Sleepless in Delhi

But PM isn’t moved by victims of terror

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has let it be known that he has been spending sleepless nights after watching the tearful parents of Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, involved in the terrorist plot to blow up Glasgow Airport and targets in London, on television.

 That’s very touching, but it would have been convincing if the Prime Minister had demonstrated similar sentiments after watching television footage of mutilated bodies of victims of terrorism both at home and abroad.

 It would be in order to recall that the day terrorists blew up commuter train compartments in Mumbai last year, rather than commiserate with the families of 247 innocent victims and strongly denounce the criminals, he urged restraint and hoped the “spirit” of the city would prevail over the ghastly tragedy.

 In a similar vein, during a visit to Jammu & Kashmir he threatened security forces that his Government would adopt a policy of “zero tolerance” if they violated human rights; strangely, he did not find it fit to condemn the gross violation of human rights by terrorists or elaborate his Government’s policy on dealing with such violations.

And, in Havana, he declared that Pakistan was as much a victim of terrorism as India, thus giving a clean chit to those responsible for the grisly deaths of thousands of Indians.

It would also be in order to point out that in the three years that he has been Prime Minister, Mr Singh has not had a single sleepless night over the plight of Kashmiri Pandits living in abysmal conditions after being thrown out of their home and hearth by Islamists in the Valley.

Nor has the Prime Minister been so moved when terrorists struck in Delhi on the eve of Diwali and at Sankat Mochan temple on the eve of Holi.

 The imagined sorrow of some, it would seem, touches the Prime Minister more than the grief of those who have suffered on account of terrorism.

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