Congress MP Manish Tewari in his latest book has questioned the UPA-1 government's inaction after the Mumbai attacks. The book is to be officially released on December 2, almost coinciding with the anniversary of the Mumbai attacks.
"For a state that has no compunctions in brutally slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, restraint is not a sign of strength; it is perceived as a symbol of weakness. There comes a time when actions must speak louder than words. 26/11 was one such time when it just should have been done. It, therefore, is my considered opinion that India should have actioned a kinetic response in the days following India's 9/11," excerpts from the book says.
Tewari on Tuesday announced his new book in a tweet. He said, "Happy to announce that my Fourth Book will be in the market shortly - '10 Flash Points; 20 Years - National Security Situations that Impacted India'. The book objectively delves into every salient National Security Challenge India has faced in the past two decades."
The Congress leader, who was a Minister in the UPA-2 government, said that after the Mumbai attacks the government should have taken a decisive action against Pakistan, but it showed restraint, which is not the sign of strength.
The excerpts have drawn mocking retorts from leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Citing reported excerpts of senior Congress leader Manish Tewari's new book, the BJP on Tuesday alleged that the grand old party-led UPA government put the national security at stake by not responding strongly after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said this confirms that the UPA government was "useless". Bhatia said Tewari's book confirms that the "Congress-led UPA government was insensitive, useless and was even not concerned about national security". The UPA government had put the national security at stake, he alleged.
Reacting to Manish Tewari's opinion, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted: “After Salman Khurshid, another Congress leader throws the UPA under the bus to sell his book. Manish Tewari in his new book slams the UPA for weakness in the name of restraint post 26/11. Air Chief Marshal Fali Major is already on record saying the IAF was ready to strike but the UPA froze.”
"Just yesterday, Mani Shankar Aiyar questioned defence spending... today Manish Tewari rues UPA's weak response to 26/11. PC (P Chidambaram) as HM (Union Home Minister) wanted to launch offensive against Naxals... Digvijaya Singh (former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister) opposed," Malviya wrote in a second tweet.
“CONgress leader Manish Tewari exposes the failure of the UPA govt in its poor response after the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack. While the IAF was ready to take revenge against Pakistan, Sonia Gandhi-led CONgress blocked it. CONgress was busy painting Hindus as Terrorists to save Pakistan,” CT Ravi, BJP's national general secretary, tweeted.
The Congress leadership will have to deal with a second book in a month, which could stir another controversy. Earlier, Salman Khurshid's book created a controversy where he compared Hindutva with IS and Boko Haram.
Tewari in the book says that with the rise of Taliban the threat has increased, "In the past two decades the challenges to India's national security had exacerbated both in complexity and intensity."
This week, the nation will observe the 13th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, which paralysed the nation's commercial capital for three days in 2008, in which more than 160 people were killed by terrorists from Pakistan.
The security forces had to launch an operation for three days and rescued 300 people from the Taj, 250 from the Trident and 60 people (members of 12 different families) from Nariman House.
(With inputs from IANS)
