Secure Punjab now

Securing peace in Punjab is one of the country’s most important political gains. For a decade and a half now, the state has witnessed the return of sustainable normalcy and nothing perhaps underlined this more than the resumption of the political process. It is worrying therefore — given this period of stability and growth — to witness the re-emergence of one of Punjab’s most notorious extremist outfits, the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). This should worry not just the state and Union government but the country as a whole.

The Express investigation into the BKI’s activities suggests that it has been receiving arms and training from Pakistan. Evidence of the Pakistan nexus can be seen in the type of weapons recovered from BKI hide-outs by the Punjab police; the routes across the Indo-Pak border taken by operatives; the patterns of recruitment and training; the efforts to tap into the Sikh diaspora; and the kind of money that is being made available to foster a new brand of terror. This neo-terrorism may resemble the old militancy that plagued Punjab in the eighties, but isn’t quite the same. For one, groups like the BKI seem to have updated their strategies and global connectivity. They have also shown themselves capable of deploying suicide bombers — increasingly a standard tactic in terror theatres across the world.

These developments demand an urgent and informed response from the state. The one heartening aspect is that the militants do not seem to enjoy any public support within the state. Nor do they represent any significant segment of political opinion. What the state and the police now need to do is to display a greater alertness to the existence of such outfits and follow up on the leads provided by BKI detainees. The authorities should not only zero in on the logistical bases of planned and/or executed terror attacks, but also understand the social and ideological forces that feed groups like the BKI. Mere containment is not an adequate response.