Horrors revisited

Sir — Consecutive bomb blasts in Hyderabad last week, within three months of the attack at the Mecca Masjid there, have shaken our confidence in the security forces appointed to ensure the safety of citizens (“Weekend terror”, Aug 26). In most cases, the police fail to get to the actual culprits and are content to rattle a list of names of foreign terrorist outfits that may have masterminded the attack.

The government must spruce up its intelligence machinery immediately if it does not want to watch helplessly as blast after blast demolishes the fabric of our society. It was surprising to find from the Sachar committee’s report that there are hardly any Muslims in India’s intelligence agencies. More Muslims should be inducted into the country’s security services because they would be best-equipped to pick out the signs of Islamic extremism and terror. The government should also take the Muslim clergy into confidence so that the fanatic elements can be weaned away from their violent ways.

Yours faithfully,
Shariq Alavi,
Lucknow

Sir — When it comes to terrorist attacks, the media should start ignoring the ritual issuing of statements by the prime minister, the chief minister et al, condemning the act and expressing sympathy for the victims and making the usual hollow declarations. The media should also stop providing coverage to bandhs called by opposition parties in protest against such attacks, since these do not help the victims or their families.

Yours faithfully,
M.C. Joshi,
Lucknow

Sir — Two blasts took 41 innocent lives and all that the politicians and media can do is carry on with their despicable blame game. While the Opposition blames the government, the government in turn is happy to name Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Toiba or Bangladesh’s Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami as the perpetrators of violence. The home minister, Shivraj Patil, has sagely declared that preventing such massacres is “not an easy job”. One wonders why, then, he and his government are bingeing on the taxpayers’ money if they cannot do their job. The story of one Irshad Ahmed Shaikh, whose promising academic career was brought to a gruesome end by the blasts, shows that acts of terrorism claim lives arbitrarily, and across religious divides (“On last day of study tour, a bright future snuffed out”, Aug 27).

Yours faithfully,
S.B. Gupta,
Calcutta

Sir — The Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Y.S.R. Reddy, is quick to implore the public to “remain calm” in the wake of the twin blasts in Hyderabad, possibly because he himself is provided with high-level security at the expense of the state.

No amount of monetary compensation paid to the relatives of those killed and maimed will ever be enough. The Andhra Pradesh government and its police department have much to answer for their ineptitude, especially since these blasts occurred just three months after the Mecca Masjid bombings. How can we trust the administration if this is how it takes care of the citizens?

Yours faithfully,
Kangayam R. Rangaswamy,
Waunakee, US

Sir — The editorial, “Same city” (Aug 28), should have emphasized the need for an egregious intelligence system to combat terrorism. India must have separate intelligence ministries, both at the Centre and in the states, headed by a cabinet minister who will be accountable to parliament and the assemblies respectively. The army had in fact proposed this soon after the Sino-Indian war in 1962, but the government turned a deaf ear to it, presumably because politicians loathe accountability.

The intelligence mechanism can start with the local. If boys and girls of paras can organize grand Puja festivities, surely they can evolve a local intelligence methodology equally well. Unknown faces and suspicious activities should be immediately reported to the nearest police station and followed up by the police. Coolies and platform urchins in railway stations should be recruited as informers. Our land borders and long coastline require special monitoring, best done with the help of satellite surveillance with global positioning.

Summary laws are imperative for trying captured terrorists. The dilly-dallying shown in Mohammed Afzal’s case should not be repeated.

Yours faithfully,
J.K. Dutt,
Calcutta

Sir — The blasts in Hyderabad brought death and destruction for both Hindus and Muslims. India has recorded the highest number of terrorist attacks globally since 2004 and one can only point an accusing finger at our incompetent home ministry.

We cannot go on dumping the blame for these blasts on the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Terrorism is a global phenomenon today, and the governments of the Indian subcontinent must sit together and evolve strategies of combating it jointly.

But every time an act of terrorism is carried out, those in charge of the nation’s safety order elaborate gadgets to help in security and surveillance operations. No sooner had the Mumbai train blasts occurred than crores of rupees were drained in procuring metal detectors and other advanced security devices. Most of these gadgets are lying idle in railway stations now.

Yours faithfully,
Subhankar Mukherjee,
Burdwan