Get to bottom of Chennai train blasts incident
In the aftermath of the train bombing incident at Chennai, it is imperative that the authorities are not distracted by petty politicking or mindless turf wars between competing investigating agencies. Instead, they must hunt down the perpetrators with single-minded determination and get to the bottom of the case. The arrest of Mr Mohammed Zakir Hussain, allegedly a Pakistani spy, is a step in this direction. The lankan Tamil, reportedly working in collaboration with a Pakistani diplomat posted in Colombo, was in fact nabbed two days before the Thursday blasts, but intelligence agencies believe he may have had a role to play in the incident. Either way, Mr Hussain is an important lead and his case must be scrutinised closely. In this effort, State and Central agencies must work together instead of seeking to out-do each other. Reports of Tamil Nadu Police and the State's Crime Branch being non-cooperative with the National Investigation Agency and the National Security Guard are disappointing and, if true, they serve to undermine the larger cause of justice. One version is that Tamil Nadu Police apprised the Union Ministry of Home Affairs of the attack more than eight hours after the first bomb went off. And even then, the State report had only minimum details. This version added that, even though it is routine practice for the NIA and the NSG to respond immediately to such attacks, both were kept away from the blast site by the Tamil Nadu Government. It was almost 36 hours after the blasts that the Central agencies were given the green light to start work late Friday evening, those contending that the State regime had not acted correctly, said. But Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has rubbished the talk of shutting out the Central agencies as utter nonsense, and said that she would want them to step in once the State agencies had done the necessary groundwork.
Parties must ensure that there is no unnecessary politicisation of the tragedy. The country is in the midst of a historic electoral battle and the stakes are high for all players. The temptation to grab brownie points at every turn is enormous, but must be resisted in cases of terror. The political response to Thursday's attack has been on expected lines, with parties bringing up past terror attacks and comparing how effectively (or not) previous Governments had dealt with them. It is immaterial if, after the 1998 Coimbatore blasts, Ms Jayalalithaa had asked Mr M Karunanidhi, who was then Chief Minister, to resign. What is of material importance is that the incumbent regime now takes pro-active measures to bring the perpetrators to book. Mr Karunanidhi and his DMK, as Opposition members, must offer constructive cooperation at this stage.
It is also in this spirit of bipartisan politics that the Bharatiya Janata Party's charges, that the attack could have been targeted at Mr Narendra Modi, should be investigated thoroughly. Mr Modi is known to be on the hit-list of terror organisations, and last year there were bomb blasts prior to his rally in Patna. Incidentally, similar devices were used in both attacks. But irrespective of whether Mr Modi was the target, the attack in Chennai, a city which has been peaceful for decades now, is a reminder of how terror lurks in every corner.