New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Indians across the spectrum – from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the ‘aam aadmi’ on the street – Monday welcomed the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a US special operation, but some expressed fears of reprisals by the terrorist outfit.
Manmohan Singh said the killing of bin Laden ‘was a significant step forward’ and hoped it would ‘deal a decisive blow’ to terrorist groups.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party said India’s concerns about Pakistan’s help to terrorists have been vindicated with the killing of bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
Manmohan Singh said the international community and ‘Pakistan in particular’ must work to end the activities of terror groups.
‘The international community and Pakistan in particular must work comprehensively to end the activities of all such groups who threaten civilized behaviour and kill innocent men, women and children,’ he added.
Krishna and Chidambaram said the fact that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan underlined New Delhi’s concerns about Pakistan being a sanctuary for terrorists.
In a statement, Krishna said the operation to kill the world’s most wanted terrorist in Pakistan’s Abbotabad city ‘brings to closure an almost decade-long search for the head of the Al Qaeda’.
‘The world must not let down its united effort to overcome terrorism and eliminate the safe havens and sanctuaries that have been provided to terrorists in our own neighbourhood. The struggle must continue unabated,’ said Krishna.
He was alluding to the presence of several terror groups in Pakistan, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which masterminded the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
In a similar statement, Chidambaram said the US government had informed India that ‘bin Laden has been killed by security forces somewhere ‘deep inside Pakistan’.’
‘This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan,’ he said.
The Congress Monday said killing of bin Laden in Pakistan underscores India’s long-held position that terrorists of various shades had been finding protection on the soil of its western neigbour.
‘Neutralisation of Osama underscores the point India has been making for three decades that terrorist organisations of various shades have been finding space and protection on the Pakistani soil,’ Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the killing of bin Laden in Pakistan showed that ‘Pakistan gives shelter to terrorists’.
As news of bin Laden’s death spread, common people – in markets, offices, public transport and Metro trains – welcomed it, but expressed their fears.
Fauzan Umar, a restaurant manager in south Delhi, said it was an apt end for bin Laden, the man who murdered innocent people.
‘Jihad does not mean killing innocent people. He was a demented man who fooled the illiterate Muslims around him into killing others. He deserved this,’ said Umar.
Usha Kaushal, a homemaker from east Delhi, said: ‘Osama’s death is great news but the threat to America as well as India has increased. Al Qaeda will retaliate and more funding will flow from extremist Islamic organisations.’
Vijayalakshmi Raju, another homemaker in Delhi, feared the militants will strike back.
‘It’s good that bin Laden is dead, but as an Indian I am afraid the extremists may vent their ire on us. We are always on the terrorists’ hit list.’
–India-Abroad News Service
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