Hit back hard !

 

KASHMIR may have been the locale of a few terror strikes -- the latest being the killing of a medic al doctor and six labourers at a construction site in J&K’s Ganderbal district -- but there are reasons to suspect that a much bigger terror conspiracy may be lurking in the distance, as can be assessed from endless bomb threats various flights of different domestic airlines in the last few days. The Government has stressed that it is taking this development most seriously. Thus, a strict follow-up action may have already been launched under covers to identify and counter the masterminds at work. Yet, fears are rising in popular mind that a fresh wave of terror may hit the country -- obviously as a part of an international conspiracy to keep the country seething in troubled waters. The very thought is discomforting. Of course, India’s internal security apparatus is quite robust, to say the least, and fully capable of protecting the soft spots in the entire landscape from terror. Some terror strikes may succeed, but the common people must realise that for every successful terror strikes, the security apparatus has already failed at least a hundred attempts earlier. This is the success rate of India’s internal security system.

 

Whosoever is masterminding these terrorist activities, however, does not realise that with each such attempt, he is pushing any possibility of rapprochement between India and Pakistan farther away. This comment has an obvious reference to the attempts -- over the ground and under it -- made by Pakistan to coax India into peace talks. This demand had gained a fresh currency when Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar recently visited Pakistan for the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) there. Though Dr. Jaishankar completed all formalities that a diplomat must do, he made it clear to Pakistan and the world that there could be no negotiations with any country fostering terrorism against India and anywhere. It is obvious, thus, that India will never agree to have any bilateral dialogue with Pakistan unless and until it stops completely its sponsorship of terror for a reasonable length of time of complete peace. Of course, Islamabad does not seem to see this reality in the right perspective. It still seems to believe that it can hoodwink India by talking peace in the open, and operating terror underneath -- obviously still refusing to recognise that India has become wiser up over time and will never agree to open talks with Pakistan until there is a complete withdrawal of terror as a tool of the State.

 

The terror attack claiming seven lives at construction site is a serious matter, and possibly needs a retaliation by Indian security forces in a no-nonsense manner. Mere combing of the areas will serve only a limited purpose. Possibly, India needs to hit back in the most fierce manner in an open show of strength and resolve -- about which the political leadership often talks while brandishing what it the security forces have done previously in Uri or in Balakot. Tall and hollow talk should not be resorted to at all in the current situation. What is needed is hitting back in the fiercest manner. The recent events also show that the election of the National Conference Government in Jammu and Kashmir does not seem to have changed the situation in the region. The terror masterminds possibly do not appreciate the conciliatory tone of new Chief Minister Mr. Omar Abdullah in relation to the Central Government and its policies. That may, therefore, be a reason for continued terror strikes in Kashmir. Political details notwithstanding, it is time for the Indian security forces to hit back and teach terror masterminds a lesson they would never forget.