Vikrant’s World

What is the home minister doing right now and what has he done after the Delhi blasts? He had information about a month ago, but he took no action.
He is busy getting new clothes stitched for himself because his current wardrobe needs to be replaced.
Was Narendra Modi correct in pointing out the weakness of Manmohan Singh at a public address in Mumbai while the security forces were still struggling with the terrorists?
Modi should have refrained from attacking the Prime Minister in Mumbai.
Why are elections still going on? Isn’t it time for all of us to get united and ask our leaders where the nation is heading for and why should we vote for them?
Life must move on as usual and that would be the proper response.
Do we really need a good infrastructure to counter terrorism?
More than the infrastructure, we need a firm resolve to finish terrorism and its active and passive supporters.
Is the Indian government at all worried about the safety of its citizens? How many more innocent people will be killed in bomb blasts and such heinous terror attacks?
It is the responsibility of the State to protect its citizens. However, we need a strong leadership to do that.
Should the armed forces get more authority than what they have now?
They deserve more money and operational autonomy. However, they have to work under civil control.
Are the Mumbai attacks aimed at destabilizing the country, especially with Lok Sabha elections round the corner? Is the trouble over or is it just the beginning?
These terrorists are being used to demolish both our economic and social foundations so that we also become another banana republic.
Isn’t it the result of vote-bank politics that somebody raises questions over the Batla House encounter while another person diverts the attention of the ATS Mumbai towards ‘Hindu terrorism’? How will our security agencies work?
Indians have become victims of naked vote-bank politics.
We still do not have a crisis-management infrastructure in Mumbai. Will the government now think about implementing a good plan to deal with such situations?
If our civil servants and politicians get some time from dirty politics and making money, they will be able to pay some attention to serious issues.
Do we still need to pity the terrorists by giving them a fair trial? How long will it take a nation to wake up and how many more lives need to be lost for the government to act in national interest?
Once a terrorist is arrested, he deserves a fair legal trial.
When will the politicians stop reaping political mileage over people’s tears? Shouldn’t they be stopped from visiting the sites of terror attacks?
Politicians love to see their pictures and hear their voice on TV and newspapers.
Will our leaders ever be ‘real leaders’ rather than being politicians? Will we ever find a leader with a spine?
Since all of them are attired in designer outfits and they walk prove that they have a spine.
Can’t we develop a top-class intelligence network and have a specialised crisis-management team which is allowed to function autonomously? It has now become a game of ‘guess which city is next in line’, as we wait for the next terror strike.
We spend enough money on our intelligence agencies.
Any terrorist caught in Mumbai should not be subjected to trail or kept in jail to avert a Kandahar-like mission. Instead, he should be interrogated and hanged after culling out information. Please comment.
If you hang him, it will invite adverse international reaction.
It is apparently clear that the J&K elections have irked Pakistan and forced it to create such trouble in India. It should have been anticipated, but the highly-paid officials were yet again caught napping as usual.
If you consider the timing of elections and the Mumbai mayhem, you may be right in coming to that conclusion.

Why don’t we start a joint military operation with the US to wipe out all the terrorist camps from PoK and Pakistan?
It is not possible. While our prime minister says India loves Bush, the US President loves Pakistan army and its pro-America establishment.
Shouldn’t Raj Thackeray come out to save Mumbai? Where is R.R. Patil and what happened to his brave Mumbai police? Why did they let the forces from outside Maharashtra to come to Mumbai and save people’s lives?
I will convey your sentiments to all of them when I meet them.
Do you think it’s a right decision to invite ISI chief in India when everyone knows and all the clues indicate the involvement of Pakistan in Mumbai attacks?
We have enough evidence to show him and the rest of the world that the ISI is involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Is the press doing enough for the country’s interest? I have never seen any news agency broadcasting the strategy of the terrorists whereas you give full coverage to the strategy and planning of the security forces, thus helping the terrorists.
There is a need for some restraint and all of us will have to keep national interests in mind while reporting.
