Irresoluteness, a national disease
A surya Prakash
dailypioneer.com
The Mumbai blasts, which have claimed over 200 lives and maimed or injured over 700 people, constitute a terrible tragedy for the victims and their families. But a bigger tragedy awaits us as a nation if even Mumbai 7/11 does not kindle honest reflection and stir us into action to save our plural, democratic way of life. What do these serial blasts mean for us as a nation? Will this mark the beginning of the end of our dream to build a tolerant, liberal, democratic society or will this mark the beginning of the end of jihadi terrorism? The answer lies in the way we respond to the latest challenge that has been thrown at us by these terrorists. But before we consider the steps we need to take to secure ourselves, we need to take stock of the emerging trends.
Till some years ago, jihadis were all foreigners recruited largely in Pakistan and sent across the border to commit murder and mayhem. Much of the terrorist strikes were in Jammu & Kashmir and the terrorists were 'videshi'. In the last couple of years, there have been new trends. One, Bangadeshis have got into the act and we are facing a pincer attack from terrorists trained in two Islamic states situated to the east and west of India; two, the foreign mercenaries have successfully recruited Indian Muslims; and three, terrorism is no longer confined to Kashmir. It has spread across the length and breadth of India.
Homegrown jihadis, recruited by terrorist organisations with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh have now begun killing fellow citizens for causes that are dear to them. The Indian State will have to deal with this phenomenon with the decisiveness that it displayed to crush terrorism in Punjab. But the worrying thing is that even after 7/11, which is such a monstrous assault on India, there are contradictory signals emanating from the establishment, the political parties and the intelligentsia. Going by the initial response of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, I think there is cause for concern.
The Prime Minister, who is currently attending the G-8 Summit, is expected to apprise world leaders of the terrorist strike on Mumbai and about Pakistan's continued support to terrorist organisations. As regards domestic policy, reports say Mr Singh does not think that it is necessary to revive the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Post 7/11, these responses are wholly inadequate. Given the toughness with which leaders like Mr Bush and Mr Putin have dealt with terrorist groups in their countries, they would expect the man who heads the Government in the world's largest democracy to respond to the situation with courage and clarity.
In other words, they would like to hear from Mr Singh how he proposes to deal with neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh and what steps he will take to clamp down on terrorists nabbed by Indian security forces. After 7/ 11, the world is not going to respect an Indian Prime Minister who is looking around for shoulders to weep on and goes all t he way to St Petersburg to do so. Further, even after 7/11 if the government is reluctant to bring POTA back and if it still wishes to continue the fraudulent 'peace process' with Pakistan, we must come to the conclusion that it has no desire to protect the interests of the majority of citizens in this country.
The less said about the response of some political parties the better. The attitude of some leaders of the Samajwadi Party and their defence of organisations like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is absolutely disgusting. For the sake of democracy, we must put such politicians behind bars.
The intelligentsia too has responded in a wishy-washy manner to 7/11. Since India is a Hindu-majority nation and most citizens have been 'Hinduised' or in some way influenced by the Hindu way of life, people do not usually take the RDX route to settle scores with their perceived opponents. In this they are like the White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) in America or the White adherents of the Anglican Church in Britain who constitute the majorities in these countries. But the similarity ends here. While the WASPs do not take law in their hands and we had remarkable evidence of this in the post- 9/11 phase, they do expect the American State to take a tough stand against those who promote violence.
As a result, the American State has metamorphosed into a hard state that will not allow religious extremists to use freedom to subvert the liberal, democratic order. <span style='color:red'>The Hindu mind, weighed down by confusion over millennia, falls between two stools. It just does not have the capacity to respond to threats. Nor is it willing to empower the Indian State to act on its behalf. This Hindu pusillanimity has spread to other religious groups and you find citizens belonging to all religious faiths mouthing inanities and deflecting public opinion from the core issue.</span><i>
He does not mention that media plays a central role in this confusion</i>
The fact is that Islamic jihadis are targeting Hindu places of worship and institutions that symbolise India's democracy, modernity and economic power. In recent times, hundreds of people have been killed or injured in the terrorist strikes in Delhi on the eve of Diwali last year, at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Raghunath Mandir in Jammu and inside the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. All these acts have been perpetrated by Islamic jihadis with the intent to kill, maim and demoralise the people of India in general and the Hindus in particular... Yet, in the plethora of debates on television channels after the Mumbai blasts, one often heard panelists say that bombs do not differentiate between Hindus and Muslims.
Such platitudes and banalities flow from the unwillingness of people to call a spade a spade. There is a terrorist strike every day in the name of Islam, but it is improper to identify the perpetrators as Muslims. The unwillingness of the Hindu mind to confront the truth takes it into the realm of vapid discourse. The disease has since spread to adherents of other religions as well. This hesitation to make an honest diagnosis, this irresoluteness is now a national disease. This will cost us dear.
