Adopt zero tolerance to terror, says Advani

Mumbai, Jul 14: Alleging that terror attacks in India were a proxy war waged by Pakistan, senior BJP leader L K Advani today (Jul 14) said the Indian government must shed its ambivalence and adopt zero tolerance towards terrorism.

"Indian government must shed its ambivalence towards terrorism. It should declare that its policy against terrorism will be of zero tolerance. It must be categorical that there will be no tolerance towards terrorism after Wednesday's attacks," Advani told reporters.

Maintaining that no purpose would be served by engaging in a dialogue with Pakistan until the terror infrastructure was dismantled, the former deputy prime minister said the terror strikes were "not failure of intelligence but failure of policy".

He deplored that Mumbai has become the favourite target of terrorists, whether from within or from the neighbouring country.

"Pakistanis have claimed that whatever was happening in Kashmir was not terrorism but freedom struggle. Pakistan has been trying for years to show to the world that Kashmir is a disputed territory," he said.

"Some say that Indian Mujahideen is behind the Mumbai attacks. Even if it is Indian Mujahideen, they get their sustenance from Pakistan," Advani said.

Referring to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, he said there were talk in some quarters about the involvement of non-state actors. "ISI is not a non-state actor. ISI is a part of the Pakistani establishment," Advani said.

PTI