Strongly condemning the serial bomb blasts at Patna in Bihar, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that these seemed clearly aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony in the country.
Describing blasts as “dastardly and inhuman act”, Badal said that the blasts also underlined once again the threat to both internal and external security for the country under the UPA regime. Badal also said that possibility of attacks being aimed at creating a scare to prevent people from attending the rally of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate scheduled for the day there could not be ruled out.
The Chief Minister said the development should also serve as a grim reminder that there is a need for exercising extreme caution in public utterances by our leaders, such as the recent speeches of Rahul Gandhi.
“I am not blaming anyone at this stage, but there is a need to realise that peace and communal harmony are issues that demand a sacred national consensus and commitment by everyone, irrespective of our political or ideological differences. Nothing should be said or done by anyone holding a responsible position which directly or indirectly contributes to creation of avoidable tensions or tensions between people who have lived like sisterly communities for generations,” said Badal. He added the blasts underscore once again that we must exercise restraint and extreme care on every word we speak, especially in the run up to the lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister also said that the blasts reflected a failure of Intelligence both at the local as well as the national level, especially after the tension caused by the tragic happenings in Muzaffarnagar. “But the principal responsibility for providing Intelligence inputs lies with the Centre,” he added.
Badal regretted that the Union Government, under the Congress-led UPA, has been “in the habit of passing the buck for Intelligence failures to the State Governments even after it has usurped major powers through subtle and not so subtle means”.