Overshadowed by the Holocaust going on in Gaza, the Indo-Pak tension now finds itself relegated to the back bench. However, it is and should remain an area of concern.
Following the heinous attacks by terrorists on the people of Mumbai late last year, charges and rebuttals have been flying high from both sides. Almost 200 innocent civilians were killed in cold blood and scores more injured in several coordinated attacks in Mumbai by a band of criminals reportedly originating from the neighboring country of Pakistan.
One thing is certain. There can be no excuse for the actions of those who took part in this crime.
Whatever their cause or motive, the gunning down of innocent civilians should not be tolerated in any case or condition. This was not a case of a people defending themselves against ethnic-cleansing as is the case with the Palestinians. Nor was it a state-sanctioned act by the government of Pakistan. Instead it appears to be a lawless bunch of thugs whose twisted ideology helped justify the murders.
The media on both sides have helped fuel the aggressive rhetoric that has been forthcoming since, and both governments could find themselves at the risk of media-fueled altercations. Speaking to the press last week, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee bluntly stated that India would not allow Pakistan to brush away the Mumbai murders without taking concrete action against the perpetrators, adding that he was not impressed with Islamabad’s unconvincing and unacceptable response.
“Pakistan’s response has to be one which can convince us that Pakistan is ready to tackle this terrorism seriously. We don’t want a repetition of what happened after the Parliament attack when Pakistan gave commitments which it did not fulfill,” said the minister. Mukherjee was also critical of what he termed Pakistan’s tactics of talking through the media. Pakistan’s response of shutting down five Jamaat-ud-Dawa camps and arresting 120-odd terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba and other groups has to be accompanied by proof, he said.
Expressing skepticism of the latest claims from Pakistan, he continued: “If an organization is banned, is it possible to have part of its activities considered undesirable? I read that their charities will not be affected. If an organization is banned, all practices must be banned.” And on the reported Pakistani crack-down on terrorist elements, he stated, “Sometimes we get these through the media. Pakistan is also not communicating with us either through our mission here or even directly...officially we have had no communication from them on shutting of JuD camps and detentions.”
Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon earlier stated, “It’s hard to believe that something of this scale, that took so long in the preparation and of this nature, which amounts really to a commando attack, could occur without anybody, anywhere in the establishment knowing.”
Addressing the 61st Army Day parade in New Delhi last week, Indian Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor reiterated that his forces were gearing up for “fourth-generation warfare”.
“The attack on Mumbai was a test of our patience...the biggest challenge before us is terrorism and we are ready to face it. To ensure the security of our people and territory, we can use all possible available options,’’ he warned.
In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Shah Masood Qureishi pledged that “It is our duty, my duty, to examine the dossier carefully, understand it and be truthful to myself, to my country and the neighborhood,” when questioned about the evidence presented so far by the Indian authorities.
Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, speaking to the press, said 124 people had been arrested, while authorities had taken steps against 20 offices, 87 schools, two libraries, seven religious schools, and a handful of other organizations and websites linked to a charity.
And US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher who was in Islamabad for meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and other government officials to discuss regional security including the Mumbai attacks told reporters, “I think there’s determination here to follow up, find those responsible, the groups responsible ... making sure they can’t do it again.”
While these are comforting words, the escalating and aggressive rhetoric in the media on both sides has not reassured the policy-makers in India and Pakistan with regard to the fragile peace between the two nuclear-powered neighbors. With deeply embedded historical and cultural ties, both countries must make time for covert diplomacy and action, and not public accusations or denials.
Those guilty of the Mumbai carnage must be punished to the full extent of the law regardless of their country of origin, or else their diabolical rationale for what they did would have succeeded. And that does not bode well for the security of South Asia.
