Cheers from stands can’t drown 26/11 screams

If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It’s been barely four years since India was hit by the most audacious terrorist assaults into its territory when the 10-man squad waltzed in through the porous coastal security and unleashed their wrath on India’s commercial capital.

If it was not for the selfless sacrifice of a Maharashtra policeman, India wouldn’t have had even a Kasab to save its face.

The cleansing agents may have removed the blood stains from the CST and the mammoth railway hub is bustling with activity, but justice remains a distant dream for the dear ones of those who were gunned down. Ever since the attack, India has been doing sabre-rattling, and nothing more, to make Pakistan accountable for its actions.

Despite more proof emerging about Pakistan’s institutional involvement in the attack, mostly through work done by foreign intelligence and investigative agencies, Indian resolve to pursue the case has mostly remained on paper. Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Abu Jindal, who has been recently arrested with the help of Saudi Arabian authorities, has revealed the shocking extent of Pakistani agencies’ involvement in orchestrating the 26/11 attacks.

Like it does after every provocative incident, India took a tough posture cutting off all engagements with Pakistan for a while — only to concede ground later. While the 26/11 dossiers India sent to Pakistan might soon be requiring a room for storage, any other country (with self-respect, which we are desperately lacking) would have put open bounties for terrorist leaders; and Hafiz Sayeed wouldn’t be roaming the streets organising rallies and protests.

Even in the latest round of talks in New Delhi, India was grovelling for action on 26/11 and Pakistan kept to its regular stand of ‘requiring credible proof and sharing of information’. Their only real interest was resumption of cricketing ties! And the shameless ‘super-power-to-be’ that we are, it was granted.

The government actually left the decision to the cricket associations to take the call. If cricket and sports ties were never part of bilateral relations, this could have been considered a ‘mature’ call. However, that is not the case. And since when has the BCCI, which is not even a government body (actually run by a bunch of businessmen for their interests), been allowed to take decisions on behalf of India?

Are the guys at the helm of the government such dimwits that mass entertainment is allowed to be a priority over national interests.

The decision to resume cricket ties as ISI smiles smugly sends out a wrong message to Pakistan and Indian public. It is a not-so-subtle declaration that the government would rather have the game raking in crores in revenues for some private stakeholders than stay resolute in its resolve to not go soft on Pakistan and terrorism. Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has rightly criticised the BCCI for its decision.

While Pakistan has never let up on supporting terrorist activities targeting India, we have have been going out of our way – and at times bending backwards – to woo our bête noire. We have fought four wars; have between us around 400 nuclear weapons meant for all-out conflict; miniscule bilateral trade; and continuing acts of terrorism. What is the point in pretending that all the touted ‘confidence-building measures’ will bear fruit and we will be best friends one day.

We should have the courage to declare Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’ and invest in strengthening our military and intelligence capabilities. Pakistan is nothing but a threat and never a possible friend.

Cricket is great fun, millions love it, but the cheering galleries won’t take away the screams of those who were butchered in Mumbai from the nation’s conscience.

We must not let BCCI to become Board of Cricket Controlling India.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on July 18, 2012)

Iran-Israel imbroglio in Indraprastha

With Iran being blamed for the simultaneous magnetic bomb attacks on Israel embassy personnel across different parts of the globe, India finds itself in a particularly difficult diplomatic fix where it has to make some hard choices.
India imports 12 per cent of its crude from Iran and has continued to do so despite immense pressure from the EU and US to stop it and choke Iran’s finances, which they say, is funding its covert nuclear weapon programme.
Iran has been a friend of India and has honoured its commitments on supply of oil and bilateral trade despite India voting against it in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meetings, siding with the US and its allies.
However, with more evidence emerging about the similarity in the modus operandi of the attackers in using ditto style that was used to assassinate key Iranian nuclear scientists and the coincidence with the anniversary of killing of Hezbollah leaders, India would find it difficult to believe the Persian republic’s story.
Since the end of the cold war, India has been slowly but steadily strengthening its ties with Israel. Counter-terrorism and defence are areas of shared interest for both countries, bordered by hostile neighbours and constant targets of terrorist attacks.
Co-operation in these fields has grown multi-fold in the last two decades. Today India is the largest customer of Israeli military hardware and sources a substantial chunk of its high-end weapon platforms from the Jewish state.
Israel has also emerged as India’s second largest military supplier after the Russian federation. Israel has gone out of its way to persuade the US to allow it to sell sophisticated weapons systems it developed with American collaboration.
The attack on Israeli diplomatic personnel on Indian soil has been a first and comes close to the two countries celebrating establishment of diplomatic ties in January 1992. The ease with which the attack was carried out in broad daylight very close to the prime minister’s official residence has also exposed an embarrassing hole in the radar of the dozen-odd security agencies tasked with keeping the Capital secure.
Tensions are high in West Asia. Israel is preparing for a unilateral pre-emptive air/missile strike on Iran, with or without the US support. A cornered Iran, feeling the economic crunch of harsher EU-US sanctions, is threatening to cut off oil supplies to Europe and close the Straits of Hormuz — a vital route for international oil trade.
The US has responded by sending its carrier group to international waters close to Iran and has vowed to defeat any attempt to block oil routes. Iran responded by testing additional land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles and unveiling two indigenously built submarines.
The current dicey situation is also a wake-up call for Indian planners and the need to diversify from the country’s over dependence on import of oil and military hardware.
Another key area that needs addressing is intelligence gathering. Despite all the gung ho about overhaul of security apparatus after 26/11, several terrorist attacks have taken place in the country — the Delhi incident being the latest feather in the cap of intelligence failures. A conflict is looming and the ripples of the tensions have reached Indian shores.
It is time for India to man up and tell its squabbling West Asian friends to stop dirtying its backyard.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on February 15, 2012)