge hurled it by its principal adversary. In a busy election season, the image-deficit suffered by it at this juncture has a severe political cost attached to it.  With Pakistan-sponsored terrorism being reverted back to the centre of the political discourse, the Congress leadership will be confronted with uncomfortable questions in the coming days. The fact that terror attacks in the country have become a matter of routine, and have been taking place at an alarming frequency of late does not hold good portends for the principal ruling party and its alliance partners. As the calls for a ``muscular'' policy on combating terror grow louder, the party brass is expected to come under a more intense pressure from the BJP-led NDA to give up the policies pursued by its government so far.  Pushed on the back-foot, a beleaguered Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi dubbed the terror strikes in Mumbai as ``a barbaric act'' to weaken the country, and said that the terrorists, who were ``enemies of the country,'' ``would be dealt with sternly.''  Also Read  → Govt has a lot to answer for: BJP  → Coast Guard locates suspected terrorist ship M V Alpha  → Nine foreign nationals killed in terror attacks in Mumbai  → 6 killed, 200 trapped in Oberoi Trident ``This is not only a matter of security of the country, but also of its pride. Terrorists are the enemies of the country and we have to deal with them sternly,'' Ms Gandhi, who is also UPA chairperson, said in a strongly-worded statement.  Maintaining that no challenge can shake a nation's firm resolve, she said her message to those ``attempting to weaken the country through such barbaric ways is that we will stop only after rooting out terrorism.''  Hailing as ``great patriots'' the police officials and personnel who laid down their lives fighting the terrorists, she expressed confidence that the whole nation was behind them.  The UPA chairperson asked the state governments to review the security scenario and improve the situation, wherever necessary. Expressing grief and anguish at the terror strikes, she said that they posed a threat to the entire country and "we have to deal with unitedly. I know that the entire nation is one on the issue....'' .  The BJP, on the other hand. has already signalled its intention of cornering the Congress on the issue in the coming days. Even though Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, known for his tough, no-nonsense approach on terrorism, on Thursday steered clear of blaming the Manmohan Singh government for its failure to pre-empt the latest round of terror attacks in India's commercial capital, but called for the display of political will and resolve to contain the menace.  Mr Modi, who's emerged as the BJP's most vocal and visible anti-terror face, has been a bitter critic of the Manmohan Singh government's track-record on internal security. In fact, in his election rallies held at various places in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and before that in Karnataka and his home state Gujarat, the Congress-led UPA government's ``weak'' reflexes on terrorism figured high in his speeches, drawing an enthusiastic response from the crowd.  Wasting no time to make his point, the Gujarat chief minister wrote a letter to the prime minister on Thursday, urging him to convene a meeting of all chief ministers to discuss the internal security situation facing the country.  He also asked the prime minister to convene another meeting --this time of chief ministers of coastal states, particularly of those lying on the western coast, having common border with Pakistan. ``For the first time, the terrorists have used the sea-route to carry out their strikes. We need to draw a special strategy to combat this,''

UPA govt projecting India as a terrorist country: BJP

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UPA govt projecting India as a terrorist country: BJP 25 Nov 2008, 0432 hrs IST, TNN JAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday accused Congress-led UPA government at the Centre of projecting India as a ‘terrorist country’. Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Congress was deliberately drawing religion into terrorism.  Addressing a press conference on Monday at the state BJP headquarters, Naqvi said, “It’s an old habit of Congress. It began with Sikh terrorists, then it was Muslim terrorists and now, it’s Hindu terrorists. The Congress is deliberately drawing religion into such a sensitive issue.’’ Taking a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, albeit without naming her, he added, “All Indians are terrorists and their belief in foreign leader is patriotism.’’  He further alleged that this was all part of Congress’ divide and rule policy, which it has been following for years. “It was following its false propaganda on Sikh terrorism that Congress lost its power then and now, it will lose it again because of its recent actions,’’ he said, adding that a narco analysis test on ‘Congress’ mind’ should be conducted to understand its ideology. He also alleged that Congress’s weak stand on Pak supported terrorism has led to LeT and ISI becoming more active in the country.  Naqvi, who attended a meeting of the election management committee on Monday, claimed that according to their assessment, BJP will easily win in four of the six states which are going into elections, including Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh while it would record an increase in number of seats in Jammu and Kashmir and Mizoram.  Meanwhile, the BJP has started finalizing the tour plan for its senior leaders. Party president Rajnath Singh will be addressing public meetings at Nokha, Laxmangarh and Ajmer on Wednesday. Chief minister Raje will address public meetings at Banswara and Dungarpur on Tuesday while Hema Malini would be visiting Jhalore, Pali and Jodhpur the same day.

