The Bomb In Our Minds

Two nations, two attacks. A lesson in national consciousness.

The Bomb In Our Minds
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Same week, two terrorist incidents. And at two different places, in Ayodhya and London; a theme of senseless violence uniting India and Britain. But that's where the similarity ends: the Opposition in the two countries presented a stark contrast in responses to the terrorist violence.

In India, the dastardly attack on the makeshift Ram temple prompted the Opposition to bay for Congress blood. The BJP, VHP et al were in its element: it called a nationwide bandh; it pilloried the Manmohan Singh government for alleged negligence, for easing the pressure on Islamabad on cross-border terrorism. In Ayodhya, they sensed an opportunity to revive the Ram temple movement, paper over the deep divisions in its ranks. Damn national interest.

In London, by contrast, the entire Opposition was behind Tony Blair. Forgotten was the Iraq war, the duplicity of 10 Downing Street overWMDs, Labour's betrayal of the faith people had reposed in it. Conservative leader Michael Howard pledged his party's full support to the Blair government. "This country is completely united in our determination to defeat terrorism," he said. Ditto Charles Kennedy, whose Liberal Democrats mopped up a substantial percentage of anti-war votes in the May polls. "Those who carried out these attacks must be brought to justice," he said.

Perhaps Manmohan should send the luminaries of the Sangh parivar to Gleneagles, where they could have been taught, British style, on how to behave in a national crisis.

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