Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: November 11, 2002
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/nov/11varsha.htm
On November 3, a five-foot long
Hellfire missile shot from the CIA's remote-controlled Predator spy-plane
struck a moving car in Yemen. US citizen Ahmed Hijazi, al-Qaeda jihadi
Abu Ali al-Harethi, and four other "suspected al-Qaeda operatives" promptly
flew Jannat-wards for a blissful romp with 72 houris. Al-Harethi, too,
was merely "suspected" of masterminding the October 2000 attack on the
USS Cole, which killed 17 Americans. Actually, the deadly drones were developed
precisely to "give the CIA a way to track and kill suspected terrorists
without putting US pilots at risk" (Associated Press, November 7). "Suspected
terrorists," please note. And never mind possible civilian casualties.
The administration, working with
the authority of a presidential finding that permits covert operations
against al-Qaeda, considered al-Harethi and his band of merry men a military
target --- "combatants" under international law. Officials contended that
the missile strike was an act of self-defence, also permitted under international
laws. "Sometimes the best course is a good offense... The President has
made clear that we fight the war on terrorism wherever we need. Terrorists
don't recognize any borders or nations," said White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer.
Pretty hairy, in'nit? So, what was
the American people's reaction to the Bush administration's sanctioning
the killing of 6 people only suspected of being terrorists, without any
show of proof or trial...?
Well, just days later, and much
to the breast-beating by the EU (ie, European Ummah), George W's Republican
Party won a landslide victory for the control of Congress. The GOP made
gains in the House of Representatives (which it already controlled) and
grabbed the Senate, too. Joseph Cirincione, an analyst with the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, said, "Any talk of restraining the President
or qualifying any of his foreign policy initiatives with congressional
action is now gone. And the Democrats --- forget it, man. When they get
whipped like this, it takes them a year to recover. They don't have a clue
what to do."
Of course, there were the usual
notes of dissent from the usual suspects, who challenged the legality of
the strike by calling it "assassination" in violation of a presidential
executive order. However, the voices that eventually prevailed were those
of people like Professor Jeffrey Addicott, who teaches national security
law in San Antonio, Texas: "An enemy combatant --- whether part of an organized
military or a civilian who undertakes military activities --- is a legitimate
target at all times and may be lawfully killed, even if by surprise. At
the same time, the law of armed conflict absolutely prohibits the killing
of non-combatants, except as a matter of collateral damage where civilians
may be killed ancillary to the lawful attack on a military objective."
In short, the American people not
only endorsed President Bush's war on terrorism and his aggressive foreign
policy, but also approved his methods of waging war. Meaning, the American
*people* --- and I emphasise "people" to exclude Californians and the dense
human rights-walas - -- know the implication of the words "war" and "terrorism"
(even though the President himself is pretty much clueless about which
country has been and is the hub of Islamic terrorism).
In a country notorious for crackpot
litigation, no busybody emerged to scream "Murder in Yemen", no NGO filed
a complaint with any national or international human rights body against
the killings, and, there was no page after page after page after page of
"investigation" by the "liberal" media buffoons.
It is not politicians who make a
nation strong and invincible; it is, always, the common people --- those
who elect their leaders on the basis of specific policies required at a
given point of time; those who simply boycott a consumer product if it
doesn't meet their political or quality standards; those who immediately
withdraw ads and subscriptions to offending media. Under such pressures,
politicians, manufacturers and media constantly need to have their fingers
on the pulse of their constituency, consumer base or readership --- and
adjust their course of action accordingly. And therefore, the American
people never are bombarded with a plethora of garbage on "Dr" Krishna,
Kuldip Nayar, "Ansal Plaza: 7 key questions," or directions by the NHRC
(which Chandan Mitra aptly calls the 'National Terrorist Rights Commission').
Such ignominies are what we Indians
bring upon ourselves by not exercising our power to block and discard.
This weakness is based on our very special sense of "tradition" --- the
same that elevates dumb bovines to human motherhood, revels in the janoi
syndrome, worships Gandhian ahimsa, or takes pride in generations supporting
a single political party or subscribing to a broadsheet, no matter their
degeneration. When we cannot break the mould of rotting traditions, neither
do politicians, nor does the country.
The following events --- and their
consequences --- exemplify the Great Indian Tradition of mercy, which is
put into effect only when faced with those who have a track record of extreme
violence. For all other cases, for instance, the people calculatedly kept
in the shit holes of the Great Hindu Society, gau-hatya is reason enough
to move legislation and justify murder. The single hallmark of a coward
is that he attacks only those who are too weak to retaliate. Therefore,
those who plunder, murder and rape get unique treatment from this nation
of cowards:
* Jihadis Masood Azhar and Mushtaq
Zargar are safely escorted to Afghanistan by Jaswant Singh on December
31, 1999. They go on to form and lead Jaish-e-Muhammad and Al- Umar, respectively,
which jihad groups proceed to take hundreds of Indian lives.
* On October 27, 2002, Sonia Gandhi
and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed agree on a common minimum programme which promises
to bar the implementation of POTA and to wind up the Special Operations
Group. The last time that the government let down the guard --- for the
"unilateral cease-fire" of November 26, 2000 --- Islamic jihadis killed
242 people in 50 days, as opposed to the 154 killed in the 78 days prior
to the cease-fire.
