Author: P R Ramesh
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: December 12, 2007
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/P_R_Ramesh/The_perils_of_pandering/articleshow/msid-2615545,curpg-1.cms
Introduction: The poll campaign in Gujarat
has seen Sohrabuddin, a gunrunner & underworld conduit gaining the halo
of a 'secular' icon. The liberals have a vested interest in highlighting the
fake encounter case. The Congress' enthusiastic campaign over Sohrabuddin
will only please the liberals. But they are rarely seen in polling booths
For the anti-Modi brigade spearheaded by Sonia
Gandhi, "martyr" Sohrabuddin is the latest cause celebre. The election
campaign in Gujarat has seen this gunrunner and underworld conduit - police
had recovered 24 AK-56 rifles, 81 magazines of AK-56, hand grenades and over
5,000 cartridges from his home in Zarania - gaining the halo of a "secular"
icon.
This is not the first time criminals and jehadis
are being granted credentials from Congress leaders and their handlers in
the profanity-spewing Left liberals. They often go ballistic against those
who speak out about a system that spends tax payers' money for arranging legal
assistance for jehadis to wash the blood stains off their hands.
Afzal, who masterminded the Parliament attack,
is a hero for grievance mongers; jailed terrorists are victims of an oppressive
Indian State; and those pointing to the reality of murderous RDX-strapped
men lurking at our doorsteps are labelled xenophobic saffronites.
Sonia Gandhi and her partymen, who appear
to believe that relentless and over-the-top invectives against Narendra Modi
will pay off, are in a celebratory mood. Aided by a pusillanimous media and
the fiction it concocts, they think that they have Modi cornered in a major
scandal. But after a whirlwind tour through parts of Gujarat, one gets the
feeling that Sonia Gandhi and the embedded NGO activists will be kicking themselves
when it will be proved on December 23 that it was not quite wise to make Sohrabuddin
the centrepiece of the campaign against Modi.
Besides taking the poll discourse to a terrain
that Modi is comfortable with, it has also been egging on a significant section
to resist the pressure for sinking under the weight of an opinion that rarely
speaks up for the victims of terror.
The liberals have a vested interest in highlighting
issues such as the fake encounter case. This section - regulars in grievance-mongering
sessions in metropolitan cities - have been seeking justice for those booked
for terror crimes for the past three years. Remember, they were all foul-mouthed
when the police rounded up some men in Malegaon and Hyderabad for questioning
when terrorists struck in these two locales.
It's another matter they look the other way
when they are told that almost 20,000 innocents lost lives to the unlawful
combatants. Of course, there is no place for hard truths when the enterprise
is all about promoting the cult of victimhood.
The Congress, which runs the Centre, cannot
be equally senseless. The jehadis are baring their murderous wares on not
just the borders but in the hinterland. Mumbai, Malegaon, Hyderabad, Delhi,
Ayodhya, Varanasi, Faizabad and Allahabad were targeted in the past three
years. Charred and mutilated bodies; small children looking for their parents
among victims of terror attack; and wailing mothers are regular visuals on
24X7 TVs.
The government's response: TV-friendly tears
from politicians and expressions of concern from a clueless home minister.
If the government leaders turn their gaze
and ears away from Left liberals and their catechism, they can certainly hear
a majority of Indians saying "enough is enough". Those victimised
and traumatised by terror are repelled by the regime's reluctance to call
and condemn the evil. There would not be many who would cheer the Congress'
energetic pandering to the sections consumed by hate of law enforcement.
Sohrabuddin's case should have been treated
as an aberration. In a country, which has lost almost 20,000 lives to terrorism
in the past seven years, an odd encounter killing cannot become the key issue.
It can become the main concern only if the regime wants to support the liberals'
project of tarring every man in uniform with the nasty "murderer"
brush. In a country where killings of men in uniform get zero TV coverage,
it will only help in sapping the morale of the brave men in khakhi who protect
our citizens.
India has sacrificed too much for sensitivity.
It has compromised a lot by appeasing the self-anointed custodians of "tolerance".
Government's own statistics show that 166 districts of the country are now
facing serious threat from Naxalites. Security experts say that the government's
statistics merely contain districts where Maoist violence was reported. According
to them 256 districts of the country are currently Naxalite-affected.
This numbing statistics should have shamed
the politicians who run the country into doing something to protect innocent
lives. But the government appears to be more concerned about appeasing film
lyricists, community crackpots and conspiracy theorists. The Congress' political
campaign in Gujarat showed their influence in the thinking process of the
party that rules the Centre. Seeking justice for terrorists will not go down
well with the electorate.
The finger wagging at the Gujarat government
should have been on bread and butter issues. It would have helped the Congress
to cash in on local grievances against the 12-year-old rule of the BJP. The
Congress' enthusiastic campaign over Sohrabuddin will only please the liberals.
But they are rarely seen in polling booths.
