Never a Good War or a Bad Peace. But Does it Hold True Still ?
Bertrand Russel’s famous quote ”War does not determine who is right — only who is left” distills the futility of wars into a succinct sentence. Peace ideologues who swear by this thought argue, this unnecessary war is exactly what we are staring at if we take terrorism head on. A war with our nuclear neighbor Pakistan. A war we do not need. A war we cannot afford.
On the diametric opposite end of this spectrum we have a rogue state — Pakistan, complicit in abetting the anti-India terrorist groups, feigning ignorance on the issue and getting away. Getting away time and again, as we Indians twiddle thumbs. Pakistan, the key ally in president Bush’s war on terror is a major source of terror itself. Pakistan’s ISI nurtures, arms, trains and infiltrates terror into India. This truth is obvious and there for all to see. But the major powers of the world routinely turn a blind eye to this truth.
Numerous articles have highlighted USA’s marriage of convenience with Pakistan, till recently ruled by a dictator. While US deemed the removal of Saddam Hussein a dire need, it was more than happy to get in bed with another dictator Pervez Musharraf and hail him as their ‘War on Terrorism’ ally.
“..terrorism, not India, is the greatest “threat” to Pakistan..”
- Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari
The above quote from the newer Pakistani President seems to offer succor. Superficially the above statement is nothing short of a paradigm shift in how our nuclear neighbor views India, it’s arch nemesis. But do they mean it (they are in bed with these extremists) ? Or is this plain pandering to the west ? History indicates this is just a red-herring. A herring that the west is quick to hail as a positive step.
While US is able to arm twist this puppet to grudgingly take action on Taliban, they seem content to turn a blind eye to anti-India groups like LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) breeding in the same cesspit of terrorism. Pakistan is doing little to ensure Hafiz Saeed, the founder of LeT remains in custody and the US is just fine with that. We do our spineless token protests and the stalemate continues..
Continue it does, for a few years, till we get rudely shaken out of our stupor by another terrorist attack like the recent ‘Mumbai Terror Attack’.
Post an attack, what unfolds is no different than a hackneyed Bollywood plot. We accuses Pakistan (almost always rightly) ; Pakistan feigns involvement; a Kashmiri extremist group claims the attack ; west deplores-condemns it ; our diplomatic talk machinery kicks into high gear and does the talk circuits; we threaten to keep our options open on how we will respond ; west jumps in, urges calm and restraint ; committees are formed, bilateral investigations-co operations are agreed upon ; a few months pass by, not much comes out ; inertia kicks in and India has thus exercised the option of ‘jaane-do’ (let it go); let it fade we do, and move on to more important things life has to offer – like a Rakhi Sawant’s faux Swayamvar.
Ajmal Kasab, the captured terrorist on rampage..
The brazen attack on the seat of India’s economy, Mumbai, stirred emotions never seen before. Shock and pandemonium ensued and shook our core. The world bore witness to this synchronized attack as it unfloded and we grappled to get a hold. The saner world decried the attacks as dastardly, but to the perpetrators it was plain deadly – just the way they wanted ; we called it heinous, they success ; we called the perpetrators impotent, but their attacks were anything but impotent ; we sit on our palms, while Pakistan continues to greases the terrorists’ palms.
When will we say it’s enough ? When will we stop bending over ? When will we show spine ?
The heroic efforts by our men in uniform put an end to the Mumbai Terror Attack culminating in the sensational capture of Ajmal Kasab. Here are a few thoughts I have heard on what this terrorist’s fate ought to be.
Why we should hang Kasab
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We must adopt a zero-tolerance policy on terrorism. Terrorism on India soil gets capital punishment. Period.
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Murder begets murder. Wish we could stone him to death in a televised event. Since we are cultured and cannot, we will execute him. It is only fair.
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We owe it to the victims and their families.
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India needs to send a strong message to the terrorists.
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We are just asserting our fidelity to the Indian laws. We reserve the option of a capital punishment in the most heinous of cases, and this surely counts as one ?
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He is a scum, a weed, a virus. If we do not have any qualms getting rid of any of the pre-saids, why the need for a discussion on the terrorist Kasab ?
Why we should NOT hang Kasab
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Kasab came here to die. Gallows, will give him Martyrdom.
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A Martyr Kasab will be used to recruit more disillusioned youth who will continue to perpetrate heinous acts.
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Capital punishments are seldom effective ; it is wrong to take a life no matter how heinous the crime.
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Let him languish in a jail(even a solitary cell) for the entirety of his life. That is a lot more painful than gallows.
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He is a brainwashed teenager ; hanging him is no deterrent to the well oiled terrorism machine sponsored by Pakistan. We are placating ourselves at best and kidding at worst if we expect larger good out of his hanging.
What do you think ?
Personally, I would want us to hang Kasab. It will not send chills down the spines of his fellow terrorists, but it will bring a closure to the victims’ families. We owe it to them. We are a cultured nation, we accorded Kasab a decent trial and put up with his antics during the process, but now, it is time to enforce a punishment his actions have earned — death.
A consistent approach to set up dates with the grim reaper for these extremists ought to instill fear in a few of them ?
Beyond Kasab, does India need a paradigm shift as well ? One that moves away from the Gandhian “An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind ” or the Benjamin Franklinesque ” There was never a good war or a bad peace ” ?
Should we dare targeted precision attacks of the terrorist camps in PoK if we are threatened again ? Should we call out US more harshly on it’s hypocrisy ? Or, should we continue with our posturing that culminates in a ‘jaane-do’ (let it go) policy and maybe a prayer not to be attacked again ?
We seem to be getting good at the ‘jaane-do’ (let it go) policy . What say you ?
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