Terrorism : A soft state cannot take hard decisions.
Let us admit it. India is a soft state. It does not want to hurt anybody even if somebody hurts it. See the record.
Pakistan sent the tribals of N-W frontier province to take over Jammu & Kashmir kingdom before it could decide its future in 1947. The Maharaja agreed to join India to protect his throne. India accepted its accession and sent its army to drive away the Pakistani regulars and the irregulars. However, India declared a cease-fire against the wishes of its army which was engaged in expelling the aggressors from the whole state. Our leaders took it to UNSC and unilaterally agreed to have a referendum. This is how the unending Kashmir problem started. We created it.
We sent back 93,000 Pakistani soldiers including the generals who surrendered to the Indian Army during the liberation of Bangladesh without solving the Kashmir problem – recognition of the line of control as the border, if not the vacation of POK. India helped in the liberation of Bangladesh but did not stay there to protect it, and the consequence was the assassination of Banga Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the meanwhile another problem started – infiltration from Bangladesh and they were given not merely ration cards but voting cards as well, a vote bank.
Our success rate is always 99 percent, not 100 percent. However, one percent makes a lot of difference. We are always indecisive. We do not have conviction in what we do. We always look for approval of other nations, not of the people of the country. We want UNO or USA to solve our problems.
How to prevent terrorism – use your vote.
We have the same attitude while dealing with terrorism. Newspapers have mentioned 8 terrorist attacks on Mumbai and 15 elsewhere. Our parliament was attacked and we just massed the army on the border. NDA government started talking to Pakistan only after getting an assurance from it that it would not allow its soil to be used by non-state actors to plan and attack India which was never observed.
The carnage on 26/11 hit the headlines all over the world as it involved the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, and many were killed, including some foreigners. There were candle-light processions by the elite of Mumbai, and they must have voted the same old dispensation which was negligent in the next election. The central and state governments said they would implement recommendations made by the expert committees in a time-bound manner to prevent any further terrorist acts. It stopped the dialogue with Pakistan unless the culprits roaming around the country with their hate speech against India are brought to justice.
Then, suddenly, India started the dialogue though no progress has been made in arresting and booking the instigators and organizers of the bloody event. Now the newspapers are full of how many recommendations were not implemented. The Union Home Minister says there was no intelligence alert about the blast as if it is not his failure. There is turf war among the police. There were no ambulances to take the injured and the dead to the hospitals. The list is long.
Everybody is asking if USA can protect itself from terrorist attack after 9/11, why India cannot do it. It is very simple, dear Watson. In the assembly and parliamentary elections held soon after 26/11, the coalition of Congress and NCP swept the polls not only in Maharashtra but in the Mumbai itself where all that happened. It snatched Rajasthan from BJP and retained Delhi for the third time in a row. These electoral victories confirmed the Congress theory that terrorism does not affect the poll results.
Additionally, rightly or wrongly, there is a belief among the top leadership of the Congress that it can secure Muslim votes by not acting decisively against terrorism. See how one of the top leaders makes statements day in and day out about saffron terrorism and expresses sympathy for "Osamaji". Another top leader tells US Ambassador that the Congress is more worried about the saffron terrorism than the jehadi terrorism, as disclosed by WikiLeaks. "Unless public pressure is generated and terrorism becomes a salient electoral issue like corruption, terrorists would continue to wreak havoc and people continue to suffer consequences", observes GVL Narasinha Rao, a leading political commentator.
There is no will and there is no incentive for the State and the Central governments to take proper action against terrorism. There is no electoral dividend. The only way we can compel the state and central governments to take action against terrorism is by using the ballot box. It may be necessary to start a peoples' movement like that started by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev to tackle corruption and black money.
Our police who crippled, if not eliminated, the gangsters in Mumbai are capable of preventing terrorism and catching the terrorists. However, they require freedom of action and freedom from harassment from the ruling party. This can be ensured only by setting up a Police Commission consisting of eminent people – a retired judge of a High Court, a retired Police Commissioner, Home Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the CM – who can guide them, set tenures, promotion and also provide all logistical support ( adequate personnel, arms, etc.). Of course there has to be a stringent law and punishment without delay (speedy justice). "Give us the tools, we will finish the job" said Winston Churchill during the Second World War. That sums up the strategy to tackle terrorists
Genesis of terrorism.
Genesis of terrorism or its source, fundamentalism, can be traced back to the partition of British India and the birth of two nations – India and Pakistan. It is the result of mutual distrust between Hindus and Muslims. Muslims believed that they would be dominated by the Hindu majority. Hindus believed that Muslim minority will always be non-cooperative.
