by Swati Parashar
(December 05, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The recent terror attacks in Mumbai had multiple objectives: to paralyse India’s security infrastructure and to undermine our international credentials as a safe and secure country, as a fast developing economy and as a nation-state capable of dealing with the new challenges of the 21st century, especially, identity politics. I am of the view that though we were considerably taken aback by the magnitude of the attacks and sheer cruelty involved, none of the terrorist objectives can be said to have been fulfilled. These attacks certainly exposed weaknesses in our system and revealed the soft under belly of the Indian security apparatus but this alone cannot be a source of comfort to the terrorists and their masterminds. The people have come together against these dastardly acts in an unprecedented manner.The damage was less than what was planned or expected (if we are to believe the investigators!), the international community has rallied behind India, and the economy is back on track as will the affected hotels and the railway station. No, we have not gone back to our resilient ways. We have neither forgotten, nor forgiven! We, the people of India, have sent a message, loud and clear, that it was a cruel and cowardly act of barbarity and a direct assault on the sovereignty of the country and we shall have zero tolerance for such acts. Moreover, we shall relentlessly pursue the agenda for justice. It is also time to reflect on the ‘identity crises’ that the Mumbai attacks have unleashed in various quarters.
The perpetrators have (unintentionally perhaps!) unleashed gross injustices on their brethren in India, whom they claim to have represented, as also on themselves, when acting in the name of their religion. They have killed several innocent and unarmed Muslims in their attacks (very un-Islamic as many would argue) in Mumbai and have left the onus on the Indian Muslims to denounce their actions, their mindless violence, their vicious and cruel politics and their problematic representation. So much for religious solidarity! If Hafiz Saeed, the LeT leader, was the one who inspired Ajmal Amir Kasav and his associates to undertake this ghastly operation in the name of Islam, he must be a disappointed and frightened man today. Indians are up in arms against him and the anger will subside only when Saeed is brought to justice in India. The image of the corpse of one terrorist tumbling out of the window of the Taj hotel would perhaps also make the jihadis and potential recruits think twice (if not deter them) that there is no dignity, no virtue in a death like that. It has also been widely reported that the Muslim Council in Mumbai has refused to bury the nine dead terrorists in the Mumbai cemeteries. The denial (from a Muslim religious body) of an Islamic burial will perhaps send a much required and strong message to the jihadis that they cannot appropriate religion for their murderous and gory intent. Moreover, they should not be buried on Indian soil. They have violated this country in every way possible and India cannot and should not be their home, not even in death! Hardly a valued Islamic death for the terrorists! Unfortunately for the planners and patrons, an identity crisis greets these violent jihadi mercenaries (fighting someone else’s war) on the path of hate and intolerance.
I hope the readers are following the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) website as curiously as I am. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the political wing of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. The Indian outrage and unity has put them on the defensive mode it seems. Plenty of denials, hatred, lies there! In a recent denial here is what you find on the website, “a spokesman for Jama’t-ud-Da’wah Pakistan, Muhammad Yahya Mujahid, has said Ameer, Jama’t-ud-Da’wah Pakistan, Prof. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is a religious leader who has never, at any time, advocated or supported the use of terrorism, nor is he a proponent of clandestine activities of any kind. He said India is employing propaganda in its efforts to hide the crimes of Hindu extremist organizations.” Plenty of identity crises for Hafiz Saeed here, a man who has been the mastermind of the LeT. His ‘transition’ from a jihadi terrorist mastermind to a religious leader makes one wonder which religion he represents. The JuD site also claims “the spokesman said Hafiz Saeed has never been convicted of any crime; neither in Pakistan, nor in any other country of the world, whereas there is an existing registered FIR against L. K. Advani, the leader of an extremist Indian organization, for the murder of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.” The JuD has shown that it does not believe in either history or truth and has probably given a sense of identity crises to Hafiz Saeed, Jinnah and all Pakistanis in the same stroke. Saeed is supposed to be highly educated and I hope looks at the website. Poor Jinnah must be turning in his grave to know that he had been ‘murdered’ by a Hindu extremist! It must have been Jinnah’s haunting ghost that made Advani acknowledge his (Jinnah’s) ‘secular’ credentials!
Let us now turn our attention to our ‘charitable’ neighbour, Pakistan, which generously exports extremism and jihadi terrorism to the rest of the world. Suddenly, for Zardari, the terrorists have become ‘non state’ actors and he claims Pakistan is also threatened by these ‘non state’ actors. Non state actors but operating from the territory/state of Pakistan! Mr. Zardari, if you are also ‘victims’ of terrorism aren’t you better off getting rid of the terrorists and extraditing India’s most wanted? I have not come across any other ‘victim’ in the world who prefers to live among ‘perpetrators’ especially of terrorism unless the Pakistani establishment suffers deeply from the Stockholm Syndrome! It seems you are more of a non state president than terrorist groups being non state actors! You have neither state nor any of its institutions under your control.
