'Learn from USA, show some guts'

MiD DAY asked several political figures if they felt that the Indian government could take strong action like the US to punish perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attacks

Madhav Bhandari,
BJP spokesperson



"All this seems to be staged event. However, Osama's death is a victory. But expecting the Indian government to act against terrorism would be asking for too much. The central government has made it clear that they will not jump the queue for Qasab. But they also haven't yet punished Afzal Guru, who has already been declared guilty."

Uddhav Thackeray
Shiv Sena Executive President
"America has showed that it will not tolerate any form of terrorism. After only one attack on them, they hunted down the culprit. But the Congress government is busy feeding terrorists like Qasab and Afzal Guru, instead of taking action against them."

Bharat Kumar Raut
Shiv Sena spokesperson
"The Indian government should take inspiration from this event, and show some guts. It should take stringent action against the people behind the 26/11 attacks. But the government won't, because it doesn't have the power and strength. Moreover, our laws do no permit us to do so."

Abu Azmi
Samajwadi Party President
"At present it seems that the US has become symbolic of the war against terror. Till the time that the American government supports us honestly without playing a game of politics, Inida will have to fight terrorism alone."

Anant Gadgil
Congress spokesperson
It's very difficult to take such steps in the Indian context, because of our legal system. In the US legal system, the highest authority has all the right to take such harsh steps. One also needs to remember that America is a superpower. Such actions need guts. Indira Gandhi was the only woman who could have done it."

--u00a0As told to Varun Singh