Tough nation impotent in the face of terrorism

Tough nation impotent in the face of terrorism

PAUL LACHINE/NEWSART

This week's Mumbai attacks represent more than a failure of police work. They represent a collapse of governance, writes M.J. Akbar.

Complex Mumbai attack must have taken months to organize but security services detected nothing

November 28, 2008

M.J. AKBAR

MUMBAI–In most cities of South Asia, hidden beneath the grime and neglect of extreme poverty, there exists a little Somalia waiting to burst out and infect the body politic.

This netherworld, patrolled and nourished by criminals who operate a vast black-market economy, has bred in Mumbai a community that has utter contempt for the state, because it knows that its survival depends on corrupting the police. Like underground magma, that underworld has now burst into the streets of Mumbai.

Because the denizens of this netherworld know neither patriotism nor morality, they are easily lured into partnership with terrorists, particularly when they have reason to feel aggrieved. In Mumbai, a large proportion of them are Muslims who were denied space in the formal economy and have developed strong vested interests over the past 50 years.

Details about the Mumbai outrage, where terrorists killed more than 100 people, are still unfolding. But we do know that at least 30 men armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades held India's business and financial centre hostage, targeting both Indians and foreigners, particularly Americans and Britons.

It is likely that this operation was propelled from Pakistan through the Lashkar e Tauba, a terrorist organization sustained by hatred of secular India and backed by shadowy Pakistani agencies and street support.

In the blood and drama of the events, however, we might miss a significant element of the story. The attacks were an operation that must have required months of planning: serious weapons were deployed, a small army was mobilized, targets were studied, transport was organized, and weak points identified.

A plan of attack that involved hundreds of people was put in motion, and yet the massive infrastructure of India's government discovered nothing.

The chief of India's Anti-Terrorist Squad, Hemant Karkare (who lost his life in the battles that raged through the night) received a death threat from the nearby city of Pune, but his own unit did not bother to investigate it, since it was busy playing games on behalf of its political masters. Complacency and politics gave the terrorists more protection than silence or camouflage ever could.

Indeed, the attacks represent more than a failure of police work. They represent a collapse of governance; these are the wages of the sins of administrative incompetence and political malfeasance.

India is a tough nation. No one should have illusions about that. It has fought off Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Sikh terrorists in Punjab, Christian terrorists in Nagaland, and Hindu terrorists in Assam and across the country. It understands that you cannot blame the whole community for the sins of a few.

But under ineffectual governance, particularly during the last three years, India is in danger of degenerating into a soft state. Instead of being an international leader in the worldwide war against terrorism, it is sinking into the despair of a perpetual victim. Indeed, India stands behind only Iraq in the number of people killed each year in terrorist attacks.

Three years ago, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rather smugly told U.S. President George W. Bush in Delhi that Indian Muslims were not involved in any act of terrorism. The implication was that the integration of Muslims in Indian society constituted a success story.

Muslims, Singh implied, also benefit from the virtues of democracy, a conclusion that Bush happily repeated. But Singh certainly did not fool any of the terrorists, some of whom may have read his self-congratulation as a challenge for them to act.

I am an Indian and a Muslim and proud to be both. Like any Indian, today I am angry, frustrated and depressed. I am angry at the manic dogs of war who have invaded Mumbai.

I am frustrated by the impotence of my government in Mumbai and Delhi, tone-deaf to the anguish of my fellow citizens. And I am depressed at the damage being done to the idea of India.

M.J. Akbar, a former member of India's parliament and adviser to the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was the founding editor of The Asian Age and is an Asia Society associate fellow.

Time to take new stand on terrorism

November 28th, 2008

HOW the world reacts to terrorist attacks in Mumbai will determine whether or not terrorism gets a second breath following the relative peace of the past few years.

The world is beginning to understand that terrorism, which has wrapped itself in sectarian idealism for the past decade, is no more than racism.

