India
suffered an ungly terror strike again on 13th December 2001. Compared
to any other violence or social unrest, this did not inflict a major
casulaty in terms of number of people killed. But the selection of
the sopt where they have enacted the terror attack is highly insulting
and challenging to our external policy, national soverignity and cultural
bent of mind. Our decency and hatred for self-induced aggression on
other nations should not be viewed as extreme vulnerability to external
attack. All through the history we are identified as a country which
never went on aggression against any other country. It is something
that we should be proud of. But at the same time, this should not
be viewed as a weakness on our part. The sheer audacity of the choice
of spot, the heart of the biggest democracy in the world, the Indian
Parliament, does not have any parallel. In no way, this attack is
less serious to WTO attack in USA on 11th September 2001. This is
clearly an assault on the very nation itself. The gravity of this
attack is to be viewed taking into account the fact that the outrageous
attack was conducted at a time when a large number of the country's
top political leadership was present in Parliament House. In a bad
eventuality, if the attack succeeded in serving the ulterior purpose
of the terrorists in toto, it is even unimaginable and mind-boggling.
The entire political leadership of this country would have got wiped
out. Thanks to our security personnels' courageous tackling of the
attack, the damge was contained.
This attack could not have been perpetrated without the support of
a well-knit organisation. It is vital that the investigators determine
the identity of the group and come down heavily on it without wasting
time. If we can not do it, we would be more vulnerable in the days
to come. No doubt, we need to respond immediately. But it is equally
important to observe a measure of restraint and not indulge in conjectures
in idnetifying the group. It is to be appreciated that the country's
intelligence agencies and investigative authorities seem to have already
achieved a significant breakthrough in tracing this politically-motivated
terrorist attack. However, we should be doubly sure before we accuse
Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, as our investigation faces the
risk of coming under the cloud of suspicion and it is greatly linked
to the credibility of our investigation.
We do not require anyone's permission to exercise our moral authority
to take prudent action against the terrorist attacks as soon as we
idnetify the culprit group(s). This may not be very easy as we may
face stiff resistance from international fora. We should not simply
succumb to veiled threats or threats coming in the form of counselling.
We should assess all our strengths and possible dangers and accordingly
enact our action plan. This blueprint on tackling the issue of diplomacy
while accusing Pakistan and the solid action plan to send a strong
signal to terrorist groups must be collectively agreed upon and we
should be united on this action plan without yielding to political
compulsions.
India's present crisis to be overcome with the pragmatic recognition
that discretion is the better part of valour. The military attack
on terrorists camp in Pakistan is not the issue (although both of
us are nuclear States). The main issue is that these terrorists camps
quite often close down their organisations and erupt with a changed
name in a changed base location. Unless we prove without any suspicion
that Pakistan is abeting the terroists actions, how can we wage a
war against Pakistan? As Pakistan is already under the observation
of global community on account of America's virtual demand that Pakistan
should not provide a safe passage or haven for Osama bin Laden and
the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar (fugitives from Afghanistan), the
terrorists group(s) which attacked Indian Parliament would not be
stationing in Pakistan soil to get attacked. America also pressurisesd
Pakistan not to support the terrorist outfits. In such a situation,
we need to be careful and cautious before we make any move.
The best and wisest action that India should adopt is to take the
terrorism issue to the United Nations Security Council. For this,
we need to have solid evidences. Instead of indulging in political
rheotorics and jingoism, our politicians should gear the investigating
agencies to get solid proofs and fool-proof evidences. This would
enable India to take up this matter to the International Fora. According
to the Resolution 1373 passed by the Security Council in September
2001, all the U.N. members are mandated to thwart every form of terrorism
regardless of the motivations at work. The resolution was adopted
under the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 which explicitly provides for enforcement
measures such as economic sanctions or military force. In contrast
to this latest resolution, the old U.N. resolutions on Kashmir are
not enforceable in a mandatory sweep. Hence, the risk of taking this
issue to UN is minimal. It is obvious that there are dissimilarities
between the recent issue of terrorism and the old Kashmir-related
complaint. It is to be recalled that even Pakistan had condemned this
terrorist attack although it accused India by saying that the attack
was "stage-managed". We need not involve Pakistan in the probe given
the belief that ISI is behind the December 13 attack. However, there
is no harm in following the latest U.S. suggestion and share the evidence
with Pakistan and launch a joint offensive against terrorism. In such
a scenario, Pakistan can not hesitate or back-track. We may do well
in pressurising Pakistan to come down heaviliy on these terrorist
outfits. It is important that we push Pakistan to catch-22 situation
by our diplomacy. It is also to be noted that this attack exposed
a fact that the security cordon in Parliament is easily breachable.
We must immediately enhance the existing security arrangements inside
Parliament and also in key locations all over the country. Let us
send a strong deterrant message to those who play with the soverignity
of this nation.
Picture courtesy:Indiatimes.com
