Expectedly, the 10th anniversary of the most horrific terror attack in the country refreshed public memory about the perfidious enemy across our western border. One hundred and sixty-six people were killed in that barbaric carnage while nearly 400 were wounded. Besides, thousands of crores of property was damaged in any orgy of terror and violence lasing four agonising days before the ISI-dispatched jihadis of the Lashkar-e-Taiba could be killed.
One of them was captured alive which, at the time, everyone believed was a godsend. But the State which boasts of its faith in Islam as its founding credo did not seem to think so. Apparently, only the truly godless people recite the name of god to hide their ungodly acts against humans. Pakistan is a prime example of a heretic chanting the name of Allah to try and pull wool over the eyes of both god and people. The fact that ten years after it was furnished foolproof evidence against the ring leaders of the 26/11 plot, it was yet to move an inch towards doing justice underlines the unIslamic character of the people in control of Pakistan. No religion sanctions terror, violence, murder, perfidy, sabotage in its name. Islam may well be a peaceful religion, but the Pakistani State’s continued sponsorship of jihad and violence would suggest that its followers are barbarians without even a nodding acquaintance with decent human values.
The scars of the barbaric attack are still fresh on the survivors of 26/11. Though following the attack through the sea route, coastal vigilance was supposed to have been stepped up and quite a few other steps taken to prevent similar intrusions by the ISI thugs, one can never be sure in these matters. Mechanisms for closer coordination among various police, anti-terror and intelligence agencies of the States and the Centre were said to be in place, but , again, one can never be too trustful of such claims. It is because the Indian State after the initial show of urgency in the wake of a huge tragedy tends to fall back on its old and lethargic ways.
With the proverbial bureaucratic red tape and rank-pulling hard to yield to the urgencies of emergency situations such as the 26/11, it is anyone’s case whether the relevant police and intelligence services can acquit themselves better in case of another attack from Pakistan’s non-State actors. That Pakistan will not change is clear from the fact that in spite of global opprobrium for its sponsorship of terror whether against India or against the US-led forces in Afghanistan, it continues to be the epicentre of Terror Inc. However, a glimmer of hope on this score might be found in the unconventional US President Donald Trump who has most candidly called out Pakistan for mainstreaming terrorism. Trump’s plain refusal to finance Pakistan due to its sponsorship of the anti-US Taliban in Afghanistan was long overdue. But if anyone thinks Pakistan will change, he is completely wrong.
For, without sponsoring the Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and many other jihadi organisations, Pakistan will virtually lose its raison d’etre. Feeding its impoverished and ignorant masses on an overdose of a twisted version of Islam and hatred for India and the forces of democracy and progress in Afghanistan is the fulltime vocation of the Rawalpindi GHQ which controls the Pakistani State, with Prime Minister Imran Khan shamefacedly playing second fiddle. Therefore, it will be a mistake to believe that Pakistan will not undertake any misadventure.
Admittedly, some of the systems to deal with such an attack have been fine-tuned in the decade since that televised 26/11 attack, but systemic laxity and citizen unconcern combine to aid the enemy in such situations. Ordinary citizens have a huge role to play insofar as their watchfulness, alertness, awareness can help the authorities in taking timely action. Pakistan will continue to divert its people’s attention by targeting India. It has got the excuse in the so-called Kashmir dispute. It is for Indians, those in authority and outside, to checkmate it by keeping our eyes and ears open. Unfortunately, Pakistan often relies on a fifth column which is most foolishly sustained by our own divisive politics. No lessons learnt either in this regard.
Editorial