Author: Gitesh Desai
Publication: Houston Chronicle
Date: May 21, 2002
After Sept. 11, India was among
the first countries in the world to offer its unconditional support to
the United States in the fight against terrorism declared by President
Bush. Being a victim of terrorism itself, India knows very well what kind
of pain and suffering, death and destruction the scourge of terrorism can
bring. India has been bleeding from the perpetual specter of terrorism
by Pakistan-based and -supported terrorist groups for several years.
In the last decade, jihadi forces
have killed thousands of innocent people in India. The terrorist attack
of Oct. 1 on the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly and the Dec. 13 attack
on the Indian Parliament last year could have wiped out the entire Indian
political leadership.
Although one-half million Indian
troops have been deployed at its border with Pakistan for the last few
months after the Parliament building attack, India has shown remarkable
restraint despite repeated provocations. India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee has undertaken many diplomatic efforts to defuse the tense situation.
India has been saying for the last
few months that it is running out of patience. Last week's devastating
terrorist attack on an Indian army camp in the state of Jammu and Kashmir
that killed 34 civilians -- including more than 20 women and children --
crossed the threshold. It appears that India is preparing to bring its
war on terrorism to its "logical conclusion."
At the request of the Bush administration,
India has waited long enough not to strike any terrorist targets based
in Pakistan and, as a result of that, has continued to suffer a heavy death
toll. India refuses to wait any longer. India expelled Pakistan's ambassador
from New Delhi on Saturday. It appears that both countries are heading
for a war as most of the channels of communication between the two neighbors
have broken.
U.S. assurances given to India have
changed nothing in curbing infiltration across the border from Pakistan.
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan promised to take action against
Islamic militants in his famous Jan. 12 speech. He arrested nearly 2,000
men linked to terrorists under international pressure. This crackdown on
militants was a sham. Most of the militants that were arrested are now
free. After Musharraf made a U-turn and claimed to stamp out all forms
of terror originating from his country, violence and terror from Pakistan
have continued against Indians in Jammu and Kashmir.
India's ruling coalition and opposition
leaders both expressed deep anguish in a Parliament debate on Saturday
and urged Vajpayee not to wait for Washington's permission to take action.
India's Home Minister L.K. Advani, who is considered the power behind the
throne, said he is angry with Pakistan but disappointed with the United
States. India's deputy foreign minister was not as polite. He thundered,
"It is time to tell them the same thing that President Bush said: `If you
are not with us, you are with the terrorists.' If this is the support we
are going to get from the international community, then please take your
support back -- we don't want it."
India has rightly criticized the
U.S. stance over terrorism because so far the Bush administration has only
offered lip service and has not pressured Pakistan enough to clamped down
on militants. India perceives the United States as having double standards
and doubts Washington's intentions in supporting the global war against
terrorism. India does not need assurances; it should be given the United
States' open support in taking tough, punitive action against terrorists
in Pakistan.
India's military generals have briefed
the Indian government and as a result, Vajpayee has canceled his vacation
to weigh his options. This is a signal to both Pakistan and the West that
India is serious about doing whatever it takes to bring terrorism to an
end and will not submit itself to Pakistan's nuclear blackmail. In such
an eventuality, the United States must side with democratic India and not
dictatorial Pakistan to crush acts of terror.
Bush and Vajpayee established last
November a significantly new bilateral relationship between India. They
agreed to fight terrorism and its sponsors everywhere in the world. They
emphasized that there is only one choice and only one outcome: Terrorism
must be fought and it shall be defeated.
(Desai is a Houston-based free-lance
writer and an activist in the Indian-American community here.)
