Author: P R Ramesh
Publication: The Economic Times
Dated: December 24, 2008
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/P_R_Ramesh/On_the_wrong_road_as_usual/articleshow/3883011.cms
Introduction: Intro: The statements of Digvijay
Singh and A R Antulay are in line with the model of governance adopted by
the UPA
One of the problems of those blessed with
the pseudo-secular mindset is the belief that they have a monopoly on compassion.
At regular intervals, they spring to the defence of imagined grievances or
deliberate ploys of the easy-to-offend types and attempt to guilt trip the
average citizen.
The country has been witness to one such cynical
spectacle these past few days. Disregarding the country's trauma over the
wanton killings in Mumbai by sea-borne jihadis, minority affairs minister
A R Antulay played the communal card by insinuating that Hindu radicals had
a role in the killing of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare. The claim resonated
in the pseudo-secular corner.
It would, of course, be foolhardy to expect
the Congress to reject the charge. On the contrary, Digvijay Singh, who recently
demonstrated that his sympathies lie with manifestly guilty characters when
he led a delegation to demand a probe into the police encounter at Batla House
in Jamia Nagar, came out in support of Antulay. Mr Singh, who was on his way
back from Azamgarh, said the minority affairs minister's charges should not
be taken lightly.
It cannot be anyone's argument that pseudo
secularists suffer from a learning disability regarding the evil of fundamentalism.
They have been quite vocal, and rightly so, when excesses are committed by
the members of the majority community. But they enforce political correctness
with an inflexible vengeance when trouble emanates from those who consider
killing as their duty.
Digvijay or Antulay cannot be faulted. Their
statements, outrageous as they are, fall in line with the model of governance
adopted by the UPA. In the past four-and-a-half years, they have never spared
any opportunity to pit people against people. Laws were labelled communal;
law enforcers were handcuffed for taking on evil; and charges of bigotry were
levelled against those who differed. They refused to admit that by constantly
playing the communal card, they have been exacerbating rather than alleviating
distinctions and the communal divide.
In the midst of all this, the ruling side
wants us to believe that it is serious about fighting fundamentalist terror.
The new home minister, who as finance minister choked funds for home security
requirements - proposal for the creation of NSG hub and more money for modern
equipment were rejected by him - is now flaunting new NSG hubs and other security
paraphernalia to suggest that the country are in safe hands. The government
has also put an anti-terror law in place after treating jihadi crimes as a
law-enforcement problem.
But has the mindset changed? There is no tangible
evidence to suggest so. The Antulay episode clearly suggests that unwholesome
elements will still be mollified, coddled and persuaded. It took six full
days for the government to concede that what Antulay said was "wrong
and regrettable". That there is still a premium on indulgence towards
this section is evident from the response of parties even in the NDA.
The JD(U) leaders, brought up in the same
tradition, have become the biggest supporters of Antulay. The conspiracy theory
of Antulay is a big hit with its leaders. Its Rajya Sabha members enthusiastically
backed the minority affairs minister. But this line ignores what the combatants
who bombed Mumbai say about themselves and their inspiration, and patronise
them in the process.
It's time we realised that our approach to
terror has been repeatedly failing because we look at it through the wrong
prism. The reluctance to name the evil is emboldening the terror malls operating
across the border; the refusal to punish the evil has made the law of the
land a bad joke; and the appeasement of evildoers is hurting the efficacy
of the Indian state.
The Antulays should not be allowed to wear
down what is left of the resolve to tackle the jihadi menace. India has
already lost thousands of lives to political correctness and to the dumb belief
that compassion will convert killers to orderly behaviour. The swelling anger
over the terror attack suggests that people are no longer willing to put up
with the baffling perplexities of pseudo-secularists.
One of the enemy combatants caught by the
police in Mumbai has explained to his investigators the cause of his anger.
We now know the enemy. We now know where he hails from. We know now the name
of the terror franchisee that he is working for. We now have to admit that
joint terror mechanism and slogans like Left's "give peace a chance"
will just not work.
This government has often found itself at
the crossroads but each time it seems to have opted for the wrong path. The
prime minister and the Congress cannot afford to run to the welcoming embrace
of pseudo-secularists. Voters are no more likely to be fooled by expressions
of regret.
