POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 2 August 2008

Communalising Terror

LEADERS TALK WHILE INDIA BLEEDS

By Poonam I Kaushish

What is with us Indians? Why are we so blasé’ about terror? Why do terrorists always get the better of us? And continue to rip-off the all-wise smug look of our intelligence set-up? As for our polity, their opinion or vacuous outpourings of grief are just that. Vacuous. Why are we so hypocritical and helpless? Questions which bombard like staccato gunshots

Queries which have no simple answers. It would be easy to reiterate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s words: “Terrorism is the biggest threat ….terrorists don't know borders….. We must act with determination to fight terrorism. We cannot lose the battle against ideologies of hatred.” Brave words worthy of applause. (Sic)

How? By endless tough talk of going proactive and crushing terrorism. And if that doesn’t sell with the aam aadmi cleverly save their skin and deflect criticism by appointing a committee to probe the causes of failure. Or by promptly initiating a blame game. Enough to satisfy everyone’s conscience that each has done his bit for the nation. Remember, we still have to hear the last word on Kargil and Kandhaar.

The tragedy of it all is that all this tough talk has so far been no more than so much of hype and hot air. Especially in an era of symbolic action and manipulative politics. Right from Kandahar to Ahmedabad via Kargil, Jaipur, Kabul and Bangalore it’s the same words. Only the terminology has changed. So it does not sound like the ad nauseum repeated broken record. Each Government points an accusing finger at its predecessor or its successor. The pot calling the kettle black. It really does not matter. Only the chehra differs.

If the Vajpayee-led NDA government has to come to terms with its Kandahar and Kargil ghosts, the UPA’s record is no better. In the last four-and-half-years not one terrorist has been arrested and no case has been solved. Yet, statistics continue to be reeled out to assure the nation how well the Government is fighting terror. Never mind that nearly 300 of the 670 districts are in the terrorist tentacles. Of these, 70 districts have already been ravaged by terrorists. Is this how we fight terror?

The Kandahar and Kargil have been replaced by Kabul and Bangalore. What makes matters worse is that sitting in Delhi, the Central Government suffers from the disease or reflex action of out of site, out of mind. The terror is happening in somebody else’s backyard. Forgetting that Jharkhand, Bihar, UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and other States are part of the country called India. Terror has already cost us more than 72,000 civilians and 12,000 security personnel. In the last three years alone, Islamic terrorists have killed 5,617 people. And all the dead and injured are mere statistics lost in the files.  Who cares?

Worse, for reasons best known we have communalised terrorism. Borne out by the fact that Afzal Guru, the perpetrator of the attack on India’s temple of democracy, Parliament, languishes in jail despite the Supreme Court’s order to hang him. Why? Because he is a Muslim and it would send a wrong message to the minority vote bank! Only in India will be seen the strange site of a State (Kashmir) rising in defence of Afzal Guru and wanting his release. The Government watches helplessly and the police told not to unduly question or harass anyone from the minorities.

Clearly the Government does not want to do anything which may even remotely hurt the Muslim sentiment. Or be misconstrued as ‘deliberately’ singling out a person who belongs to a minority community. Especially with elections to many State Assemblies later this year. Terrorism or no terrorism. Ignoring the fact that the Muslim clergy too has condemned the terrorists for bringing a bad name to the community.

Forgetting that a terrorist has no religion. Nor a caste. For the only the religion he knows is to kill. Be it a Hindu militant or a Muslim jehadi. He is faceless. His only belief is to create a psychological fear in the enemies’ mind whatever it takes. So how do we get the better of him? By issuing warnings, that we will act against this heinous crime against humanity. How? One Government dumped TADA with POTA. Its successors dumped POTA as a bad law and instead talked of applying the “healing touch” to the wounds of the misguided youths and bring them around.

Importantly, if anyone should be held guilty for terrorism, which is increasingly reigning havoc in our country, it should be our self-obsessed polity. So long as they are personally secure from the terrorists the rest can go to hell. See how worried are all about getting Z-plus security with it paraphernalia of gun-toting commandos, bullet-proof car, escort car and a sub-inspector to guard one round-the-clock. What to speak of highly securitized homes. 

Have they shed even one tear for the innocent thousands killed over the years in terrorist blasts. Or for the valiant security forces and personnel who have laid down their lives so that India can live. No, a big no. What is there to know about terrorism that we haven’t suffered over the agonizing years?  Just comprehend the widows, orphans and aging parents left in their bloody trail.

The crux of the problem is that the Centre continues to grope in the dark about how to deal with terrorism. What is the end we seek? Sadly, New Delhi is not clear about our policy and strategy. We persist in wallowing in ad hocism and live for the moment. Treating the country like a sanitized State, a piece of chocolate that can be relished by a diabetic. In this milieu, India should be declared a disturbed country to counter the jehadis. For how long will the Government merely react? Is it not time to think and act?

Even as the UPA Government showcases the Indo-US nuclear deal as its biggest achievement. Has Manmohan Singh ever bothered to ask President Bush why is it that no terrorist attack has taken place in the US post 9/11  2001. What were the ingredients of his war on terror?

Or for that matter, UK’s Gordon Brown about why no terrorist has dared to blow up the London tube again post 7/7/2005. How did they both create fear in the terrorist mind? Notwithstanding the fact that Osama bin Laden and other extremist organizations supported by him have vowed to seek revenge. Did this deter them from ensuring that their country is free from terrorists?

No country can ever be free of suicide bombers. Who are willing to die for their cause. But unlike the Americans and Britons, who will die for their nation, the tragedy of India is that while our soldiers are willing to die for their country, our political tribe are only interested in somehow living.

In fact, the netagan care a damn for India. Only about I, me and myself. Statesmanship is only in the memory of a distant past. The common man is caught in the crossfire between blasts and more blast. The aam aadmis’ cries of anguish gagged by the inane political gibberish.

The sad truth is that terrorist like wanton prostitutes continue to repeatedly rape us. Day after day and month after month. We yell blue murder from the rooftops and pledge to take revenge. Nothing more, nothing less. The tragedy of it all is that the terrorists know that these are the just words. Empty words. After all, what can one expect of ‘impotent’ leaders? Leaving one with a sinking feeling. We enjoy being raped. ---INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)