The Hindu : Front Page : BJP’s flip-flop on terror attacks

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Saturday, Nov 29, 2008
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Front Page

BJP’s flip-flop on terror attacks

Special Correspondent

It reverts to criticism of UPA government

L.K. Advani

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to change its political stance on the latest terror attacks in Mumbai. It will now use them to make calculated electoral gains in the upcoming Assembly elections.

There is nothing exceptional in that – terror has been the BJP’s plank for some time – except that on November 27, 2008, barely 12 hours after the first shots were fired by terrorists in Mumbai, Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani addressed a press conference where he said: “The need of the hour is for the people of Mumbai, Maharashtra and the entire country to stay united and calm … and stand resolutely and united against terror.”

That same afternoon BJP office-bearers met with Mr. Advani and stated: “This is an hour for all sections of society to sink their differences so that the nation stands up as one body.”

However, in less than 12 hours, by the time Mr. Advani landed in Mumbai, he had already begun expressing mild criticism of the government for not being hard enough on terror. Before the evening wore out, the BJP had prepared and finalised its new election campaign for New Delhi, which appeared in many newspapers on November 28 morning: “Brutal terror strikes at will, weak government, unwilling and incapable.”

By afternoon, Mr. Advani’s tone was also decidedly different, more critical: “The government’s non-serious approach in this regard [to terror] is reinforced by reports that the Mumbai attackers arrived in the city from the sea. Official agencies had been warning the Home Ministry for some time about such a possibility, but the government did nothing to bolster the Navy or the Coast Guard’s capacity to intercept rogue boats… the government needs to take whatever intelligence inputs it receives seriously and act on it.”

While one senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader admitted that the first reaction was that it would appear to be wrong for the party to criticise the government when it faced a “war-like” situation — Mr. Advani had initially himself described the Mumbai attack as a “full-scale war on India” — the party leadership felt that it could not let go of the opportunity to electorally cash in on the terror attacks.

Gone was the earlier view that India should emulate the U.S. where after 9/11 the Republicans in government and the Democrats in the Opposition spoke in one voice against terrorism.

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