Coalition politics hinders steps to tackle terror: Shekhawat

New Delhi, Jan 8 (UNI) Calling for an action plan to fight 'jehadi' terrorism, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today said coalition politics could not provide an ideal government to tackle terror and best serve the national interest.

Pointing out that terrorism was on a steady rise despite several steps taken by the government, Mr Shekhawat said there was need for all political parties to evolve a consensus on the subject to prevent the menace from becoming a cancer to society and make it clear that India was not a ''open field'' for terrorism.

It was also necessary to effectively check crimes like the killings of children in Nithari village in Uttar Pradesh to send out a strong message to cross-border terrorists that India had a strong security system, the Vice-President said after releasing a book titled ''Global Jihad: New Patterns and Future Trends'' written by noted journalist Rajeev Sharma.

Mr Shekhawat expressed the hope that the book would help create an awareness among people of Pakistan that the acts of violence perpetrated in the name of jehad were in fact against the tenets of their religion.

Mr Sharma, who has earlier authored four books on terrorism, regretted that the government and its agencies did not lend any support to him for writing the book which was aimed at strengthening national security.

He said the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was emerging as a parallel to the dreaded Al Qaeda and would soon shift its base out of Pakistan, possibly to central Africa.

Eminent journalist H K Dua said terrorism was threatening to derail India's political stability and the burgeoning economic growth that would help the nation become a super power.

ANI's Founder Editor Prem Prakash and former Jansatta Editor Prabash Joshi also attended the book release function held at the residence of the Vice-President.

UNI