If Pakistan terrorists repeatedly violate the sovereignty of India, does that not provide legal and ethical grounds for India to strike at the places from where these people come from?
We should mobilise global opinion for such an action and insist on Global Action Force Against Terrorism (GAFAT).
Terrorists attack only the common people. Why are they not attacking Parliament or other important political landmarks of the Centre or state governments?
I hope you are a nationalist and wish India well otherwise you will not be pleading for an attack on our democracy.
Don’t you think that the nation’s intelligence machinery is useless and ineffective? Year after year, we are experiencing so many bold attacks on our soil. Why are we not weeding out these terrorist organizations?
We have a strong force of professionals headed by inferior and weak people who work for the political philosophy of their masters and not for the national interest.
Do you think our political parties can ever unite on the war against terror? What do you think could be the best way of dealing with these heinous attacks?
We have to tame the politics of dynasty, caste and religion.
Did the Cong govt in Maharashtra and UPA at the Centre act responsibly by not preventing the Mumbai terror attacks? Is it the business of NSG to protect VVIPs to the detriment of nation’s security?
You may soon have a better mechanism to deal with this menace.
Do you think the UPA government is the worst India has ever had?
Perhaps it is the weakest and the most incoherent government since 1980.
How can we control our population and remove corruption?
By giving more education and jobs to the poor people in rural areas and slums.
The better procedure for flushing out terrorists would have been to airdrop two batches (one for the offensive, another for the back-up) of about ten commandos each and the same could have been done from the entrance of the hotels. Please comment.
I was on the spot. And I discussed this course of action with senior police officials.
When we have not implemented Rustomji’s recommendation of the 60s providing better training and pay to the police, how can we expect them to deal with motivated and trained terrorists?
Our police needs better training, world-class equipment and much better salaries and working conditions.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he would take whatever measures necessary to tackle neighbours involved in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Is this the usual brave talk or is he really serious?
We expect him to act now even though he is left with few more months to go to the polls.
In the current scenario of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, what do you think about the need of anti-terrorist law like POTA?
There is a need for a more stringent law and speedy trial of terrorists.

What has forced third generation, prosperous Muslims kids to turn into terrorists?
Most of them are motivated and misguided by the jehadi calls given by the likes of Osama bin Laden.
How long will India and the establishment remain silent on terror attacks?
As long as all of us don’t rise as Indians and nothing else.
Is the Mumbai attack a handiwork of the BJP and the RSS to divert attention from the Malegaon investigations because they were being exposed?
We Indians have a problem. We can’t treat any attack on India without coloured glasses.
Don’t you think the ATS Mumbai’s obsession with Malegaon probe diverted its attention from jehadi elements which resulted in the strike?
ATS is quite huge and each unit has been assigned special jobs.
The encounter specialists failed completely when they faced a real encounter. The police grossly failed in doing their job. The terrorists sailed into Mumbai right under the Navy’s nose, but it continued to sleep in the Naval Command centre in Mumbai.
Your anger is well appreciated. Our agencies lack modern outlook and alertness.
As a senior journalist can you tell us who could be behind the terrorist attacks in Mumbai? What is their motive?
Both the Prime Minister and local police have hinted at outside elements.
Is India’s stand on combating terror softer in comparison to that of USA, or are we in the habit of living with this?
It is not a question of any stand. Our response to terrorism lacks authority and unanimity.
Where is Raj Thackeray now? Hiding? It is his Mumbai which is under attack.
He can threaten only his own unarmed Indians.
Why are TV channels emboldening the terrorists to take hard steps by airing all the latest information instead of telecasting only the outcome of the operation?
You have a point. Such reporting based on off-the-record briefings does help the terrorists.
I hope you are safe. How is the Congress allowed to get away with blaming the BJP for the release of terrorists in return for the hostages at Kandahar? Common people led by the Congress had made it impossible for the government to do anything else.
The time has come to lay aside political affiliations and protect the very identity of a safe and strong India.
