New Delhi: Political and official India reacted calmly and unitedly to the terrorists’ assault in Mumbai.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went on the air, talked tough, asserted that a group “based outside the country” carried out the Mumbai attacks, and warned “neighbours” of consequences if they continued to allow the use of their territories to these terror groups. Authoritative sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Hindu that there would be no negotiations with the terrorists holding hostages.
Politically, the principal Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as other parties extended support to the Manmohan Singh government in what they all described as a grave moment for the nation.
The Prime Minister, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, the Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar and the Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh, flew to Mumbai on Thursday evening. Originally all the leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, were to fly together; but practical considerations made Mr. Advani take an earlier flight.
Officially, the Prime Minister’s establishment marshalled all available resources to deal with the situation. National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar ensured that all necessary Army, Navy, intelligence and police resources and assets were made available for the anti-terrorist operation.
The mobilisation of trained anti-terror resources, in fact, began late on Wednesday night, as it was evident to senior security officials that it was a grave national crisis.
The Union Cabinet met on Thursday morning at the Prime Minister’s residence. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who had flown to Mumbai on Thursday (along with an NSG contingent) and returned some hours later, gave a preliminary assessment of the nature of the terrorist threat. Subsequently, the Cabinet committees on security and political affairs met jointly to finetune the government’s response. Mr. Pawar, who joined the meeting late, gave “quality” inputs, an authoritative source said.
The political response to the Mumbai development seemed free from grandstanding or one-upmanship of any kind. Political leaders refrained from finger-pointing and did their best to present a united political face to the country.
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Earlier terror strikes in Mumbai
Major terror attacks in 2008
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Published - November 28, 2008 12:00 am IST
