December 12, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 13, 1429

NEW DELDHI, Dec 11: India’s parliament united behind the shaken government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday who apologised for the lapses that allowed armed militants to raid Mumbai at will and he held Pakistan accountable for the outrage which he said was executed from its soil.

The daylong debate in the Lok Sabha saw Leader of Opposition Lal Kishan Advani expressing his fear over the move to take the issue to the UN Security Council, saying it could end up internationalising the Kashmir issue.

The discussion also put the spotlight on Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi, often projected as a likely successor to Dr Singh should the party win the general elections in April. “It is not enough for us to protect the people,” Mr Gandhi said. “We should go one step beyond. People who have done this should understand very clearly that not only do we hold lives of our people highly, but there is also a cost to killing innocent Indians,” he told a charged house amid applause. When the terrorists attacked Mumbai, they did not attack the young or the old, Hindus or Muslims, upper or lower castes but Indians, he said. “If our enemies view us as one, we have to act as one. We will fight this war against terror and win this war.”

To make sure the war was being declared on terror and not on Pakistan, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified: “I am making it quite clear that it (war) is not a solution.” He said India was building up an international campaign against terror and would try to put adequate pressure on Pakistan to act.

Mr Mukherjee said that Pakistan must act against terror groups based on its soil and stop them from launching attacks against India. “Controllers of Mumbai attacks were in Pakistan. Islamabad should act against them. Pakistan must be forced to act against terrorists. There is irrefutable proof the epicentre of this attack, and not only this one but many more, are in our neighbouring country,” said Mr Mukherjee.

The minister said Pakistan had willingly given shelter to criminals and terrorists wanted in India and added that it had failed to hand over underworld don Dawood Ibrahim despite repeated demands made by India. “India has demanded arrest and handing over of 40 terrorists taking shelter in Pakistan. Islamabad should seriously act and not be in a denial mode,” he said.

Mr Mukherjee rubbished Pakistan’s claims that terrorists were non-state actors. “Question is not of the non-state actors. Are they coming from heaven or from a different planet? They are located in the territory of a particular country. We are suggesting to Pakistan, please act. Mere expression of intention is not adequate.”

He also demanded that Pakistan put in legal or police custody Jaish-i-Mohammad’s chief Maulana Masood Azhar and also fulfil India’s demands of arresting Lashkar-i-Taiba’s Hafiz Saeed.

“I was told by an international interlocutor that Hafiz Saeed was arrested and now after some time I heard from our mission that he’s appearing on TV. Azhar has been house arrested. What does it mean by house arrest?” he asked.

He wanted Islamabad to take “serious” action to completely dismantle terror infrastructure and end infiltration. Mr Mukherjee also slammed Pakistan for creating “war hysteria” by indulging in “propaganda” on the basis of a hoax call that “big power” India was going to attack.

Responding to Mr Advani’s concern that the discussion of the matter at the UN could result in the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue, Mr Mukherjee outlined India’s official policy and said the country would reject all attempts to link the Kashmir dispute with cross-border terrorism.

In a rare show of unity with the government, Mr Advani lauded Home Minister P. Chidamabaram’s promise to take unspecified hard measures to combat terrorism. “The home minister has talked of taking hard decisions. Whatever steps you take which would help win the war on terror, my party and the NDA will support them,” Mr Advani said.

He too stressed that the “epicentre” of terrorism against India was in Pakistan and that the ISI was also a “non-state actor” as it was “not under the control of the elected government in Pakistan and is answerable only to the Pakistan Army”.

The prime minister wound up the debate with an apology to the nation. “On behalf of the government, I would like to apologise to our people that this dastardly act could not be prevented.”

A resolution passed unanimously by the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha expressed “unequivocal condemnation of the heinous terrorist attacks in Mumbai by terrorist elements from Pakistan, claiming hundreds of innocent lives and seeking to destroy the values that India stands for.”

It said the outrage followed acts of terror committed since the beginning of the current year in various places across India and against the Indian embassy in Kabul.

It noted “with deep concern the fact that Lashkar-i-Taiba, a terrorist organisation that is listed in the UN Security Council Resolution 1,267 and is banned in Pakistan, has continued to operate and launch terrorist attacks against India.”

It resolved that “India shall not cease her efforts until the terrorists and those who have trained, funded and abetted them are exposed and brought to justice.”