Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Dealing with terror

It is baffling how terrorism has metamorphosed over the last few years. One cannot but feel vulnerable. The UPA government has failed on the security front, adopting a responsive, instead of preventive, approach to terror despite a series of attacks.

Y. Suresh,

Hyderabad

The Mumbai blasts have exposed the government’s failure to combat terrorism, which has not only claimed hundreds of innocent lives but also endangered peace and harmony.

All that the government seems to be doing after every attack is to condemn the dastardly act and instantly go into hibernation.

K. Chidanand Kumar,

Bangalore

We seem to have learnt how to deal with post-terror situations effectively rather than containing terror attacks. After every terror attack, the government deploys force in large numbers, issues prohibitory orders, and closes schools and colleges for a day or two.

The media, for their part, publish pictures to aggravate the situation, and politicians condemn the attacks and announce ex gratia. After a few days, the situation is back to square one.

U.T.R. Sridhar Prasad,

Secunderabad

The Mumbai attacks raise many questions. The foremost among them is whether our political leaders are capable of securing the right to life of every Indian. They do not allow our administrative and executive machineries to function independently.

It is the politically influenced maladministration that emboldens terrorists to strike at will. India is certainly not safe in the hands of our present-day politicians.

M.J. Ruben,

Chennai

Mumbai is a city where the people have overcome the trauma of frequent terror attacks, thanks to their never-say-die attitude. That is all the more reason why the government should get cracking and bring the guilty to book. Booking the guilty does not mean sending them to prison. It is time we started meting out punishment to terrorists like Indonesia did recently.

Lakshmi Surendran,

Kochi

What do terrorists achieve by killing indiscriminately? They just want to destabilise, disintegrate and defeat our country on all fronts. It is argued that terrorists have no nation, religion, caste or creed. Therefore, terrorist attacks should be seen as attacks on the nation’s sovereignty. They should not be seen as religious issues or social conflicts.

K.W. Asokan,

Kochi

Despite being a nation that is constantly in the shadow of terror attacks, we sadly lack an unequivocal anti-terror policy. Vote-bank politics and parochial prudery upstage the national interests. Even now, certain sections in Tamil Nadu brazenly glorify the LTTE. As long as we continue to politicise everything, India will remain a soft target.

P.R. Lochan Sarathy,

Chennai

Why does the state always fail? The question needs to be addressed without demagogy. The time is not to blame the police and politics but to think out of the box to tackle the situation. National security must take precedence over all other considerations.

Amarendra Trivedi,

New Delhi

We have become victims of yet another terror attack. Homes have been shattered. Hearts have been broken. Lives have been lost defending the helpless. We have arrived at a defining moment in history. Will the condemnation by the people die down after two weeks? Will the unaffected go back to thinking that terrorism is none of their business? It is time to stand up and be counted. The armed forces may be able to kill terrorists. But we, the people, alone can remove the idea that leads to terror attacks. We owe it to those who have laid down their lives.

T. James,

Chennai

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