Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: Taking on the government on the third anniversary of the Mumbai attacks, BJP today said it has failed to take effective steps to counter terrorism and emphasised on the need for putting international pressure on Pakistan to hand over those involved in the case.

Paying homage to those killed in the attack, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, "Every countryman thought that now the government will take steps so that the country will be safe. But, unfortunately terror attacks continued to take place in Mumbai and Delhi also."

The BJP charged that though NIA had been created and a slew of measures announced post-26/11, not a single terror module has been tracked and successfully investigated. "No terrorist or real culprits have been nabbed. Not a single terrorist could be captured. People are really worried and concerned about the safety. We deplore this failure of the government to make the country safe and secure and nab the culprits," Javadekar said.

He maintained that the perpetrators and handlers of the 26/11 terror attack were still walking free in Pakistan and have not been punished despite India handing over sufficient evidence. "Pakistan is not serious about bringing them to justice and is actually sheltering them... Against this backdrop, our Prime Minister has called his Pakistani counterpart a man of peace which is ridiculous," Javadekar said.

He insisted that India should have made these attacks "a prestige issue" and built international pressure on Pakistan. "But our Prime Minister has himself called Pakistan a victim of terror like India at the Sharm-el-Sheikh meeting....Today, when US President Barack Obama can proudly say that his country is safe, our Prime Minister unfortunately cannot make such a claim," Javadekar said.

BJP alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in fact rubbed salt on the wounds of the people. Javadekar maintained that when Pakistan puts pressure on India instead of contesting it immediately and expressing anger, our government appears to be soft on the issue.

The opposition also raised the issue of the funds spent on 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and government laxity in pursuing the case against Pakistan. "It is unfortunate that the expenditure incurred on Kasab is more than the money spent on victims of the 26/11 attacks," Javadekar said. The party will raise this issue in the coming week in Parliament.

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