BJP charges Cong & allies with going soft on terrorists
The Manmohan Singh government came under a stinging attack from the Opposition BJP for letting Simi off the hook.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government on Wednesday came under a stinging attack from the Opposition BJP for letting Simi off the hook. The BJP asserted that the development proved its point that the Congress and its alliance partners were soft on terrorism.
The order lifting the ban on Simi, according to BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley, was the result of a ���conscious omission������ by the Union home ministry ���to place the relevant material before the Tribunal.������ He sought to put the issue in a larger perspective, contending that it had a direct bearing on the manner in which internal security was being handled by the ruling combine, and wondered whether the people could repose their faith in such a government to protect their lives.
���There���s a nationalistic revulsion building up across the country. The question being asked is: Is India safe under the UPA ?������ Mr Jaitley remarked.
The principal Opposition party demanded the sacking of Union home minister Shivraj Patil for allowing the ban to be lifted, and wondered whether the decision to go soft on the organisation was part of quid-pro-quo deal worked out with the Samajwadi Party on the eve of the trust vote.
`Is it part of the deal struck by the government to remain in power with the help of the SP?������ a statement issued by the party asked, adding, ``The Union home ministry zeal to see that the ban was lifted is part of the same commitment which was espoused by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav by going in for a similar move when he was in power in Uttar Pradesh.������
The order lifting the ban on Simi, the party argued, had vindicated its larger charge the UPA government was soft on terror. ``The inability of the government to furnish fresh evidence to the Delhi High Court Tribunal raises serious doubts about the intent of the government to fight terrorism in such pressing times,������ the party said, adding, `` What is most shocking is that the Tribunal apparently had been cautioning the Union government for over two weeks that they had not produced enough material evidence to press their charge for maintaining the ban on Simi.������
The organisation, according to the BJP, thrived on radical fundamentalism, perpetrating terror across the nation. There were, the BJP maintained, enough evidences to back the charges against them. ``It, however, stands absolved by the seemingly willful inaction of the Union home ministry. It is in public domain that the Simi, established with the fundamentals of waging jihad, who brand all non-Muslims as kafirs (enemies of God) with the aim of establishing Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam ), a philosophy held by the Taliban with the overt patronage of Osama Bin Laden and links with al-Qaeda, ISI, LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Huji-B, has astonishingly been given a clean chit,������ the party said.
The governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Karnataka, the BJP argued, had compiled loads of evidences on Simi���s complicity in terror attacks, and had promptly acted against it on the basis of proofs such as the transportation of gelatin sticks, fake currency, arms, shelter to militants, timerdevice explosions, inciting secessionist movements, printing anti-national literature. ``Yet we have a home ministry which says it has nothing against the organisation after 2001,������ the party said.
The order lifting the ban on Simi, according to BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley, was the result of a ���conscious omission������ by the Union home ministry ���to place the relevant material before the Tribunal.������ He sought to put the issue in a larger perspective, contending that it had a direct bearing on the manner in which internal security was being handled by the ruling combine, and wondered whether the people could repose their faith in such a government to protect their lives.
���There���s a nationalistic revulsion building up across the country. The question being asked is: Is India safe under the UPA ?������ Mr Jaitley remarked.
The principal Opposition party demanded the sacking of Union home minister Shivraj Patil for allowing the ban to be lifted, and wondered whether the decision to go soft on the organisation was part of quid-pro-quo deal worked out with the Samajwadi Party on the eve of the trust vote.
`Is it part of the deal struck by the government to remain in power with the help of the SP?������ a statement issued by the party asked, adding, ``The Union home ministry zeal to see that the ban was lifted is part of the same commitment which was espoused by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav by going in for a similar move when he was in power in Uttar Pradesh.������
The order lifting the ban on Simi, the party argued, had vindicated its larger charge the UPA government was soft on terror. ``The inability of the government to furnish fresh evidence to the Delhi High Court Tribunal raises serious doubts about the intent of the government to fight terrorism in such pressing times,������ the party said, adding, `` What is most shocking is that the Tribunal apparently had been cautioning the Union government for over two weeks that they had not produced enough material evidence to press their charge for maintaining the ban on Simi.������
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The organisation, according to the BJP, thrived on radical fundamentalism, perpetrating terror across the nation. There were, the BJP maintained, enough evidences to back the charges against them. ``It, however, stands absolved by the seemingly willful inaction of the Union home ministry. It is in public domain that the Simi, established with the fundamentals of waging jihad, who brand all non-Muslims as kafirs (enemies of God) with the aim of establishing Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam ), a philosophy held by the Taliban with the overt patronage of Osama Bin Laden and links with al-Qaeda, ISI, LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Huji-B, has astonishingly been given a clean chit,������ the party said.
The governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Karnataka, the BJP argued, had compiled loads of evidences on Simi���s complicity in terror attacks, and had promptly acted against it on the basis of proofs such as the transportation of gelatin sticks, fake currency, arms, shelter to militants, timerdevice explosions, inciting secessionist movements, printing anti-national literature. ``Yet we have a home ministry which says it has nothing against the organisation after 2001,������ the party said.
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