For infidels read Westerners and for Westerners read anyone with a white skin or a British or American passport.

Al-Qaeda and the Mujahideen are banking on the ignorance of millions of impoverished Middle Eastern and southern Asian people to allow their brand of zealotry to flourish. They invoke memories of the colonialism of white masters, gone at least half a century ago, to stoke their fires of hatred.

However misguided their campaign may be, the men with grenades and machine guns in Mumbai are as deadly and as callous as those who steered passenger planes into the World Trade Centre towers.

Note the continuing modus operandi: They all kill innocent people in the name of social or religious justice.

They do not attack the military.

India has suffered many terrorist attacks in the 60 years since its independence, yet it finds itself on new and dangerous ground with attacks on the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Trident Hotel, a Jewish centre, a railway station, a cafe and a hospital.

These are places known to be frequented either by Westerners or by the most vulnerable of ordinary citizens.

The worldwide terrorist cause gained oxygen after the September 11 attacks not because of US counter-attacks against al-Qaeda or Middle Eastern criminal gangs, but because the lack of a common bond between decent, peace-loving nations. Spain, Turkey, Britain, Bali (and, by extension Australia) all became targets of al-Qaeda's bombers at a time when outrage against terrorism was strong, but practical international government cooperation still was weak.

India, the second most populous nation on earth and the largest democracy in the world, needs to know that all other democracies stand by her side.

The Mumbai attacks are significant not just because more than 100 people were killed, but because India stands on the threshhold of greatness and change.

Sectarian violence is the great fragmenter of nations and India can ill afford to be riven by anti-Western anarchists just when its economy is taking off and its people are being lifted out of poverty.

The latest attacks are a new pulse of the old form of terrorism.

Australia, at the forefront of anti-terrorism, should be as determined as ever to help India to contain its insurgents.

 

India's political leadership to blame: Wall Street Journal

Printed from India's political leadership to blame: Wall Street Journal 28 Nov 2008, 1158 hrs IST, IANS NEW YORK: India's ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has done little to launch an effective fight against terrorism and may "pay a price for its incompetence" in the elections next year, the Wall Street Journal said in its lead editorial on Friday.  "A lack of political leadership is to blame," The Wall Street Journal said as India's financial capital continued to battle terrorists who had struck in 10 places in the city Wednesday.  The Mumbai terror attacks, in which at least 125 people have been killed, have been covered extensively in both the print and online edition of this New York-based daily financial newspaper.  "It (the ruling party) may pay a price for its incompetence at the national polls next year," the newspaper said.  "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," the journal said.  Observing that the attacks are a reminder that India is at the top of the terror target list, the newspaper said this is because India is an easy target.  Not only are its intelligence units understaffed and lack resources, coordination among State police forces is also poor. "The country's anti-terror legal architecture is also inadequate; there is no preventive detention law, and prosecutions can take years," it said.  "Wednesday's attacks should arouse Indians to better confront the terror threat, while reminding all democracies how dangerous that threat still is," it said.  In another opinion piece published by The Journal, author Sadanand Dhume blamed the Congress for scrapping the anti-terror law 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," he wrote.  "The Congress Party has stalled similar state-level legislation in Gujarat, which is ruled by the opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. And it was a Congress government that kowtowed to fundamentalist pressure and made India the first country to ban Mumbai-born Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' in 1988," he said.  Dhume, a Washington-based writer and author of "My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with an Indonesian Islamist", said the Indian approach to terrorism has been consistently haphazard and weak-kneed.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702352440&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

'India mishandled hostage situation'

Nov. 27, 2008
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israeli defense officials have criticized the way Indian security forces initially handled the hostage situation in Mumbai, claiming on Thursday that the forces prematurely stormed the besieged areas.

At least three buildings in the Indian port city were taken over by terrorists - the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel and the nearby Chabad House.

The Israeli officials said that Indian counter-terrorist forces were well trained but failed to gather sufficient intelligence before engaging the terrorists.

"In hostage situations, the first thing the forces are supposed to do is assemble at the scene and begin collecting intelligence," said a former official in the Shin Bet's security unit. "In this case, it appears that the forces showed up at the scene and immediately began exchanging fire with the terrorists instead of first taking control of the area."

