Ghost of Terrorism visiting India

I.A. Panshota

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram, while inaugurating a three-day conference of directors-general and inspectors-general of police convened by the Intelligence Bureau on September 13, 2009 has been reported as saying that Pakistan-based groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are continuing to plot terror attacks against India and getting support from disgruntled elements. The statement has sent a shock wave to all the innocent and law abiding Muslims of the region, as the community, he alleged for fomenting troubles in India is victim of worst conceivable human tortures in Indian, besides being most deprived and strife ridden, who deserve global sympathies, not the spikes to rub salts into the wounds. He not only contends incriminating these Muslims but also implicated infiltrators for making attempts from across the border to forge unity among separatists in Jammu and Kashmir and escalate violence.




How realistic he is, remains a big question for the parties accused, when he asserts that Terrorist groups including LeT and JeM who, according to him, persist in their endeavor to launch terror attacks who, continue to innovate, new ways and means of fueling such troubles. They find support among disgruntled elements within India. The list of his allegations did not end here. He even referred to the Mumbai attacks as a "game changer" terming these activities something beyond Indian tolerance claiming "we can no longer afford to do business as usual" His open or veiled threat was to all the concerned, most obviously to Pakistan, when he gave vent to his pent up anger, saying "Let me state our position clearly. On terrorism, our stance is zero tolerance, the case of threat or attack, our response will be swift and decisive".




Day in and day out, Indian grumbling and grousing against Pakistan continue unabated. Chidambaram further stated that policing in India was always a challenge and cross-border terrorism is a matter of deep concern but after 26/11, the challenge has become graver. He said security agencies were able to dismantle 12 terrorist modules in 2008 and almost 13 more in the first half of the current year. He believed that level of their preparedness to fight any terror threat attack would be further elevated. But he did not justify the gruesome killing of the innocent people in the Kashmir, East Punjab and North East's seven states where more than three hundred thousand people have been killed during the last three decades, beside other collateral damages.




The fact that Pakistan has not been able to fully recover from its trauma of suicide bombing, as its horror and wreckage has literally rocked the total political infra-structure and government is busy making all out efforts to provide bare minimums necessities of life to its people. How come handful aid-workers of LeT or HuM groups, mostly god-fearing religious elements muster up courage and support to enter India to activate their like-minded elements for any such terrorist activity of unleashing mayhem and chaos in the country.




If the statement of the honorable Minister is based on facts, then why India does not allow the fact finding missions of the world to visit North-East, Kashmir and other disturbed areas of the Northeast India? If, all is true, which he has narrated above, who then tempts the 17 most active rebel groups in India, whose strength runs into thousands who are actively involved in the freedom movement throughout the country. If India is land of so peaceful people, why its Human Rights record has always remained one of worst in the world? If the government is providing good governance to its masses, then why world's most draconian and inhuman laws like Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act, Disturbed Area act, POTA, Punjab Security State Act, National Security Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act are still imposed in the country.

To ascertain the fact, let us browse the official record pending decisions in the courts and other verifiable sources of information. It is not difficult to dig out the truth and establish the credibility of Indian Interior Minister's statement. What is ratio of the Muslims activists, who are involved in all such terrorist and criminal activities? This could be verified from the records of various under trial cases pending decisions in various courts. How many people have suffered extra-judicial killings and by whom? When there was no organization like Harkat-e-Mujahideen, or Lashkar-e-Tayyba, who then created such massive troubles in India. Why did India deploy more than seven hundred thousand security personnel in North East and as many in Kashmir, if the people are happy with her polity? On the country, a country like Pakistan which cannot harness the activities of a few hundred people, how come, it could create such a big wave or trouble in India.