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Indian home minister, security adviser quit
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigned yesterday facing severe criticism for handling of internal security during the terror attacks on Mumbai. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at an all-party meeting in New Delhi unveiled a set of measures to strengthen the country's anti-terror apparatus to combat terrorism, reports our correspondent Pallab Bhattacharya from New Delhi. Manmohan said the government has finalised a set of legal measures, which include setting up of a Federal Investigation Agency. He said measures have been initiated to beef up maritime and air security. "This will involve the navy, coast guard and coastal police as well as the air force and the civil aviation ministry," the Indian prime minister said. The National Security Guard (NSG), the major anti-terrorism force of India, will be given additional facilities, he said, adding that steps have been initiated to establish four more NSG hubs across the country. Patil, 74, taking "moral responsibility" for the incident sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a day after Indian commandos ended a 60-hour rampage by terrorists in Mumbai. The attacks left about 200 people dead. The national security adviser MK Narayanan also tendered resignation yesterday. But the government is yet to accept his resignation, adds our correspondent from New Delhi. Political sources said Patil has been of the view that the Congress Party and the government should not suffer because of the terror attacks and that is why he had taken this decision. The resignation of Patil, considered very close to ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, was yesterday accepted by the prime minister who appointed Palaniappan Chidambaram as the new home minister moving him from the finance portfolio. Chidambaram had been the minister of state for home under prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in late 80s. With Chidambaram having moved to the home ministry, the prime minister himself will retain the finance portfolio which Singh had held from 1991 to 1996 in the government headed by PV Narasimha Rao. India's powerful national security adviser also resigned yesterday in the wake of the devastating Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai, government officials told AFP. Confirming reports by Indian news channels, the officials said MK Narayanan handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and that the premier accepted.
The resignation of Shivraj Patil came soon after a meeting of the top decision-making forum of ruling Congress Party, which heads the country's United Progressive Alliance, late Saturday night. At the three-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee presided by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Patil offered to quit as all senior leaders of the party wanted the government to take measures to handle terrorism with a firm hand and take all measures to prevent recurrence of such attacks. Reacting to the resignation of Patil, which came ahead of an all-party meeting convened by the prime minister on security issue, the main opposition BJP, which often accused the Congress-led government of being weak in responding to terrorism, said, "It was too little too late." They always get bent out of shape over "too little too late." If they don't, they're likely to grumble about too much, too early. BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley said, "It is a collective failure of the government and you cannot single out the most vulnerable person in the government." With tensions escalating in South Asia, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged India not to "over-react" after Indian and US officials suggested the gunmen could have been members of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lashkar, which is fighting Indian control of the disputed Kashmir region, was behind a deadly 2001 assault on the Indian parliament that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war. Indian media reported that the only surviving militant had identified all the Mumbai attackers as Pakistanis who had been trained by Lashkar. Ajmal Amir Kamal, 21, who was caught on a CCTV camera wearing a T-shirt with a "Versace" logo, was being interrogated in a safe house in Mumbai, reports said. US counter-terrorism officials told AFP that evidence was emerging that Lashkar could have been behind the attacks, while Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said "elements in Pakistan" were responsible. Pakistan, which has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, moved quickly to deny any links with the attacks. Zardari warned that the militants were "looking for reaction" and said India suspected the militants could be based in Pakistan. He pledged prompt action against anyone responsible. But he hasn't had Hafiz Saeed arrested yet. Not even the usual house arrest. Lashkar, which operated openly in Pakistan until being outlawed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, has denied responsibility. It still operates openly. And it lies routinely. Around a dozen militants launched their assault on Wednesday evening when they split into groups and struck targets across Mumbai, including the main railway station and a hospital. Security forces regained control of the city 60 hours later when they killed the last three gunmen holed up with hostages inside the Taj Mahal hotel. On Friday elite troops had stormed the Jewish centre and killed two gunmen -- but found eight dead Israeli hostages. Another luxury hotel that was attacked, the Oberoi/Trident, was cleared of militants later in the day, with scores of trapped guests rescued and dozens of bodies found. Posted by: Fred 2008-12-01 |
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