Opinions | Columnists
India strong enough to withstand threat
Islamabad needs a reassessment to restore Pakistan's quest for prosperity, especially if it is to draw a useful lesson from its neighbour's success story.
- By Joseph A. Kechichian, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:16 December 3, 2008
- Image Credit: Illustration: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
News reports allege that Washington had alerted the Indian authorities before last week's terrorist assaults in Mumbai, fuelling criticism that Delhi lacked a sense of preparedness. First reported by ABC News, US intelligence apparently detected "a possible terrorist attack from the sea against hotels and business centres in Mumbai," and informed the Indian officials in mid-October.
Supposedly, precise targets-including the Taj hotel - were mentioned in these intercepts, information that was tracked through satellite phone eavesdropping. Still, as in similar cases worldwide, one wonders about what could possibly motivate young men in the prime of their lives to engage in murder and whether inevitable responses will transform India.
According to Indian television reports, one of the suspected gunmen ranted against alleged abuses in the festering Kashmir Valley insurgency, to justify his slaughters. Another invoked tensions between Muslims and Hindus, citing the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 and the need for revenge as his motives. There is no doubt that deteriorating relations between Muslims and Hindus, coupled with regional tensions between India and Pakistan, weigh significantly on tense exchanges. By the same token, it is impossible to rule out the repercussions of the "war on terror," which pits combatants - enemies or otherwise - against each other on a more or less perpetual schedule.
We now have alleged ties to the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which illustrates that political conflicts in South Asia must be reassessed if a potential devastating war is to be avoided. Delhi must ask whether a group like Lashkar-e-Taiba is a proxy in Pakistan's war of attrition with India over the Kashmir insurgency or any other subject. In fact, Delhi is aware that the Kashmir unrest - and the estimated 80,000 dead in the valley since 1985 along with a resultant rise in terrorist attacks across India - is taking its toll.
Still, what ails Islamabad is not catastrophic but needs a reassessment to restore Pakistan's quest for prosperity, especially if it is to draw a useful lesson from its neighbour's success story. In other words, while Delhi could certainly further endow its Muslim citizens with a measure of autonomy, Islamabad can only pacify extremists if it manages to distance itself from ideology and move towards democratisation and relative prosperity.
Lest we forget, it may be useful to recall how Indian democracy emerged and what kind of experiences Indian Muslims enjoyed. After what was a horrific occupation, and led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Indian Muslims seceded from their Hindu counterparts on the eve of independence from Britain. Mahatma Gandhi, a truly spiritual man who maintained a clear distance from organised religion, understood the great game of nations better than most. Murdered by a Hindu extremist for being a "traitor," all that Gandhi wanted to accomplish was to remove the religious rope from around the entire "nation's" neck. In the event, the noose was tightened, as the split between Jinnah and Gandhi - and not between Muslims and Hindus as it is generally claimed - created Pakistan and India. Jinnah reached his goal, but so did the great powers, whose divide-and-rule preferences resulted in horrific battles that claimed thousands of lives. Entire villages and cities were broken, followed by two wars that accomplished little, but which liberated India from its governance burden. Over the years, Indian Muslims, who now outnumber Pakistanis, were better off economically, periodic clashes notwithstanding.
Under Gandhi and his successors, Delhi officially ended its reliance on religion as a means for conflict resolution. Despite unconscionable Hindu fundamentalist behaviour, it rejected the belief that strength originated from a pure identity. Rather, it worked to create wealth, abandoned socialist-style economics and replaced slogans with job creation schemes that allowed millions to join the middle class. Where else in the world has a multi-national country created opportunities for so many millions while respecting individual rights?
Acute challenge
Now the challenge is more acute: to respond to terrorists without transforming the country into a fortress or adopting short-sighted schemes that will eradicate hard-earned liberties. The test is to adopt more effective intelligence methods, as well as strong police efforts, without abandoning socio-political progress. There is a danger for Delhi to fall into a trap - perceiving Pakistan as a regional burden - which must be avoided at all costs. Instead of adding fuel to the burning fire between Hindus and Muslims, Delhi can expand its proven democratic record, by challenging Pakistani leaders to adapt fresh political structures that will duplicate India's socio-economic miracle.
In the face of terrorism, which is threatening world peace and which must be rejected in all its forms, regardless of motives or justifications, is India's democracy strong enough to overcome this renewed threat?
The answer is yes. For years, Delhi rejected military dictatorships and bipartisan conflicts in the name of religion, because its leaders knew that poverty, the multi-ethnic and multi-tribal structure and the diversity of over 300 languages could only be managed through freedom. No terrorist can end that.
Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.
Your comments
No Politician is powerful than the people of that nation.Take the lesson from Thailand. The problem of India is religion, region, language, ethincity and more. We claim that we are one nation but when it comes to the regional issue look at how the politicians deal with it. There was a very clear warning from the US about the attacks but politicians wanted to take advantage out of it and resulted to this. Now, Malegaon will just be filed.
Shaikh Mohiuddin
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 04, 2008, 14:22
Dr Kechichian's first four paragraphs hit the bulls-eye. Then he wanders into typically confused complacency. India has yet to achieve economic prosperity. More importantly, India has yet to see true democracy beyond balloting. With at least 10 insurgencies burning within its territories, rants about 'successful democracy' are hardly justifiable.
Abu Hussam
Karachi,Pakistan
Posted: December 04, 2008, 14:10
If India is such a democratic country then why is it not giving Kashmiri people the right of self-determination? Also, if Muslims are so blessed in India by government, then India should of course call for plebiscite. You can end terrorism by giving people their rights, whether they are in Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine. I think these infidelities by big powers are the main cause for extremism.
From A Reader
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 04, 2008, 12:10
Indians are more united than ever before, irrespective of religion, caste or creed. A few antisocial elements or terrorists cannot break the will of millions of Indians. Terrorism has no religion. Their aim is destruction of property and human life and show the world that India is not a safe place to invest and in the process destroy the Indian economy. However, India can withstand and prosper and show the world that Indians are united. Instead of wasting money and energy on terrorism, more focus should be on education. A healthy country is a wealthy country. Let them use their brains instead of weaponry. A prosperous Pakistan is good for its people and India. Otherwise things will go downhill.
S. R. Varma
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: December 04, 2008, 10:35
Share this article
Related Articles
-
Campaign calls for display of anger, pain
Campaign calls for display of anger, pain
-
Rice arrives in New Delhi for talks
US Secretary of State Rice calls for urgent, resolute action over Mumbai attacks
-
PM was set to visit Oberoi Trident
PM was set to visit Oberoi Trident
-
Woman tells how terrorists killed her husband
Woman tells how terrorists killed her husband
-
India seeks 'strong action' from Pakistan after Mumbai attacks
India seeks 'strong action' from Pakistan after Mumbai attacks
-
India asks Pakistan for fugitives
India asks Pakistan to extradite terror suspects
Popular in Opinions
-
Opinions
Speak Your Mind: Cyberbullying
How can we protect our children from being Cyber bullied?
Opinion Editor's choice
-
Deal between US, India would provide impetus
If these two could agree, there would be real hope for progress in Copenhagen
-
Time for Irish to move on
The obsession with the Henry handball threatens to harm football far more than what Henry himself did
-
US and India should cooperate in space
Leaders must focus on a big idea that could lift relations into a higher orbit
