Phulwama terror attack has
enraged the nation
Syed Ali Mujtaba
The terror attack on the CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and
Kashmir is the most ghastly among all such attacks that so far has happened in
the restive state. Every Indian’s heart goes out to the families of
the security personnel who were killed or injured in that dastardly attack. The
family members of the victims of this barbaric terror attack deserve deepest
condolences from every Indian.
No doubt the Phulwama terror attack has shaken the
nation and the mood of the country is the perpetrators of terror should be brought to justice and punished. Having said
that, there are several opinions floating in the social media on Indian response
to such terror attack and all have the attraction to get carried away. However,
as a mature Indian we should weigh the pros and cons before getting into the
hate mongers trap.
The first idea making rounds is to go to war with Pakistan. War
is not picnic where we can go unprepared. It is not as easy as it sounds and
lot of preparation is required for doing that. India after the Parliament
attack in 2001 had launched operation ‘Prakarm.’ The Indian Army was positioned
in confrontation position for many days with the resolve to go all out war.
However, given the implications of war, better sense prevailed among the
leadership and Army was finally pulled back from the forward position of the line
of control. So such war mongers should not be given any space and should be
kept in abeyance.
The second idea making round is to respond to such terror attack
is to go again for surgical strike. Well this ‘ACE’ India have already used in
2016 when our government carried out the surgical strike on 29 September 2016.
We all know the results; terror attack has increased almost 90% in the last
four years. Pakistan is now in a much better position to tackle any such
surprise strike. It may have plucked all such gaps by now and India may not
have the advantage of surprise in any such surgical strike this time.
There are also views that India should unilaterally abrogate the
Indus water treaty and should stop water supply to Pakistan. But such ideas
have huge international ramification. The fall out of such action will be
difficult for India to manage. In any such case, if China blocks ‘Brahmputra’
water flow to India then what will happen? Can India go to war with China and
Pakistan at the same time? So such idea has to be rubbished at once.
Another idea being circulated is to go for genocide of the
Kashmiri Muslims. The logic behind is since all Kashmiris Muslims
are terrorists, so best solution to get rid of such people is to do their
genocide or mass killing. India already has seven lakhs security personal the territory
and executing such idea is a matter of a government order. This is most
diabolic of all the ideas that are being floated on the social media. How India
is going to handle the fall out of such mass murder? Imagination fails to
fathom its depth. Such idea has all the trappings to make Kashmir a Syria. So
such idea is simply insane thinking.
The next idea that’s afloat is to ban the cricketers and artists
and other such people from visiting India. It includes doing any business with
Pakistan. Well this idea is already in place and further India has revoked the
most favored nation to Pakistan. However, even by doing all this we have not
got any favorable results? And extending it further may not stop such terror
attacks in future.
Another idea that played upon is the Hindu vs Muslim card. The
Hindu community is being egged to blame the Muslim community for such
terrorists attack in Kashmir. This is the most heinous idea of all, because
Indian Muslims have nothing to do with Kashmir. They are head and shoulders
standing behind the nation. Those who are arguing on such lines are actually
enemy of the nation. Both Hindu and Muslim communities should debunk such idea.
They should show maturity on de-linking the terrorists as
they have no religion and are bunch of murders.
Here it could to be pointed that instead of showing helplessness
on the terrorists attack and blaming Pakistani terror group, we should inquire
into the security lapses that have led to such large scale terror strike. There
are many security agencies in the country that are responsible for our inland
security and they are accountable for such lapses. After proper investigation
accountability has to be fixed on them and heads should roll of those found
negligent in their duty.
Further, in such case blaming “Aman ki Asha” or hope for peace
will not hold any ground. It is a testing time for the entire country. Such
terror strike has taken place because of the absence of peace process and not
because of those who are striving for peace in the region. The terror attack
has happened because peace talks have been stalled for long time in Kashmir.
The mature way to move ahead should be to open up peace negation with the
people of Kashmir and win their confidence.
Last but not the least terror attack on the CRPF convoy in
Pulwama, is a gross failure of the central government's policy towards Jammu
and Kashmir. While government celebrated the surgical strike of 29 September
2016, it failed to control the counter terrorists attack in its aftermath.
India demonstrated that it has got the wherewithal to cross the LOC, but in its
aftermath it has shown its own vulnerability, getting repeated pounding on its
own turf. The current Pulwama terror attack shows that we cannot protect
ourselves.
A responsible government should have acknowledged its lapses and
taken the blame of the killing of its security personnel. However government of
the day does not have any such moral courage. Instead of admitting its failure
the government is blaming the Pakistani terror outfit and showing its helplessness.
At the end of the day the government reduced to a caricature to condemn the terror
attack. It is shedding crocodile tears over death of security forces and doing
no more.
Well it is a time of grief for the entire nation as more than
forty security forces has lost their lives in the terror attack. However the question remains that is Pakistan
alone responsible for such incident or India too has a role? Well it won’t be
incorrect to say that our own government’s ill-conceived Kashmir policy is the main
reason for the loss of the lives of our security personals? The fact remains
that the loss of our brave soldiers is due to the failure of our government to
evolve a sound Kashmir policy that could win the trust of the people.
Since there is going to be election time soon in the country, it
should be warmed that there should not be any politics over such terror attacks.
Any such blame game would divert attention of the people and the focus of the
problem would be lost. The political parties, the intelligentsia and
the think tanks should come together and suggest the ways and means to nip problem
in the bud so that no such situation never ever happen in future.
As peace activists, my prescription is; talks alone could lead a
solution for any such problem. Notwithstanding the fact it needs to be reiterated
that the entire country stands united behind the current government in handling
such tense situation.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He is the
founder and moderator of the South Asia Contact Group. He can be contacted at
syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
