Take terror threats seriously: Advani to UPA

Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of not taking the threat posed by terrorism seriously, outgoing Bharatiya Janata Party president L K Advani said on Saturday that the reported remarks by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that it was not going to affect the dialogue process with Pakistan were 'imprudent and unwise'.

"They (Congress and communists) are not dwelling on the ideological source, objectives and goals of the terror threat," Advani told reporters after announcing his resignation as BJP chief.

He alleged that the government was 'unwilling and unable to evolve and implement a coherent and focussed policy on terrorism, unguided by petty electoral considerations'.

"Despite mounting proof, they refuse to see what's happening in India as part of a global network of terror that is inspired by religious fanaticism and extremism," he said.

Pointing out the difference between the perception of National Democratic Alliance and the UPA as far as terrorism was concerned, Advani said, "Our position was that even after we invited General Pervez Musharraf to Agra, where he said he will not accept that there is anything like terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, we said there can be no agreement."

Until Musharraf agreed and publicly announced that Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India, the NDA government had not agreed to have any dialogue, Advani contended. "That is the basic difference between our government and this government as far as terrorism is concerned," he said.

The attack on scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore is not a small matter, the senior BJP chief said. "We should not judge its gravity by the number of casualties but by the message that the terrorists and their mentors were trying to convey," he added.

"As was the case in the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993, when their prime target was the stock exchange and other commercial nerve centers, the terrorists have made it known that their target is anything that symbolises India's success," he said.