The UPA Government in general, and the Congress in particular, has "infinite tolerance" for terrorists. The Government talked about 'zero tolerance' time and again but its performance towards Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in its two-and-half-years tenure doesn't inspire confidence. Pranab Mukherjee as Defence Minister made a candid admission that Pakistan's ISI has penetrated into several organisations including the Indian Army. What Mukherjee has said is pregnant with symptoms of extraordinarily dangerous implications in matters relating to external and internal security. Pranab Mukherjee is an experienced administrator and knows what he is talking about.

India realised the danger when a couple of its Armymen handed over security-related documents to Pakistani Embassy. The density of ISI moles is really alarming in J&K, UP, Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, WB and the North-East. In fact hundreds of moles in sleep mode are in existence all over India. They can be activated as and when required for creating havoc with the internal security scenario. They have already done this on dozens of occasions in J&K, Mumbai and Delhi. Speaking at an ITBP function, Home Minister Shivraj Patil also warned the country about the growing acts of terrorism. What Patil has hinted signals towards the possible dangers of a civil war-like situation. These may be forthright admissions of the UPA Government's failures.

As a matter of fact, internal security is not of priority to this Government. Curbing terrorism is not their prime concern and they have declared it honestly in the Common Minimum Programme with the promise to repeal POTA. They didn't calculate what signal this will send to the Pakistan's ISI.

During the UPA regime, internal security has gone from bad to worse. Recent Mumbai trains blasts have proven that new terror modules have emerged. In these heated moments, they talk of zero tolerance but forget it as the situation goes off boil. Even the National Security Advisor MK Narayanan has weakened India's case when he stated that the Government had 'good' but not 'clinching' evidence of Pakistan's ISI hand in the recent Mumbai blasts. Prime Minister had to make amends to save the situation in international diplomatic circles. The UPA, particularly the Congress, has this type of flip-flop inbuilt in its thought process.

Recently, after meeting President Musharraf, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was led to the garden path of believing that Pakistan too has been a victim of terrorism. It seems he actually believed the story that Pakistan has been selling to the US and India that terrorists are beyond Musharraf's control. Should an Indian Prime Minister buy this theory? Haven't we suffered a well-planned terrorist attack at the behest of Pakistan for far too long now?

India has been major victim of cross-border terrorism for more than two decades. Till 2004, it had taken a toll of over 62,000 lives in J&K, Punjab, North-East and the Naxalite-affected States. Over 7,50,000 persons had been rendered homeless and forced to leave their homes in the wake of terrorist threats.

After bleeding India in Punjab for over a decade, Pakistan mounted a virulent form of trans-border terrorist offensive in J&K, using the infrastructure, terrorist hardware and trained cadres, which were raised with western support for anti-Soviet operations in Afghanistan. Besides J&K, it targeted other parts of the country for sabotage, subversion and espionage in collaboration with fundamentalist groups, organised crime syndicates, drug traffickers, gunrunners, fake currency racketeers.

Pakistan also made sustained efforts towards intelligence encirclement of India by establishing its covert action bases in Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Middle-East. Extensive networks of spies, saboteurs and subversive groups, launched and controlled by ISI station chiefs in Kathmandu, Dhaka, Dubai, Riyadh were operationalised to undermine India's security.

The ISI has been providing sanctuaries, camps for training, weapons and finances to different terrorist outfits. Financial, logistic and other supports were extended to them in proportion to their ground performance, thereby encouraging competitive violence. Covert offensive was carried out in a calibrated action plan at least till 2002, when under increasing Indian pressure and changed global scenario, it had to be more circumspect and cautious.

There is no denying that the state of Pakistan is extremely complex. But most of the acts of terrorism could not have been executed without the active support of the Pakistani Government. But the UPA Government has near infinite tolerance towards terrorism, nay, jihadi terrorism. This is clear from the Congress' attitude towards Afzal's hanging.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, October 29, 2006