Parliament security breach is more about frustrated youth venting their ire

The Parliament security breach on December 13—exactly 22 years after the murderous attack that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war—has expectedly heated up domestic politics. It should instead have focussed the attention of the political class towards the big issues of smart policing and unemployment. It is baffling and difficult to digest that four youngsters entered the high-security premises and threw smoke canisters while raising slogans like ‘Taanashahi nahin chalegi’ (We won’t tolerate dictatorship). Irrespective of whether they are serious crimes or not is beside the point; the timing of their action raises several doubts. On a fateful December 13, 2001, a five-member suicide squad with automatic rifles and grenades attacked the Parliament House. While all five terrorists, owing allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, were killed, six security personnel and a gardener also lost their lives. Therefore, the government cannot be faulted for charging the four youngsters under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The incident and the players involved in it have to be scrutinized from all possible angles, given that the national security is at stake.

There is also a possibility that the BJP may use the incident to peddle its nationalist narrative for electoral purposes, perhaps collating it with anti-government protests, while the Congress may use it as a handle to slam the government’s laxity. Its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has already questioned security arrangements in the Parliament. “Today is December 13, 2001. Today we paid tribute to those security personnel who laid down their lives. Coincidentally, this ‘attack’ happened today. Of course, the incident is of a different nature [but] didn’t we take precautions?” The party’s Jharkhand unit went a step further by seeking Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation. Reportedly, the clutch of disgruntled youngsters was responsible for the incident. Youth being angry in any country is nothing new; it is a global phenomenon. Often, their anger becomes the fuel to further politicians’ interests; sometimes, it gets channelized into promoting violent ideologies like communism and socialism. In the present case too, the accused were inspired by communist icons. Perhaps, in their desire to do something away from the monotony of their unexciting lives they chose the sensational and bizarre path.

Now, they must be ready to pay the price, for the UAPA is a tough law. Not all of them were victims of unemployment, but they didn’t seem content with their jobs, situation and the milieu in general. That is understandable, as not many jobs are being created. In fact, the situation has been grim since 2004. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had generated 60 million jobs during 1998-2004, while the United Progressive Alliance could create only 53 million jobs between 2004 and 2012. This was despite the fact that the annual growth rate during the UPA rule was almost two per cent more than during the Vajpayee era. The BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done well in terms of fiscal management and infrastructure building but it has not done very well on the employment front. It would be better for the government to focus on job creation rather than politicking.