The
terrorists attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in New
York on 11th September 2001 is highly condemnable. We, as a peace-loving
country must unequivocally protest against such terrorist actions
irrespective of who does it and who is attacked. India has always
been against terrorism.
There are few aberrations in our diplomacy from 11th September to
till date. The initial reaction of India on the night of 11th September
was a positive one wherein we condemned the terrorist attack. Thereafter,
we should have exercised restraint in going out of our way to extend
an "unconditional" support to USA. For USA, Pakistan is strategically
important if it is planning to attack Afghanistan. The reports suggest
that Pakistan is trying to extract mileage out of its support to USA.
Pakistan is demanding that USA should interfere in Kashmir issue and
help in settling it in its favour as a quid pro quo to its support.
Also, it is demanding that USA should recognize Pakistan's military
regime and it should turn a blind eye to Pakistan's support to terrorists.
It is not only appalling but is highly ridiculous. If USA claims to
wage a war against Afghanistan to wipe out terrorists from the world,
how can it consider taking support from Pakistan, which is abetting
terrorism?
On the other hand suo motto we offered unconditional support to USA.
Why should we equate anti-terrorism and support to USA in its retaliatory
measure? Are we sure that USA is fully committed to wipe out terrorism?
Have we extracted any assurance of this sort from USA before extending
unconditional support? If USA succeeds in bringing Usama Bin laden
to book or kills him, it won't be the end of terrorism in the world.
The network of terrorists is far beyond imagination. Bombing Afghanistan
is not the only solution. If USA is not genuinely chalking out a long-term
strategy to wipe out terrorism, its current eagerness to fight against
Afghanistan is a mere retaliation. Why should India support such a
retaliatory measure? When the terrorists, supported by the very same
Taliban government, hijacked our flight from Katmandu to Kantahar,
USA did not support India. It merely said "it was an internal affair
of India".
There is no second opinion to support USA if it is genuinely committed
to fight against terrorism. If it is, it should not be seen on the
side of Pakistan which instigates terrorism. And USA should openly
accept its folly in training Taliban and helping the terrorists in
the past directly or indirectly at different points in time. If USA
is interested only in retaliation, why should we support it? Moreover,
are we not bothered about terrorists flourishing in other parts of
the world?
Above all, military action alone would not bring an end to terrorism
in the world. Have we questioned USA on its other strategies to curb
terrorism? Or have we already accepted the fact that war against Afghanistan
alone is the only solution? If killing thousands of people in WTC
is terrorism, killing thousands of innocent poor Afghanistanis is
also tantamount to terrorism. India should take a principled stand.
If India convinces itself that a war against Afghanistan is needed
it should extract commitments from USA on other strategies to combat
terrorism and exhort USA not to take Pakistan support. At this juncture,
it is better for India to wait and watch and depending on the emerging
scene we should decide our strategy. Even if we decide to support
USA, it should only be a "qualified" support. We should not extend
an "unconditional" support. We can exchange all information that we
have pertaining to terrorists act in this part of the world. However,
we should be cautious about allowing US to fight from our soil or
use our base for re-fuelling their fighter crafts. We should not act
as a stooge/slave to USA and we should act independently guided by
our principles and commitments to anti-terrorism. It is time for BJP
to assess whether it is ruling the nation according to is concept
of "Swaraj" or acting under "external pressure". Let us be very clear
that we can also combat terrorism through more tangible ways while
not supporting USA in its war against Afghanistan. We should not yield
to the strategy of USA where it is trying to equate the non-cooperation
to its effort as supporting terrorism. USA is trying to justify its
retaliatory war. In case we end up not supporting USA in its war against
Afghanistan, the world knows who has been raising a hue and cry all
along against terrorism. Let us not be guided by USA, which has woken
up very recently. We should not look for short-term gains in this
dangerous game. We should continue to be seen as a country, which
never in the history initiated a war or instigated a war.
Big powers like United States should be forced to come down heavily
on drug-trafficking and illegal sale of arsenal. Even the legal sale
of arsenal needs to be questioned. These trades support the terrorists
directly or indirectly. Simply because US economy is linked to the
sale of arsenal and drug trafficking, it should not fall prey to them.
The consequences would endanger the human species on the earth and
what happened on 11th September 2001 is one of those initial signals.
Let us not ignore it.
Henceforth, the world should observe September 11 as the Anti-Terrorism
Day. In the aftermath of this terrorist attack, India should take
initiative and campaign for setting up an International Forum against
Terrorism (IFAT). This forum should function under the supervision
of the United Nations. A "Consortium Against Terrorism (CAT)" should
also be set up and it should be financed through the contributions
from the world countries that want to defeat the terrorism. This consortium
should financially support a country that is tormented by the terrorist
attack, both for recovery and also for fighting against the terrorists.
The causes of the terrorism such as fundamentalism, racism, jingoism,
should be identified and the causes should be eliminated or at the
least contained. It is easy to resolve a dispute if it is fought on
a civilized basis. The terrorist activities are always guerilla-type.
It needs greater wisdom and a bigger strategy to arrest such activities
and war is not the solution. A country like India is always disturbed
by such terrorism, more so because of the external support. It is
high time that world countries unite on fighting terrorism, as otherwise
WTO agreements would not have any meaning. In order to transact business,
world has to exist. Without any guarantee for our existence there
is no meaning in having big conventions to sort out trade related
issues. It is amply proved when the gold and oil prices shoot up within
minutes after the disaster in USA. Let the world countries meet and
chalk out strategies to defeat terrorism. War, as an option is inhuman
and let us not resort to it without exploring other options.