Pakistani media tirade also leaves one wondering if identity crises are the order of the day. Pakistani analyst, Zaid Hamid, has described last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai as a conspiracy by the Hindu Zionists and the American Zionists. He of course did not explain what he meant by Hindu Zionists! He also said Mumbai was a badly planned operation unlike what the Americans did on 9/11 which was better camouflaged. I hope the Americans are aware that they perpetrated 9/11 and all their ‘evidence’ against Al Qaeda is a sham. Another case of identity crisis! Thank you, Zaid Hamid and others too, for telling us that damn be any evidence and that we should think of the action now. We are relieved to know that Pakistani intelligentsia do not take ‘evidence’ seriously. The belligerence (irrespective of gender) I have seen on several Pakistani media debates makes me wonder if aggression is the best form of self defence. I am hoping the Indian establishment has taken note of the suggestions from Pakistani media that they have no respect, desire or even need for any evidence.
The Taliban fighters battling Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border have volunteered (too eagerly!) to stop their confrontations with the Pakistani army and fight alongside the army if war breaks out with India over the Mumbai attacks. They have generously offered to be the ground forces in the war against India and leave the air defence to the Pakistani army. The Tehrik-e-Taliban’s offer to ‘defend Pakistan and Islam’ is a clear indication of the façade that is going on in the name of the ‘war on terror’. Are the Pakistani army and Tehrik-e-Taliban controlled by the same elements? The great ‘war on terror’ in Pakistan’s western frontier is a hogwash which the US and its allies are keen to accept as the gospel of truth. The alacrity with which the Pakistani establishment was keen to move its army to the eastern front suggests that there is neither serious intent nor action to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces entrenched in Pakistan. We have always known that Pakistan’s army has supported and trained terrorists but fighting along side a terrorist group in an all out war would be a watershed in its military history! Any lessons for the US here?
Zardari has further said, if India manages to convince him about the role of Pakistanis in the Mumbai attacks and produces enough evidence, he will take action and punish the perpetrators according to Pakistani laws. The fundamental question is: is there any law in Pakistan? President Zardari should know better. Will the perpetrators be awarded amnesty under a National Reconciliation Ordinance issued by the President like Zardari himself was absolved of corruption charges by Musharraf? Or better still, with all the ‘evidence’ India shall meticulously produce, will we merely live to see the televised apology of Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim after their ‘presidential pardon’ much like the rogue nuclear proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan? Incidently, Mr. Zardari, you have still not reinstated your Chief Justice. Could it be possible that the CJ could not afford your increased rate of commission now that you are the president? And Mr. Zardari, you have even said that the captured terrorist does not look like a Pakistani. Didn’t you say a few days back that “there is a little bit of Pakistani in every Indian and a little bit of Indian in every Pakistani?” Make up your mind!
Amidst all this identity crises, conspiracy theories and obtuse justifications, the solidarity across India and especially in Mumbai reflected through peace marches and anti terror protests has been most heartening. We have sent a strong message to the perpetrators of this cowardly and gruesome act that our identity as Indians stands unscathed, an identity that is, by its history and nature, inclusive and enduring. We have conveyed to the terrorists and their masterminds that they are not dealing with a feeble and indecisive polity but with a robust and determined Indian society that will not stop short of justice. There was suggestion by some readers that I should write something positive and constructive. Like millions of Indians, I lost my sense of optimism and hope during the terrorist war on Mumbai. The justifications for the cruel and cowardly acts that are being put forth also hardly inspire a positive response, especially when there are denials on all sides. I still believe that we have not heard the last from these fanatics and terrorists and that we need to bring the masterminds and patrons to justice.
However, the manner in which people all over India have come together, the manner in which our ‘Indian-ness’ has found a new meaning and has successfully united us across regions, languages, religions, gender and most importantly class, (the apathy of certain classes seems to have waned since the Mumbai carnage proves that terror has permeated the ‘everyday’ in an unprecedented manner) gives me hope that we can achieve what the politicians cannot. We need to keep our vigil, keep the pressure on the government and follow this case, not just as keen observers but as stakeholders! We have to make sure our conscience becomes the voice of reason even as we fight this war against brutality, terror and utter contempt for human life, with words, wisdom and actions!
Things do not change; we change. (Henry David Thoreau)
(Swati Parashar is a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Lancaster University, UK. She can be contacted at swatiparashar@hotmail.com) - Sri Lanka Guardian
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