LIVING WITH TERROR

India has lived with the spectre of terrorism for close to two decades: the rest of the world is only just discovering both its uncertainty and the certainty. The uncertainty revolves around not knowing when or where the next attack could come from. The certainty is knowing that even without a direct attack, the threat of terrorism will disrupt life as we know it.

After 9/11, there have been 10 terror attacks in our country in the past 6 years –not counting incidents in Jammu & Kashmir. The most recent of these was in Heydrabad and the lack of a significant breakthrough in that case is not encouraging. We need to understand whether levels of threat around us.

The modern terrorist has access to the latest technology and is not short of innovation-who knows what he will think up tomorrow?

The world itself is under attack. The war on terror can only be won with a global pooling together of information and expertise. Today more than ever, the words of English poet John Donne are prophetic: no man is an island.

TACKLING PAKISTAN

Each time there is a major terrorist strike in India, the needle of suspicion points towards Islamabad, as it has done once again in the wake of the serial blasts in Hyderabad. The sophisticated nature of the explosive and timers, apart from the target, Andhra Pradesh’s capital, clearly points to a larger strategy orchestrated from outside. Pakistan’s double game, of peace talks and Confidence Building Measures on the one hand, and covert support to terrorist groups operating against India on the other is well documented.

The Indo-Pakistan peace process is now on hold and in South Block there is serious debate on what India’s strategy for dealing with Pakistan should be. There is also the realization that the UPA government’s conciliatory approach to Islamabad has not worked. Following Musharraf’s pledge on January 6, 2004 that he will not let Pakistan territory be used for terrorism against India, the opposition has become the norm. While Jammu & Kashmir bore the brunt, across India there have been five major terrorist strikes apart from the Hyderabad blasts.

The Indo-Pakistan peace process has had limited success like the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus link and a liberalized visa regime. The slow pace of the dialogue was largely because Delhi was never really sure about President Musharraf, whether to trust him or not. His government’s covert support to terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba has continued unchecked in a dangerous double game that Islamabad has been playing.