New Delhi, December 10
Rising above partisanship, political brass of the country today spoke of putting up a united front against terrorism. The urge was voiced by leaders of various political parties in the Lok Sabha who met Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and unequivocally condemned the recent terrorist strikes in Mumbai.
The condemnation is likely to translate into a unanimous resolution against terrorism, to be adopted by the House tomorrow. But before that happens, home minister P. Chidambaram will make a statement on terrorism on the floor of the house, paving the way for debate on the issue.
The resolution, if any, is likely to be adopted at the end of the debate and after home minister’s reply to it. The BJP, however, clarified to The Tribune that it would only support such a resolution if it highlighted what happened in Mumbai, and why, and eventually provided for review of the security situation in the country, and stern action against Pakistan.
Interestingly, the BJP came up with these conditions in the evening; earlier during the day it seemed more or less by the side of the government in standing united against terror, although, like other parties, it was clear that the language and content of the resolution against terrorism would have to be acceptable to all.
Interestingly, leader of the opposition L.K. Advani even called on the Speaker today after the party leaders’ meeting was over. Advani was reportedly agreeable to the idea of the House adopting a unanimous motion against terrorism. Modalities of the resolution were, however, left to be worked out between Advani and leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee. “The onus now lies on the government to convince the opposition of the urgency and desirability of such a resolution,” said sources.
As for the meeting, it lasted 40 minutes and was surprisingly smooth, with political leaders of different parties sitting on the same side of the fence for once. “The tone of consensus on fight against terror was the high point of the meeting,” added sources. Mukherjee was absent, and the government was represented in the meeting by the parliamentary affairs minister Vyalar Ravi. He appealed to political parties to allow smooth functioning of the house so that vital issues like terrorism could be debated.
The CPM was also largely supportive of the idea of resolution against terrorism, and said that a resolution would be adopted on a consensus. “Its content will be worked out tomorrow,” said Basudeb Acharia, leader of CPM in the house.” Importantly, the Speaker is likely to allow the debate on terrorism as a short duration discussion under Rule 193, which does not require voting. Acharia told The Tribune, “We would not wish to have any voting on this sensitive issue.”
The BJP, however, was more vocal about the fact that the government will have to come clean
on the issue of response to terrorism. “The country is suffering terribly. We will support the resolution against terrorism if the government agrees to review the security situation, admits to its failures and talks of how it proposes to prevent recurrence of such attacks in future. Also, the government’s response to Pakistan will have to be watched,” V.K. Malhotra, deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha told The Tribune.
The home minister’s statement on terrorism is expected at 12 noon tomorrow.