Defense officials said that Israel was not planning on sending commando units but had offered the Indians any assistance they required.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke with Indian National Security adviser Mayankote Kelath Narayanan, who briefed him on recent developments.

Barak expressed concern over the fate of the Israelis caught up in the attacks and thanked the Indian government for its efforts. He also stressed that the attacks were part of the wave of global terror with which Israel was all-too familiar, and expressed support for the Indian people.

Barak offered Israel's help in an advisory capacity and in any other way it could be of assistance, be it humanitarian or professional.

The two countries have close defense ties. India is the Israeli defense establishment's top customer in annual defense exports and has bought more than $5 billion worth of Israeli equipment since 2002. Two weeks ago, a senior Indian defense delegation, led by Defense Secretary Vijay Singh, visited Israel to discuss the purchase of AWACS planes and missiles from Israel Aerospace Industries.

Israel is also training Indian military units. In September, Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi, OC Ground Forces Command, paid an unscheduled visit to the disputed state of Kashmir to get a close look at the challenges India faced in its fight against Islamic insurgents. Mizrahi was in India for three days of meetings with the country's military brass and to discuss a training plan the IDF is currently drafting.

Under the proposed agreement, the IDF will send highly-trained commandos to provide instruction in counter-terror, urban warfare and anti-guerrilla tactics.

Attacks weaken Manmohan Singh's coalition

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24723390-2703,00.html

Attacks weaken Singh's coalition

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Bruce Loudon, Mumbai | November 29, 2008

Article from: The Australian

THE terrorist attacks on Mumbai are threatening the survival of the Indian Government, which was already looking vulnerable in six state elections this weekend and the general election due by May.

The coalition Government led by Manmohan Singh faced calls for it to quit yesterday as fears mounted that there could be more terrorist attacks to coincide with the weekend polls.

The Prime Minister was fighting an uphill battle yesterday to convince the country the Government was in control.

"This is war. We have to win it. If Manmohan Singh can't do it, he should let someone else do it," the widely read Mumbai newspaper DNA said in an editorial on its front page. "The citizens of Mumbai are fed up."

Across the country, newspapers and politicians reflected similar disenchantment with the Government's handling of the terrorism issue. The leading business newspaper The Economic Times warned: "The electorate is not known to favour the gutless, clueless and senseless."

The immediate risk is that the attacks provoke a Hindu backlash, strengthening hardliners in the resurgent BJP Hindu nationalist party. The party is increasingly inspired by an ideology that challenges the entire basis of India as a secular democracy, offering equal rights to Muslims and others.

The stunning attack on Mumbai, and the failure of the Government to capture those responsible for a wave of attacks across the country, is hurting the Government's political fortunes and making it extremely difficult for it to win another five-year term at the general election.

The first test of this will be at the weekend in the capital, Delhi, where a new state assembly is being elected. The outcome is seen as a pointer to Dr Singh's chances in the general election.

The Congress party that dominates the national coalition also controls the Delhi assembly, and its formidable Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit, is seeking a third term in office.

The BJP is ruthlessly exploiting the anger over the Mumbai attacks, condemning the Congress party and its allies for being "soft on terrorism" and harping on the Government's failure to execute the leading Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Afzal Guru, who is on death row for his involvement in the 2001 armed attack on the Indian parliament. The attacks in Mumbai have striking similarities to the 2001 grenade-and-gun assault on the parliament.

There have been signs in recent weeks that the Government, aware of the political gains being made by the Opposition, might be willing to hang the terrorist, who is on death row in Delhi's notorious Tihar jail.

But there are fears his execution could provoke a violent reaction in the disputed territory of Kashmir, where Afzal has a following among anti-Indian extremists fighting against New Delhi's hold on the region.

One of Dr Singh's first acts when he became Prime Minister almost five years ago was to scrap the country's tough anti-terrorism laws, which had been introduced by the previous BJP government.

As a result, his Government has gathered the reputation of being soft on terrorism.

At the same time, the threat of Hindu-Muslim conflict has been growing in India.

Rising anger has allowed the BJP to regain its old strength. Under Atal Behari Vajpayee, prime minister from 1998 to 2004, it proved moderate (notably in talks on Kashmir with Pakistan), but it is now led by the harder-edged Lal Krishna Advani, 81.