Should Afzal Guru be hanged immediately to make out an example?
Definitely as the Supreme Court has confirmed his death sentence.
What do you say on the model of police reforms as suggested by the SC?
Any system which provides absolute powers to the police or the army is not in conformity with a democratic system.
If you become the PM, what steps would you take to solve the economic crisis?
Please get me the post and you will see me in action.
Don’t you think the BJP should have opted for a younger person than Malhotra—maybe Sushma Swaraj—for CM candidate in Delhi?
There is a difference of only six years between Malhotra and Sheila Dixit.
How do you rate the performance of the BJP government in MP during the last five years in terms of development vis-a-vis Digvijay Singh’s government?
We can compare both of them only if Shivraj gets a second term.

It is said we can’t be as prosperous as the US because our leaders are never one even on prime issues. Moreover, 90 per cent of American people have one religion while 100 per cent speak a single language. Is our ‘unity in diversity’ good only in books?
Diversity is both our strength and weakness. It is because of this unique feature that we have survived as a nation so far.
Isn’t the BJP exposing its double standards on terrorism? So long as the Imams were being tortured it was ok, but now when sadhus with proven terror links are being interrogated, everyone including the PM-in-waiting is up in arms.
Faulty methods of ATS investigations have provided the BJP with much more ammunition to use against the UPA.
The government may propose four-to-five-member Election Commission. Will this also lead to electoral reforms?
The proposal to induct more members is not meant for any electoral reforms.
When Rahul Gandhi has commitment to his own party workers, how can the country expect a commitment from him?
Rahul is creating his own Congress within the Congress and has chosen young persons whom he can trust.
Given China’s loud claim of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh being part of its territory, why isn’t India using the same logic to claim Chinese-occupied Kashmir?
After Nehru’s cardinal mistake of trusting the Chinese, our leaders are much wiser and they keep indulging in dialogue rather than giving an extra inch.
Why don’t you become a politician instead of speaking and writing about politicians?
The grapes are sour.
What are the qualities a person should have in order to become a successful prime minister in India?
The person should be large-hearted, well-educated, transparently honest and he or she should stake claim only after getting elected to the Lok Sabha.
Can you give five reasons as to why the Indian economy has been in ruins for over 50 years after Independence? Is the Congress to be blamed?
We are growing at an average of 8 per cent for the past eight years which is the highest in the democratic world.
Is L.K. Advani right in questioning the role of the ATS? Does this suit the stature of a person who is the PM-in-waiting?
If I have read his statement correctly, he hasn’t questioned the ATS but has asked the government to investigate into the charges levelled by Pragya in her affidavit.
Can you mention a single achievement of the UPA government (other than the nuclear deal which doesn’t concern the common man) in the past four-and-half years?
They have launched many schemes like the employment guarantee scheme under which at least one member of a family is assured of 100 days of work in a year at a minimum wage.
Doesn’t the fact that the Britishers transferred power to all their colonies reject the claim made by the Congress that it won freedom for the country? None of the colonies needed Nehru, Gandhi or the Congress party to get freedom.
But you can’t deny the fact that the Congress leaders went to jail and they were leading the freedom movement.
Do you know what Bill Clinton—who had sex in office and lied to his nation—is doing these days with all his global initiatives?
Clinton is keeping himself busy by travelling all over the world and making speeches.
Shouldn’t Priyanka Gandhi help her mother in politics? Does the Gandhi family now have any credibility in Indian politics?
Priyanka has been helping her mother in political work.
I used to love India Today but the magazine has become very predictable as it has started publishing only the surveys on the best colleges, sex and the best CM. What has happened to your creativity?
As a leading and responsible magazine, it is our responsibility to the readers to give them information which they can use.
Aren’t we deviating from the Preamble of the Constitution and Bapu’s vision of socialism towards a sheer capitalist state meant for the sake of a few billionaires?
We haven’t done anything which is unconstitutional. It is a question of emphasis.