Thursday, January 24, 2008

ManMohan rewards Jihadis

Extra-extra, our PM has lost his mental balance and sanity-check is recommended.

PM to reward jihadis

The Pioneer Edit Desk

Indians to foot the bill

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not cease to amaze even the most cynical of his critics. Mr Singh's decision to reward the families of jihadis killed by security forces in Jammu & Kashmir is the latest manifestation of his 'Muslims first' policy of appeasing fanatics while debasing the Indian state. During a visit to Jammu & Kashmir last year, he had admonished jawans and officers, who have been keeping separatists at bay by paying a terrible price in terms of loss to life and limb, and sternly told them that he would not tolerate "human rights abuses". Such touching concern for 'human rights', of course, has never been expressed by Mr Singh when innocent men, women and children are butchered by those for whom his heart bleeds so profusely. jihadis are ruthless and rabid; they owe allegiance to groups that promote mass murder in the name of Islam; they are often trained and armed by Pakistan's ISI; they are inspired by the fetid ideology preached by madmen like Osama bin Laden and his psychopathic admirers, among them Maulana Masood Azhar; they have nothing but contempt for secular, democratic India; and, they repudiate everything that this nation stands for. Death is their just desserts. To reward their families, therefore, makes no sense, unless the Prime Minister wants to send out the message that it pays to wage jihad against India. This may fetch him popularity among jihadis -- now there is added incentive for them to indulge in their cruelty apart from the promised pleasures of heaven -- but it can only repulse those who do not subscribe to their warped faith and see no merit, religious or otherwise, in the slaughter of innocent people.

Contrary to what the Prime Minister has claimed, this largesse for the families of jihadis is not about creating a "new future in Jammu & Kashmir". It is about pandering to those elements in Kashmiri society who shamelessly flaunt their support for Pakistan and rejoice every time our security forces suffer loss of lives or Hindus are killed. Since the promised reward comes in an election year, it is also an attempt to garner Muslim votes, although, as this newspaper has stressed more than once, appeasing jihadis and fanatics in the guise of 'Muslim welfare' is grossly unfair to India's Muslims because an overwhelming majority of them have nothing to do with those who rob the Prime Minister of his sleep. What makes Mr Singh's decision particularly loathsome is the official neglect and apathy that have reduced lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits, forced to flee their homes in Kashmir Valley by those whom he now wishes to reward, to penury and worse in their own country. Last year the Prime Minister decided, against the advice of the Army, to pull out troops from their billets and camps in Kashmir Valley just because the separatists wanted it so. As if that were not bad enough, he now wants to 'compensate' the deaths of those waging war against India. What's next on Mr Singh's agenda? To reward criminals who die in police encounters? That would be a logical extension of his appalling 'new future' doctrine. This decision has to be rescinded; the Government of India cannot be held hostage to the remarkable proclivities of someone who has clearly lost sight of what is good for the nation. The public exchequer is not meant for underwriting an accidental Prime Minister's outrageous policies. Much as Mr Singh may find this difficult to believe, India is not Tughlaq raj.