A surya Prakash
dailypioneer.com
The Mumbai blasts, which have claimed over 200 lives and maimed or injured over 700 people, constitute a terrible tragedy for the victims and their families. But a bigger tragedy awaits us as a nation if even Mumbai 7/11 does not kindle honest reflection and stir us into action to save our plural, democratic way of life. What do these serial blasts mean for us as a nation? Will this mark the beginning of the end of our dream to build a tolerant, liberal, democratic society or will this mark the beginning of the end of jihadi terrorism? The answer lies in the way we respond to the latest challenge that has been thrown at us by these terrorists. But before we consider the steps we need to take to secure ourselves, we need to take stock of the emerging trends.
Till some years ago, jihadis were all foreigners recruited largely in Pakistan and sent across the border to commit murder and mayhem. Much of the terrorist strikes were in Jammu & Kashmir and the terrorists were 'videshi'. In the last couple of years, there have been new trends. One, Bangadeshis have got into the act and we are facing a pincer attack from terrorists trained in two Islamic states situated to the east and west of India; two, the foreign mercenaries have successfully recruited Indian Muslims; and three, terrorism is no longer confined to Kashmir. It has spread across the length and breadth of India.
Homegrown jihadis, recruited by terrorist organisations with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh have now begun killing fellow citizens for causes that are dear to them. The Indian State will have to deal with this phenomenon with the decisiveness that it displayed to crush terrorism in Punjab. But the worrying thing is that even after 7/11, which is such a monstrous assault on India, there are contradictory signals emanating from the establishment, the political parties and the intelligentsia. Going by the initial response of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, I think there is cause for concern.
The Prime Minister, who is currently attending the G-8 Summit, is expected to apprise world leaders of the terrorist strike on Mumbai and about Pakistan's continued support to terrorist organisations. As regards domestic policy, reports say Mr Singh does not think that it is necessary to revive the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Post 7/11, these responses are wholly inadequate. Given the toughness with which leaders like Mr Bush and Mr Putin have dealt with terrorist groups in their countries, they would expect the man who heads the Government in the world's largest democracy to respond to the situation with courage and clarity.
In other words, they would like to hear from Mr Singh how he proposes to deal with neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh and what steps he will take to clamp down on terrorists nabbed by Indian security forces. After 7/ 11, the world is not going to respect an Indian Prime Minister who is looking around for shoulders to weep on and goes all t he way to St Petersburg to do so. Further, even after 7/11 if the government is reluctant to bring POTA back and if it still wishes to continue the fraudulent 'peace process' with Pakistan, we must come to the conclusion that it has no desire to protect the interests of the majority of citizens in this country.
The less said about the response of some political parties the better. The attitude of some leaders of the Samajwadi Party and their defence of organisations like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is absolutely disgusting. For the sake of democracy, we must put such politicians behind bars.
The intelligentsia too has responded in a wishy-washy manner to 7/11. Since India is a Hindu-majority nation and most citizens have been 'Hinduised' or in some way influenced by the Hindu way of life, people do not usually take the RDX route to settle scores with their perceived opponents. In this they are like the White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) in America or the White adherents of the Anglican Church in Britain who constitute the majorities in these countries. But the similarity ends here. While the WASPs do not take law in their hands and we had remarkable evidence of this in the post- 9/11 phase, they do expect the American State to take a tough stand against those who promote violence.
As a result, the American State has metamorphosed into a hard state that will not allow religious extremists to use freedom to subvert the liberal, democratic order. <span style='color:red'>The Hindu mind, weighed down by confusion over millennia, falls between two stools. It just does not have the capacity to respond to threats. Nor is it willing to empower the Indian State to act on its behalf. This Hindu pusillanimity has spread to other religious groups and you find citizens belonging to all religious faiths mouthing inanities and deflecting public opinion from the core issue.</span><i>
He does not mention that media plays a central role in this confusion</i>
The fact is that Islamic jihadis are targeting Hindu places of worship and institutions that symbolise India's democracy, modernity and economic power. In recent times, hundreds of people have been killed or injured in the terrorist strikes in Delhi on the eve of Diwali last year, at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Raghunath Mandir in Jammu and inside the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. All these acts have been perpetrated by Islamic jihadis with the intent to kill, maim and demoralise the people of India in general and the Hindus in particular... Yet, in the plethora of debates on television channels after the Mumbai blasts, one often heard panelists say that bombs do not differentiate between Hindus and Muslims.
Such platitudes and banalities flow from the unwillingness of people to call a spade a spade. There is a terrorist strike every day in the name of Islam, but it is improper to identify the perpetrators as Muslims. The unwillingness of the Hindu mind to confront the truth takes it into the realm of vapid discourse. The disease has since spread to adherents of other religions as well. This hesitation to make an honest diagnosis, this irresoluteness is now a national disease. This will cost us dear.