Our honourable Home Minister is on leave in the USA even as India grapples with the worst Naxal attack in a long time; is this right? Isn't this the height of irresponsibility?

It would be best if Mr. Shinde remains absent preferably forever so that he does not create a bigger mess. Mr. Shinde has demonstrated his incompetence several times and him being home minister is typical of the Congress party culture that puts loyalty before qualifications while allocating ministerial portfolios.

This is too early to comment, without any reasons why he stayed back there. Probably, none of us know the ground realities of the situation over there. I doubt the authenticity of the article mentioned, but only it was really really true, then the Home Minister is to be blamed for still not landing up in Bastar. It is his primary duty to come up to the blast site and inspect it and later on issue orders. But, I am very skeptical about this. Practically speaking, he should have turned up already. Because, 1) It is the Congress people who are brutally murdered. 2) Heavy weights like Sonia and Manmohan landed up and it's mere formality for the home minister to be present there. Inspite of these two glaring reasons why he should have come, his absence says that he probably has reasons which outweigh these two. Thanks for the A2A !

The better question is  how exactly Sushilkumar Shinde landed up in the Home Ministry, but we will save that discussion for another day. Honestly speaking Sushil Kumar Shinde, giving a statement would not have really made much of an impact at the ground level. Rather considering his tendency to keep putting his foot in his mouth, quite often, we should be thankful for small mercies. But leaving that, here are couple of points to ponder. Good, bad or plain inefficient, Sushil Kumar Shinde, heads the Home Ministry, and that means he is accountable for the internal security situation in the country. The buck in effect stops right at his desk. The least you can do as a Home Minister, is to show that you care, and take your job seriously. Cutting short your US visit, and giving a statement, would not solve the Naxal issue, but it gives an impression, that you are in charge, you are serious about the issue. And in an age of 24/7 TV and Social Media, perception is what matters. You may or may not get things done, but at least if you can create a perception, that  you are serious about your job, it helps a lot. It would be worth pondering what Rudy Giuliani did as mayor of New York City  during 9/11. He was out there all over TV, reassuring the citizens that everything was fine, that there would be no chemical, or biological weapon attacks and personally being at Ground Zero site. Now no one claimed that  Giuliani solved the terrorism problem with his actions, or that he could take on Osama, but his actions gave a reassurance, to the people of New York City, that some one is there for them. When you face large scale attacks or disasters, the least you can be doing, is to give people a reassurance, that you are there for them, and you care for them.

Undoubtedly, such things excite us no bound—across all societies, politicians are meant to be villainized no matter what, and the common man is meant to accuse no matter what. If the initial part of the Firstpost report is credible enough, so should be the second last paragraph, which the common man shall conveniently ignore: The Home Minister yesterday said that he had spoken to Chhattisgarh  Chief Minister Raman Singh and announced the handing over the probe into  Saturday’s incident to NIA. We do not know what personal engagements are keeping Sushil Kumar Shinde in the USA. If it is a vacation and holidaying that he is indulging in, we are correct in getting infuriated and expecting him to issue a statement and assure the citizens with information on what concrete is being done by the Home Ministry to prevent such incidents in the future. If Mr. Shinde is in the USA for some unavoidable personal commitments, we should understand that he is also a human being, but again, we should still expect him to issue a statement. But since the government has been (somewhat) responsive with the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi covering up for Shinde, and there are reports of the Home Minister announcing the NIA probe, I believe we should give him a benefit of doubt. All this said, the issue has a couple of important parameters: 1. The victims of the attack were Congress leaders, so the visit by Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister may also be seen as actions in the capacity of Congress leadership, and not as Central Government covering up for its absent Home Minister. And so, it was required that the Home Minister stepped up specially. 2. The attackers were Naxalites, and the problem of Naxalism requires extraordinary responsiveness to show them that the Home Minister is not ready to accept this and we are going to fight. Not cutting short the USA visit, hence, hurts the government's commitment towards controlling Naxalite violence. In fact, the Home Minister cutting short a visit or issuing a statement to the media does not do any good, but a compromiseable Home Ministry does have the power to encourage anti-national elements. Overall, let's wait for Shinde to return before jumping to conclusions. We never know if extreme steps are being taken at the directions of the Home Minister in the best of his capacity, while we villainize him for not issuing a minor useless feel-good media statement.

As per the latest news, SushilKumar Shinde stated that he stayed in US to consult an ophthalmologist. When asked why he did not condemn the Jagdalpur incident from the US in these days of Internet-based communication, Shinde said he was in regular touch with Home Ministry officials and did not feel the need for issuing any statement from the US. Truthfully speaking, I do not expect much from him. See:     Meanwhile, if anyone is curious about what how Maoist view the world, here is a sample: "Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist) takes absoluteresponsibility for this attack. We send our revolutionary greetings to the PLGA commanders who led thisdaring ambush, to the red fighters who contributed in this success, to the people who took part in it bylending active support and to the entire revolutionary masses of Bastar region. This attack has once again proved the historic fact that those fascists who perpetrate violence, atrocities and massacres on the people,will never be forgiven and they would inevitably be punished by the people" Sources: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sushilkumar-shinde-says-he-stayed-in-us-to-consult-ophthalmologist/1122864/ http://www.scribd.com/doc/144170658/CPI-Maoist-Dandakaranya-Special-Zonal-Committee-Statement-ENGLISH

Thanks for the A2A. There is a flawed assumption in your question. Indian home minister is first and foremost an Indian politician - his loyalty is to his pocket only. When did we last see a responsible comment from the home minister on something significant - even the media wants only soundbytes of Sonia ji. As a citizen, I wont worry too much about the Naxal attack - it was on a politician's convoy. You should read more about the Salva Judum and what game the Indian government has played against the tribals and the landless of this region. The Naxals only injured the constables guarding the convoy and selectively killed the politicians. There were tourists in the region as well who went unhurt. This is a battle between the rulers and the oppressed with hardly any room for the neutral. My only concern is that this might escalate into a civil war with Army and Air force getting involved. It is sad that after 60 years of war, the tribals have had to take on arms to get their basic rights over their lands, their resources and their livelihoods.

Thanks for the A2A. Well I don't think his making appearance in any of the public forums would have done any good. Moreover, this isn't the worst of all Moist attacks that India has faced till date. And, instead of creating all these political drama our politicians and their counterparts in the media must focus on changing the adversaries faced by tribal in Moist dominated districts.

Thanks for A2A! Answer to your questions: No, Yes. I understand your anguish but then I don't think we can achieve anything by raising our concerns and disgust on social media.. may be I'm wrong.