Terror plot: Probe,don’t politicise it
The arrest of six men from Delhi, Bihar and Chennai on the strong suspicion of their collective activities as a pan-India module or cell of the Indian Mujahideen terrorist outfit is not sufficient to prove the charges against them. Therefore, in due course we may expect to hear voices from civil society attacking the police for their arrest (and proclaiming their innocence) and for picking on individuals from the minority communities. This is just as well, for it keeps the authorities on their toes and acts as a safeguard against detention of citizens on dubious or fanciful grounds, which is not an infrequent occurrence.
However, with key elections not too far away, major political parties and their top leaders may also be tempted to see some traction in making the appropriate noises. This has happened in the past. Therefore, it is time to ask all concerned to act with restraint. The police must be allowed the space to diligently gather and collate evidence and present this to the courts as a cogent whole, as per their duty, without interference from political and influential quarters.
The charges are of an extremely serious nature. The six — along with their supposed mastermind Yasin Bhatkal, who slipped out of the net — are alleged to be crucially involved in Pune’s German Bakery case, the Jama Masjid blast in Delhi and the explosion in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. They are also said to have been planning attacks in Chennai on December 6 to mark the 19th anniversary of the Babri Masjid’s demolition. It should be noted that none of this has been proved in the courts. This, however, cannot mean that an atmosphere should be created in support of the suspects, as some are inclined to do. For a start, it is enough to go on if incriminating material such as assault rifles and pistols with ammunition, explosives, fake currency and forged documents have been recovered from the accused. Of course, this too has to be established before the law before a firm view of guilt or acquittal can be harboured.
The state of affairs in next-door Pakistan — where on Wednesday a leader of the influential religio-terrorist outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa declared in a Lahore speech that it would convert Pakistan into a “Taliban state”, and the well-documented proximity of this outfit to the Pakistan Army — can leave us in no doubt that a systematic effort is on to subvert susceptible minds in this country and direct them towards terrorist goals across India. Our democratic state and civil society must be alert to this game of destabilisation through “a war of a thousand cuts” even as we remain alive to the question of civil liberties.
Post new comment