Manish Tewari criticises UPA govt’s post 26/11 response, says ‘actions should have spoken louder than words’

Mumbai :  Congress, senior party leader and Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari has criticised the Manmohan Singh government for going soft after 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

 In his book ’10 Flash Points; 20 Years, National Security Situations that Impacted India’, Tewari said that the government had then gone soft in the name of restraint which is not a sign of ‘strength’, but ‘weakness’.

“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,” Tiwari said in the book. 

“It, therefore, is my considered opinion that India should have actioned a kinetic response in the days following India’s 9/11,” he added.

The 26/11 attack was a series of terrorist attacks that took place on November 26, 2008 in Mumbai. Ten Pakistan-based LeT terrorists had carried out 12 coordinated shootings and bombings in Mumbai, killing more than 150 and injuries several. While nine terrorists were killed by security forces, Ajmal Kasab was nabbed alive by the police. He was hanged to death in 2012.

Meanwhile, BJP’s IT Cell chief Amit Malviya took potshots at the Congress over Tewari’s book. 

“After Salman Khurshid, another Congress leader throws UPA under the bus to sell his book. Manish Tewari in his new book slams the UPA for weakness in the name of restraint post 26/11. Air Chief Marshal Fali Major is already on record saying IAF was ready to strike but UPA froze,” he tweeted.

Khurshid had recently in his book compared Hindutva to radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram in his new book.

The gruesome attack took place as the Congress-led UPA was in power at the centre.

Between 2012 and 2014 Mr Tewari was the I&B Minister in the second UPA government.

This week India will observe the 13th anniversary of those attacks, a fact the BJP will likely underline as it continues to highlight Mr Tewari’s books.