By Arundhati Dhuru, Saeeda Diep and Sandeep Pandey
On 22 April attack on Pahalgam tourists was carried out by the terrorist organisation The Resistance Front. The Indian security forces carried out attacks on nine sites on 7 May early hours which are believed to be camps of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahiddin and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has claimed that at least 100 terrorists have been killed. These strikes have been followed by counter offensives and attempted/foiled attacks from both sides. Number of civilians now getting killed are adding to the 26 killed on 22 April. It remains to be seen when this chain reaction would end. By that time many more civilian lives would be lost on both sides.
India wanted initially to precision target only terrorist camps. But Pakistani strike on a Gurudwara and Masjid in Poonch has expanded the domain of attacks. A fight against terrorism is now converted into two countries fighting each other. Terrorists have achieved their objective.
Hopefully, the war will stop before it reaches a point where one of the sides will get desperate and think of using the nuclear weapons option.
The objective of eliminating terrorism will remain a distant dream. Most likely more ‘jihadists’ are going to be provoked to take up arms to avenge the killing of their brethren. It has been proved from the destruction of Babri Masjid, which resulted in the first terrorist attack in India in the form of serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in early 1993, that act of destruction will result in reaction.
Dr. Manmohan Singh was not tempted to attack Pakistan after the much bigger Mumbai attack in 2008. His government pursued the legal course against the accused as a result of which some were punished and some are waiting to be punished. After a hiatus of more than a year Kuldeep Nayyar took the first delegation of Indian civil society to Pakistan and the peace process adopted by the government subsequently delivered dividends which at least ensured that there was no repeat incident in the remaining 6 years of Manmohan Singh. India Pakistan relations had shown visible signs of improvement when he quit as Prime Minister.
The wisdom of using peace as a tool for solving entangled relationship between the countries is not lost. But the incumbent government of India, instead of insisting on a joint enquiry, if necessary with the involvement of a third or more parties, to identify the culprits and then prosecute them has chosen a populist method, for political expediency, of unilaterally launching an attack on Pakistan. If just means are not followed it is unlikely that the stated objective would be achieved.
At the end of the war we’ll be left with more bitterness. Communal hated on both sides has already taken the form of madness. The narrative built by the frenzied media would destroy whatever possibilities of rapprochement that existed. Trust has been completely lost. And, lastly there would be no guarantee that several years down the line another terrorist attack would not take place.
A possible solution to the problem is friendly relations with Pakistan. Somewhere, the beginning would have to be made by somebody. A dialogue between the two countries followed by putting into place confidence building measures should ultimately lead to both governments working in tandem to eliminate the threat of terrorism. We must remember that Pakistan has paid heavier price as a result of terrorist incidents. As late as in March a train from Quetta to Peshawar with 380 passengers was hijacked by Balochistan Liberation Army, an incident in which many people got killed in the subsequent shoot-out. So, we have to start with the basic premise that everybody cannot be a sympathiser of terrorism in Pakistan. Hence India’s priority should have been to see that saner voices in Pakistan are strengthened so that democratically elected government is in control of things and the military or the ISI don’t play a determining role. The support extended by the people of Pakistan to Imran Khan’s party during the last elections is ample proof that people desire an independent democratic rule. Imran Khan will always be remembered for having opened the Kartarpur Sahib corridor for Indian pilgrims, an act which was praised even by Narendra Modi on the day of its inauguration. As a confidence building measure India could have opened a corridor to the Ajmar Sharif dargah for Pakistani pilgrims. This one act could have generated enormous good will for India inside Pakistan. Strong ties between the two countries at the people to people level are the only way to wean away whatever support exists among people for terrorist organisations inside Pakistan.
How long are we going to keep looking at Pakistan as an enemy? It was part of India till 1947. Many Indians have gone and settled there. Many in India still have family ties. How can you expect a husband-wife married across the border to pledge their loyalty to only one of the countries? If the reality is a shared history, customs, culture, families, languages, etc. India and Pakistan have been artificially divided. India is a living proof that Hindus and Muslims can co-exist even after more than ten years of a sustained effort to divide the communities by various governmental and non-governmental acts. The political division has been imposed on a social unity at the grassroots. Hindus and Muslims can never be divided in the way Meiteis and Kukis have been divided in Manipur. Hence, if Hindus and Muslims can co-exist why can India and Paksitan not? Going forward there are only two ways. Either we exist as good neighbours or perish together by dropping nuclear weapons on each other.
If the former chiefs of RAW and ISI, A.S. Dulat and Asad Durrani, respectively, can write a book together, if Narendra Modi can make a surprise visit to Lahore to attend a family function of Nawaz Sharif and present a shawl to his mother, why shouldn’t common Indians and Paksitanis be not allowed to live in an atmosphere of trust, peace and friendship.
We hope wisdom will prevail among the civilian population and good sense will guide the political ideologies on both sides and visionary leadership will take the step in right direction to solve the problem of terrorism once and forever.
Arundhati Dhuru is with National Alliance of People’s Movements in India
Saeeda Diep is with Centre for Peace and Secular Studies in Lahore, Pakistan
Sandeep Pandey is General Secretary of Socialist Party (India).
11 May 2025
Source: countercurrents.org