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What cross-border terrorism? Let's celebrate survival
By Swapan DasguptaIt is comforting to pretend it's going to be another joyous Diwali. Since the bombs exploded last Saturday, killing 65 ordinary citizens- we still don't know the final count- and leaving another 210 seriously injured, the Capital has been subjected to some dreary sermons. The custodians of national conscience have coupled their generous overuse of hoary adjectives like "heinous" and "dastardly" to appeal for calm, to praise our collective restraint and to assure us that India will not buckle under terrorism. There is no need, the UPA Chairperson has gratuitously informed us, to be either unduly perturbed or point an accusing finger at anyone. Terrorism, after all, is a "global phenomenon". The mood of forgiveness resonates throughout Lutyens' Delhi. Even as the Police speak of the terrorists' links across the Radcliffe Line, a decision is taken to declare Pakistan a non-issue. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must be done to derail the "peace process". The Defence Minister may have spoken earlier about the persisting "infrastructure of terror" and the Army may have aired its concern about the onrush of infiltration across the Line of Control in the aftermath of the earthquake, but these are apparent trivialities. In a spirit of devastated magnanimity, India will not be seen to be shirking from its obligation to make Pervez Musharraf's bluster about a disappearing LoC a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Government is in denial. It doesn't want to accept that what happened in Delhi on Saturday was no freak show. The terrorists wilfully targeted the crowded pre-Diwali bazaars as a gesture of defiance, to show that they are still in business. They had attempted a similar dhamaka in Ayodhya last August, which narrowly failed. On both occasions, the response of the Government has been mealy-mouthed, as if the nation is embarrassed rather than outraged. It is as if a robust response to terrorism violates secular camaraderie! Perhaps it would have been reassuring if the evidence suggested that a serial explosion of LPG cylinders rather than timer bombs were responsible for the killing. The reality, unfortunately, is different. India is once again under attack from an old enemy and the Government hopes the problem will just go away. It is certainly time to be phlegmatic but it is also a time to be angry. For the narrowest of political compulsions, the Government has conveyed the impression that terrorism is a trivial act of deviancy and that the killers must be indulged and treated with kid gloves. The "soft state" is not merely a helpless Prime Minister, an inept Home Minister and a compromised External Affairs Minister. It is a mindset of squeamish appeasement guaranteed to ensure the victims of last Saturday's massacre won't be the last. Diwali commemorates Lord Ram's triumphant return to Ayodhya. This year we will be observing a collective delusion that evil is just an abstraction, maya. We are celebrating survival by pretending there is no war. Posted by: john 2005-10-31 |
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