Small incidents like this do happen, says Maharashtra home minister

[ROHAN KACHALIA]

Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil ruffled quite a few feathers on Saturday when he said "small incidents like this do happen in big cities" while referring to the Mumbai terror attack.

When asked at a press conference whether the terror strike was an intelligence failure, Patil said in Hindi: "Aisa nahi hai. Itne bade shahar mein chhota hadsa ho jata hai. To total failure nahi hai. (It is not like that. In big cities like this, small incidents do happen. It's is not a total failure.)"

The death toll in the Mumbai strike, in which 10 prominent locations were targeted, has gone up to over 180.

Patil said: “There were 10 terrorists in all. Nine were killed, while one has been captured alive. They had been continuously getting instructions from abroad via satellite phones. Preliminary investigations revealed that the terrorists wanted to kill more than 5,000 people in the attack.”

The government authorities later tried to explain away his statement by attributing it to Patil's poor knowledge of the Hindi language.

But Patil's words drew flak from many quarters. Mumbai residents who saw him say this on television or were told about it by reporters pointed out the irony that politicians made such statements after being provided high security.

"I am shocked that politicians can make statements like this even as the attack has shaken the nation and made international news," said Rupa Bhasin, a housewife here.

Sandeep Singh, a student, said: "Such politicians have no right to rule. They themselves move around with a posse of policemen and they think this is a minor incident. What does he mean by 'minor incident'?"


Source: ET

[ROHAN KACHALIA]

Well if this is the situation an Indian is facing where a politician can speak utter bullshit, then I think the real terrorists are the politicians themselves. They should be the first ones to shot.

And if this is the amount of security that the government can provide then please Chandrayan 1....come to earth and then we both will together land on moon.

[ankitgokani]

i also read dis comment in the morning paper and was terrified more then the terrorists attacks

and he has d guts to say to media replay mat dikhana iska

[sid_rocks]

i would say....tht our politicians at this era are the worst tht we all Indian could have. they are pathetic, illiterate, corrupted and only known for their high talks. these politicians dont care about the innocent people who have lost their lives....they just come to gain publicity and hve only one mission in mind....how shld i act so tht the person or individual will give me and my party votes 4 the next elections. such politicians shld be removed frm their chair and young politicians who can actually turn the tables around shld be voted. by sadly tht realty will never come true in this lifetime since the entire political system is based on blame game and whos better than whom in showing sympathy...thts all....
i was wondering where was our President Shri Pratibha Patil when all this happened. is Mr Manmohan Singh, the spokes person.

i just hope and pray that we have a peaceful year ahead and 2009 passes by without any blasts, terrorists, bloodshed, goondaraj, and stuff......

also in news it came tht Intelligence Bureau issued the warning but was ignored like it happens everytime the terrorists strike.....

it sad and its gonna take a while for Mumbaikars to come out of this shocking incident...

hoping for the best......

[readytolearn]

Agreed... The look on the face of hostages after they were relaesed should be shown to these politicians, or better still these stupid politicians should be kept as hostage so that they atleast understand the gravity of the situation...