National
Security Adviser Ajit Doval yesterday defended death penalty where “larger
interest of the nation” is involved and deprecated those who questioned the
execution of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.
Disapproving
of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor’s remarks in the aftermath of Memon’s
hanging, Doval said something that is in the “larger interest of the nation”
must prevail.
“In the evening last
Thursday (the day Yakub Memon was hanged), somebody tweeted me a statement by
an important leader that — state sponsored killings diminish us all, reduce us
to murderers,” Doval said, delivering a lecture here this evening.
“I am not going into
the propriety, exigency or the correctness of the statement. There is
something which is in public interest, in the larger interests of the nation
and of generations of Indians yet to take birth,” he said, without naming
Tharoor, but the reference was obvious.
Doval
referred to President George W Bush’s address to the US Congress after the 9/11
attacks to defend exercise of such deterrence.
“After
the 9/11 attacks, then US President George W Bush had told the US Congress,
that America values its freedom, but should it come in conflict with interests
of the state, the latter will prevail,” Doval said.
Striking
an aggressive note, the NSA said, “Power is not as good as you have it, but as
good as you can exercise it. So, India has a mindset where it hits, it
punches below its weight. We have to punch not above our weight, we have to
punch not below our weight.”
“We
have to increase our weight and punch proportionally,” he said delivering a
lecture on ‘State Security, State Craft and Conflict of Values.
Doval
said “weakness” of a nation includes “unjustified tolerance”.
Additionally PTI Reports on NSA Doval’s comments on media:
Mumbai,
Aug 4 (PTI) National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval today trashed
suggestions that he had bypassed the Ministry of External Affairs by directly
talking to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit last month amid escalation of
tensions on the border.
“It
was absolutely necessary to tell them (Pakistan) without any loss of time that
you stop it or else we will retaliate. This message was concurrently
given to our High Commissioner in Islamabad and to the High Commissioner of
Pakistan here. When there is an emergency, you do not go into who should
be talking to whom,” Doval said.
“If
it’s a police commissioner sitting here and if there is somebody’s life to be
saved, though it may be the job of a constable, but he will go and do it
himself. So there is no question of embarrassing anyone and Sushma Swaraj
(External Affairs Minister) was anyway not there at that time,” he said.
The
NSA was reported to have spoken to Basit thrice in two days in July following
repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan. It is unusual for the NSA to
directly speak to the High Commissioner of any country as it is the Foreign
Office which does it.
He
also refuted suggestions that that the PMO dictates the terms in all matters.
“To say that the PMO dictates the terms, or calls the shots, it’s
completely wrong. It’s all a team work and we work very closely as a
team,” Doval said.
He
was in the city to deliver a lecture on ‘State security, statecraft and
conflict of values’ organised by the Lalit Doshi Memorial Foundation. Doshi
was an IAS officer of Maharashtra.
Dubbing
the media as a “very interesting entertainment” for him, National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval advised it to keep “national interest” above everything
else.
“Media
is very interesting entertainment for me,” Doval said, responding to an
audience query about the media, after the late Lalit Doshi memorial lecture
here.
“Maybe
what they are advising is right, but then how wrongly can right be projected
and people remain disinformed,” he said.
“Probably
they (media) also have got their own compulsions. You are writing a
newspaper which can sell. You have a TV programme for TRPs. I know
my priorities. Why should I try to impose mine on them,” he said.
“My
point is that, at some point, national interest is supreme for all of us.
Either we stay together or sink together. The day we sink, all this
freedom of the press will also sink,” Doval said.
“Don’t
do anything that will create cynicism within the ranks of the people.
Make a strong nation. Let us keep our communities together,” he
counselled the media.
The
cynicism that is sometimes created, leads to loss of respect and faith and
confidence in all institutions, which is very bad for a nation, he said.
“It
is a vicious circle. You write, and people read it. People read it
and so you write more of it. What about serious journalism,” he said.
“We
have got some of the finest brains in media,” he said.
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