Recently our New Sardar Patel (NSP), L.K. Advani, and former law minister Arun Jaitley led the great POTA campaign in their war against terrorism. Their ...
They had pooh-poohed all warnings about the potential misuse of POTA. Every law can be misused, they countered. They forgot that every law can't put innocents in jail for over a month before the error is discovered. And what did POTA achieve? It couldn't stop terrorist massacres in Jammu. But gee whiz, it did succeed in nabbing Vaiko. Never mind if Vaiko's 'terrorist' party colleagues continue as central ministers!
The government's inefficiency is monumental. Unfortunately, the Opposition's role in extracting accountability is abysmal. Consider a few examples:
The media named Gujarat ministers who colluded with rioters. NSP never denied the reports. Gujarat has rushed into polls. Did NSP take action against the ministers concerned?Last week, the police issued a fresh arrest warrant against Abu Salem. But recently when Abu Salem was nabbed by Interpol, the government couldn't furnish the necessary identification documents because they were "missing". Has NSP identified the culprits responsible and taken action?
VHP leaders brazenly defied court rulings and the government while commenting on the Ram temple. Did NSP take any action? VHP leaders also openly distributed swords to innumerable followers when the atmosphere was bristling with communal tension. Did NSP take any action?
Under this government's protection, militancy proliferates. On July 10, Star News showed a shocking item that neither the electronic nor print media followed up. A BJP MLA, Badshah Singh, described by the channel as a former don, openly advocated armed insurgency to get a separate Bundelkhand state. The camera showed scores of people getting weapons training, and piles of rifles on the ground. Badshah's lieutenant, Shahjahan Begum, said that if people didn't respond favourably, they would resort to a "bloody revolution". Badshah solemnly said that "governments can do nothing, solutions lie in the hands of the public".
Don't we have any law against sedition? Is the government sleeping? If the deputy PM really wants to fight terrorism, he must as a first step divest the home minister of his portfolio.
When law is an ass,
Each leader a fool,
Politics is gas,
And governance misrule.