Worse Than Crocodile Tears

Indian Express' lead editorial today is remarkable for its anti-terror toughness one typically only finds only on blogs.

A political-policy approach that started from killing an anti-terrorist law (Pota) because of pamphleteering, is now dangerously close to being seen as one that kills the anti-terror spirit because of pusillanimity. If the Congress thinks this doesn’t matter because it can always accuse the BJP of communalising terrorism, it must understand voters won’t be thrilled either with a party that seems to communalise the fight against terrorism. And whom do voters see as the government’s face on security issues? Shivraj Patil. The strikingly ineffective figure Patil cuts when representing official security policy suggests he would rather just nicely ask the terrorists to go away. Ministers, mind you, have to go away when they are asked.

Perhaps this is a welcome sign that sensible Indians are finally getting fed up with their government's soft attitude on terror. Incidentally, this includes our unacceptable "peace" talks with monsters across the western frontier where all this terror emanates. Hopefully, those who demand toughness on terror will also encourage the government to walk away from the ridiculous discussions with the illegitimate dictator in Islamabad.

On the other hand, it's sadly true that the same enraged Indians will soon cheer, by the hundreds of millions, their heroes playing cricket matches in the epicenter of global terrorism -- where the killers of our people come from.

BCCI should be boycotting these matches, our players should be refusing to play, and our citizens should be switching off live telecasts. None of this will happen, of course, because our outrage is infinitely more artificial than crocodile tears.

Nothing could be more disgraceful. No wonder we get the pathetic governments we deserve.