His speeches helped to stir up the Hindu mobs that destroyed a mosque in 1992, leading to the deaths of 2000 people, although he was cleared of incitement.

His most likely successor is Narendra Modi, who as Chief Minister has turned Gujarat into an economic powerhouse, but was denied entry to the US in 2005 for his alleged part in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Additional reporting: The Times

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122783260486063039.html

India's Antiterror Blunders

The Political Price Of Terrorism

The Political Price Of Terrorism
Swapan Dasgupta 11.28.08, 10:44 AM ET

India has just witnessed its most devastating, audacious and by far the most successful Islamist terror operation. It has even eclipsed the unsuccessful attack on Parliament seven years ago. One writer has likened the attack to the Viet Cong in the Tet Offensive.

The immediate fallout of this new terrorist twist is likely to be political and to the detriment of the ruling Congress Party in at least three state Assembly elections. The climate of fear is also certain to ruin this year's tourist season and undermine an already fragile business environment. Barring a miracle, the well-trained jihadi commandos who killed over 125 people, held out for over 36 hours and dominated the global media space may well have sealed the fate of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government in next year's parliamentary election.

The Congress-led coalition government never had the will or the stomach to conduct an effective battle against terrorism. It viewed terrorism through the narrow prism of electoral politics and arrived at the self-serving conclusion that any over-emphasis on counter-terrorism would be unwise and would alienate Muslim voters who constitute 13% of the electorate. Its policy was based on the assumption that terrorism is a nuisance that should, ideally, just disappear. The government, for example, has refused to carry out the death sentence on one of the conspirators behind the attack on Parliament.

This ostrich-like denial has resulted in terrorism morphing from an imported menace to a domestic industry. Until about 2006, acts of terrorism were routinely blamed on fanatical Islamist groups based in Pakistan. Subsequently, they have been joined by indigenous groups that have tapped the angst of local Muslim youth. The Mumbai attack may be marked by a convergence of both strands.

It is unlikely that this dilatory approach to an escalating problem will change in the final months of the Singh regime. It is more likely that efforts will be redoubled to create titillating diversions and shift the agenda to issues that are more electorally beneficial. In recent weeks, the government tried to shift the focus to one small act of violent retribution organized by Hindu ultra-nationalists in a Muslim-dominated town in western India.

An English-language TV channel revealed on Thursday morning that Mumbai's chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (who fell to terrorist bullets in the early hours of Thursday) had admitted that 90% of his department's energies in the preceding weeks had been devoted to tracking a fringe Hindu group. The recent terror attacks caught the squad unawares. It was a monumental intelligence failure.

The political space for robust anti-terrorism has been conceded to the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and, particularly, its controversial rising star, Narendra Modi.

To suggest that the government's dilettante approach to the biggest threat facing India is purely an outcome of political calculations is only partially true. There are patches of India where the authorities are committed to zero tolerance of terror. However, in a large swath of India the commitment is partial and governed by political expediency. In India, it is still possible to approach counter-terrorism very casually and allow it to be diverted to byways. Until 2005, terrorist strikes, except in Jammu and Kashmir, were annual occurrences. After the Mumbai train blasts they became bi-annual affairs and for the past 18 months they have been quarterly features.

Terrorism has become an everyday occurrence in India. From the metros, it has spread to newer areas such as Bangalore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. More people have died from terrorism in India than anywhere else, barring Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the problem hasn't led to a backlash. A fatalistic, suffer-and-forget approach has become a national phenomenon. There are few political leaders who have developed any rounded understanding of national security. Most are only too willing to be driven by spooks and policemen of vastly uneven competence.

Will the fidayeen attacks in Mumbai make a difference? Any event of this magnitude--it is being called India's 9/11--is bound to leave an imprint on the national consciousness. The Mumbai attacks didn't merely affect the proverbial Common Man; it struck at the heart of the Mumbai elite. The Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels are at the center of Mumbai's social and business life. If it could happen there, it could also happen in the Taj and Oberoi in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. This Mumbai attack has brought terrorism to the doorstep of India's opinion makers. It has also put this problem on the world map.

Swapan Dasgupta is a columnist based in New Delhi.

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/11/28/mumbai-terrorist-manmohan-oped-cx_sd_1128dasgupta.html