India adopted a constitution which assured every citizen justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. The constitution also provided for special provisions to protect the minority culture and religion. Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a state with a Muslim majority and he too envisaged a secular state as was evident in his speech on 11th August 1947 in the constituent assembly of Pakistan.
However, Jinnah's passing away soon after partition, Pakistan missed a strong personality to weld different linguistic and cultural divisions into one nation. The only uniting factor in Pakistan since its birth is anti-India sentiments especially with regard to Kashmir. The birth of Bangladesh added further fuel to this anti-India feeling. Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto spoke about thousand years war and thousand cuts. Pakistan later started supporting Khalistan movement and militancy in Kashmir which has now spread all over the country with the vision of dominating the world as envisaged by Al-Qaeda.
A significant development which promoted Muslim fundamentalism in India as well as in Pakistan is the Wahabi Puritanism which has spread all over the sub-continent due to the influx of Indian workers to Arab countries, especially to Saudi Arabia. The Jehadi terrorism took birth in Pakistan after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It was funded and encouraged by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and USA. It is at that time that Kashmiri terrorism started. The Babri Masjid/ Ram temple issue and the 2002 Godhra carnage have been used to encourage fundamentalism.
India's inclusive civilization.
Indian civilization has been an inclusive civilization. It always sought synthesis and harmony, not subordination or extermination. That is why we see so much diversity and variety in India. Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi spoke about "not mutual toleration, but equal respect" for other religious faiths. Mahatma called it Sarva-Dharma –Samabhava – equal respect to all faiths. He sang, 'Ishwara Allah Tero Nam, Sabako Snamati De Bhagwan' ( Oh, Ishwar or Allah, Give us wisdom ).
The great historian, Arnold Toynbee commented that "a chapter which has a western beginning will have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in history the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way". He also added, "At the close of this century, the world would be dominated by the West but that in the 21st century India will conquer the conquerors".
We lost this wisdom to power politics, vote bank politics and to the distorted version of secularism. Politicians tried to divide people in the name of language and creed. One leading journalist called it a 'protection racket'. We never taught our children we are one in spite of our differences. There are certain values which are basic to all religions and faiths – love, truth, non-violence. The differences such as dress and way of prayers are very superficial differences. Our children know more about the West than about our history and culture as they were not taught about our inheritance in philosophy, art and architecture, science and technology in our schools and colleges.
The real meaning of secularism.
" The real meaning of secularism," stated Hon'ble Justice D.M.Dharmadhkari of the Supreme Court, in a judgment on a writ petition (civil)no.98 of 2002 of Ms.Arun Roy and others on the issue of education of religions in the educational institutions fully maintained out of state funds, " in the language of Gandhi is Sarva-Dharma-Samabhav meaning equal treatment and respect for all religions, but we have misunderstood the meaning of securalism as Sarva-Dharma-sam-Abhav meaning negation of all religions."
The judgment differentiated the meaning of 'religious instructions' ( rituals etc) and the ' study of religions' ( thoughts and philosophies etc.) after citing views Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, Dr. S.Radhakrishnan, Vinobha Bhave, J.Krishnaurthi, Bertrand Russell and others, it stated, " The complete neutrality towards religion and apathy for all kinds of religious teachings in institutions of state have not helped in removing mutual misunderstandings and intolerance inter se between sections of people of different religions, faiths and beliefs. 'Secularism', therefore, is susceptible to a positive meaning that is developing understanding and respect towards different religions. The essence of secularism is non-discrimination of people by the State on the basis of religious differences."
Human values of life.
The study of basic features of religions, faiths and cultures in our schools and colleges as mentioned in the above judgment would promote better understanding among our future generation. It would prevent the spread of fundamentalism of all varieties. When people understand that all religions of the world promote the same human values of life expressed in different words, idioms and in different languages, many barriers would disappear. Bhakti poet-saints of Hinduism and the Safi saints of Islam brought religion and God to the common people. They broke all barriers. Our history and culture make us the torch bearers of pluralism in the world.
India has failed in this task. India has to go back to the message of harmony, synthesis, peace and understanding. "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defense of peace must be constructed", as the UNESCO preamble puts it.
In the meanwhile, every effort must be made to prevent terrorist acts with improved intelligence, and if it happens in spite of it, state has to put in place laws and law enforcing machinery for speedy investigation and stringent punishment to the culprits. And of course the victims must be rehabilitated and compensated generously.
July 29,2011.
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