* JKLF commander Showkat Ahmad Bakshi,
who masterminded the abduction of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter Rubaiya,
is set free on bail after 13 years. In December 1989, even as agencies
were negotiating Rubaiya's release, the Janata Dal government unconditionally
conceded the terrorists' demands. Within days, Kashmir exploded into a
full- blown insurgency. The Janata Dal's response to the threat is acknowledged
as *the* event that triggered jihad in J&K, which has taken over 33,000
lives in the State.
* On November 3, Delhi police shoot
dead two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists at the Ansal Plaza mall. Within hours,
a quack, Hari Krishna, tells a reporter that it was a set-up encounter.
Immediately, the media goes into Inquisition mode. The Delhi police, instead
of doing their job, are forced to organise press conferences and waste
time investigating a publicity-hungry known offender, now crowned as Mr
Truth.
* On November 5, Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed asks for a unilateral Ramzan ceasefire and "unconditional dialogue"
with jihadis. On November 7, Lashkar-e-Taiba threatens to step up suicide
attacks on security installations in J&K during Ramzan. On the same
day, the army is ordered to relax the night curfew imposed in terrorism-prone
areas of J&K. On November 10, the army is made to call off roadside
frisking and checking during "the holy month" of Ramzan.
* On November 7, JKLF commander
Nazir Ahmad Sheikh alias Gul Danter, and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Mohammad
Ayub are set free on bail. Both were facing terrorism charges since 12
years.
Why are terrorists held in jail
when they should have been put to sleep years ago...?
Wish I could say I've no clue. But
we know the role that politicians, the judiciary, and the human rights
industry play in national security, don't we? (Don't forget, the NHRC is
chaired by a retired judge.) If terrorists aren't instantly processed and
dispatched to a suitable place, why blame the security forces for doing
what the people want them to do? The Ansal Plaza jihadis were Pakistani
Lashkar terrorists and without valid travel documents --- there are no
two opinions on that. So why should it matter how they were killed?
What is the message that India gives
to the world at large?
For starters, we gave Pakistan a
chance to say about the Ansal Plaza shoot-out: "We think, as has been extensively
reported in the Indian media, the so-called incident was a fake encounter.
Obviously, Pakistan cannot accept the fake evidence invented by the Delhi
Police. So, we reject the Indian contention that the so-called terrorists
were Pakistani nationals."
Mission accomplished: That should
make Kuldip Nayar and his Wagah Candelabras very happy campers, indeed!
Compare Atal Bihari Vajpayee's response
to the hijacking of IC-814 with Vladimir Putin's reaction to the Chechen
jihadis' hostage-taking at the Palace of Culture. Aboard the plane were
155 people; in the Moscow theatre were some 900 people. Even so, the Kremlin
made only one counter-offer --- that the jihadis' lives would be spared
if they freed the hostages --- and had the special forces gas them, killing
116 hostages but saving over 700. Simultaneously, Russian army units began
combing the Chechen republic for jihadis. And that was that.
What is the message that Russia
gave to the world at large...?
Simple: "Don't Mess With Spetsnaz"
--- the special operations forces (in Russian, "spetsialnogo naznacheniia"),
which ultra-elite units exist not only in the army, but in all of Russia's
"force ministries" as well. They are directly subordinate to the President,
and act on his orders or on the orders of officials who have been given
special authority by the commander-in-chief. Oh, didn't you know, President
Putin is from a Spetsnaz background (no, this information ain't on the
net; it came to me from an Indian Army special ops guy). A single-minded
concern for the country's security is what separates jilebiwalas from Presidents.
In October 2001, after the car bomb
attack on the J&K Assembly in which 37 people were killed, Sanjeev
Chibber, the spokesman for the families of the hostages aboard IC-814,
admitted that he was behind the pressure on the government: For a week,
the families held protest vigils outside the PM's residence, gatecrashed
government briefings and demanded that the government accept the terrorists'
demands. "I feel now that there should not have been any negotiation. Masood
Azhar should not have been released... I didn't know who Masood Azhar was
but I have read up on him and realized who he is."
Rina Dhaka recalled a Kargil martyr's
widow who had said Azhar should not be released: "At that time, I thought
she was crazed, insensitive. Now, I'm not so sure," she said.
Preeti Grover winced, "They should
not have listened to my tears. Can you imagine we had him in our prison
and then unleashed him? I was thinking of my husband but what about the
families of those who have now been killed in the Valley?"
The insurgency in Kashmir began
in 1989, and a decade later, these people still didn't know who Masood
Azhar was and what would be the consequences of releasing him! These are
the "educated" people who read newspapers, on the basis of which they elect
governments and make the nation. Any reason to wonder why our successive
governments acted as they did? A pathetic, uninformed people make for a
feeble nation. Therefore, any reason to question why America rejected as
"damaged goods" former Chechen president Maskhadov, whom it had previously
viewed as a potential negotiating partner with the Russians? Any reason
to speculate why America felt that Maskhadov should be excluded from any
peace talks --- even as it endlessly asks India to negotiate with Musharraf...?
If you still don't get it, here's
a clue to what we really are and how other nations perceive us: "Vikas
Sharma, 22, is quite proud that he broke the gate of Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan
as part of the demonstration [for the release of Azhar]. 'If it happens
again, we would have to exchange a terrorist again,' he said." Apna hi
sikka khota....
