Leader of Opposition LK Advani on Thursday condemned the attack attempt on the RSS headquarters in Nagpur as he cautioned the government against any "soft" approach towards terrorism.
The senior BJP leader also criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks in Srinagar about "zero tolerance" towards human rights violations, saying the phrase should have instead been used against anti-national forces.
"The phraseology zero tolerance seems addressed not to the enemy of the country but to those who protect the country," Advani, who emphasised the need for greater intelligence on ISI modules in the country, said.
Also, he flayed the ruling UPA for the repeal of the anti-terror law POTA and for Siachen demilitarisation talks, saying such moves reflected a soft approach toward terrorism.
"Repealing an anti-terror law, talks about demilitarisation, scaling down troops in Doda and other such measures send out a message of soft policy on terrorism. Terrorists should not feel the government is getting soft toward them," Advani, who cited the recent attacks on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, said.
The former Deputy Prime Minister insisted the Centre had credible intelligence five years ago about terrorist plans to strike the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.
"It's not an ordinary development. It was planned years ago. We had information in 2001 that terrorists wanted to strike the fountainhead of Indian nationalism. In fact, the intelligence led to the neutralisation of a terror group near Mumbai," Advani, who commended the Nagpur police for their response to the terror bid on the Sangh office, said.
{{/usCountry}}"It's not an ordinary development. It was planned years ago. We had information in 2001 that terrorists wanted to strike the fountainhead of Indian nationalism. In fact, the intelligence led to the neutralisation of a terror group near Mumbai," Advani, who commended the Nagpur police for their response to the terror bid on the Sangh office, said.
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