BJP targets Congress after Manish Tewari questions UPA's 26/11 response

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday launched an offensive against the Congress over Manish Tewari's new book in which he questioned the erstwhile UPA government's "inaction" after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Tewari, who was a Union minister in the UPA government, criticised the then Manmohan Singh government for not actioning "a kinetic response in the days following India's 9/11" in his book - '10 Flash Points; 20 Years - National Security Situations that Impacted India'.
"For a state that has no compunctions in brutally slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, restraint is not a sign of strength; it is perceived as a symbol of weakness.
"There comes a time when actions must speak louder than words. 26/11 was one such time when it just should have been done. It, therefore, is my considered opinion that India should have actioned a kinetic response in the days following India's 9/11," Tewari said in the the book.
Citing excerpts from Tewari's book, the BJP alleged that the grand old party-led UPA government put India's national security at stake by not responding strongly after the terror attack.
"Tewari's book confirms that the Congress-led UPA government was insensitive, useless and was even not concerned about national security," BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.
Bihar minister and senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said he agrees with Tewari's remarks about 26/11.
"26/11 was the big incident and the action that we should have seen was missing that time. What Manish Tewari is saying is correct," he said.
Union minister Pralhad Joshi, while refusing to "politicise" the issue, said that entire India knows how the overall situation was handled after incidents like 26/11. He added that Modi government has zeo tolerance towards terrorism.
As many as 166 people were killed in the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists at different places in the city. The attacks began on November 26, 2008, and went on till November 29.
This week, India will mark the 13th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
(With inputs from agencies)