The Jihadists celebrated the anniversary of last year's hijack by attacking the Red Fort in Delhi. In the resultant media hype, a crucial point has been ignored: In times of peace, it is not difficult to attack public places like the Red Fort. Similarly, it is possible to attack the sentry at, say, the Pentagon or even the White House. The fear of retaliation is the only reason it does not happen.
The most worrying aspect of the Red Fort incident is the attackers's conviction that nothing can be done against them or their organisation. The other equally worrying aspect is the fact that such a strike could not have taken place without a degree of local support.
A citizen's war
Many years ago, during the Munich Olympics of 1972, Palestinian terrorists, working under the banner of the Black September group, kidnapped and killed several Israeli athletes. When a journalist empathised with the Israeli ambassador in Germany, he replied, "In the war against terrorism, all Israeli citizens -- men, women and children -- are soldiers. Like soldiers, they are prepared to die if necessary."
More recently, less than a year ago, in fact, the Indian government's decision to release three captured militants in exchange for the hijacked passengers of the Indian Airlines flight, IC 814, generated much criticism. The old theory of India being a soft State found a new lease of life.
It is always easy to blame someone else; instead, let us see how we, the citizens of India, behaved. The unruly, hysterical relatives of the hijack victims made a huge tamasha on television, thereby boosting the morale of both the hijackers and their backers sky-high.
The criticism of this obnoxious and anti-national behaviour was muted; most of the media gave wide publicity to this hysteria. In the process, we betrayed a total lack of maturity and poise and showed to the world how a nation of a billion people could be ransomed by a medieval ragtag bunch called the Taleban.
Counter-measures
The serial bomb blasts in Coimbatore and Bombay, arms smuggling and the widespread circulation of fake currency show beyond a doubt that Pakistan's main aim is not just Kashmir, but the destabilisation of India. Unfortunately, any talk of dealing firmly with Pakistan is often dubbed as 'communal' or worse. This is an insult to the nationalist Muslims in India, who are loyal to the country of their birth.
Having said that, it must also be accepted that a segment of the Muslim population in India does fall prey to Pakistani propaganda and helps the terrorists. This is not a 'post-Ayodhya' development; it actually predates it. For instance, in 1972, when there were over 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war in India, those who managed to escape would go straight to the nearest mosque where they found shelter and help.
The separatist tendencies amongst the Indian Muslims have been nurtured by our own self-serving politicians to create vote banks. It is necessary that those who support and help terrorists are dealt with with an iron hand. At the same time, care should be taken to ensure that innocent Muslims are not harassed and further alienated from the mainstream. This is difficult task, but not an impossible one.
While the above measures can take care of the internal threat, they are, by themselves, not enough. This leaves India with two possible options.
Option one is to continue covert operations inside Pakistan. There are enough divisions in that country -- between Shia and Sunni, Sindhis and Mohajirs (erstwhile refugees from India), Pathans and Punjabis -- that can be exploited.
The other option is to take recourse to 'open' retaliation for acts of sabotage. Readers may remember how, in the eighties, the US launched air attacks against Libya when an American was wounded in a Libyan-backed terrorist attack on the Italian luxury liner, Achille Lauro. The Cruise missiles launched against Afghanistan was another such retaliatory attack.
Even the UN Charter allows nations the rights of pursuit and retaliation. Israel has been doing this in Lebanon for last several years.
Islamabad is barely 65 kilometres from the line of ceasefire in Kashmir. Our long range guns can easily reach the suburbs of Rawalpindi. The Mangla dam on the Jhelum -- that provides electricity to half of Pakistan -- is also within range. These kinds of retaliatory artillery attacks against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India can cripple their economy. All these measures can be taken without a declaration of war.
Addendum
Pakistan continues to test Indian tolerance. Its 'proxy war' strategy is supported by its people. India should now realise that terrorism cannot be countered by passive, anti-terrorism measures. We need a counter-terrorism strategy; its exact contours, of course, is best left to the professionals.
Terrorism thrives on publicity; it is time we put curbs on the media. And, in case the human rights lobby begins its familiar chorus, we need to point out that Great Britain had a similar law to deal with the IRA terrorists.
Nearly three hundred years ago, Bajirao -- India's finest ever cavalry general -- had told his king, "If you want to cut a tree, do not waste time in cutting branches. Hit at the roots and the tree will fall automatically."
Most of the roots of India's terrorism problems lie in Pakistan. Destroying these roots are the only permanent solution to this problem.
Colonel Anil Athale (retd), is co-ordinator, Initiative for Peace and Disarmament.
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