The large scale snuffing out of innocent lives in Jammu’s Qasim Nagar on Saturday night reflects the cruel, distorted ideology of the promoters and executioners of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. At the same time, one wonders whether the world — numbed by acts of terrorism across the world — is getting insensitive to the silence of the lambs. The great powers tell us that they understand our predicament and the tragedy that is being imposed on us by an irredentist state and its rogue agencies. But they seem to gloss over the blatant fraud on the conscience of humanity that leaders like General Musharraf have been practicing by calling the terrorist campaign a liberation struggle. It does not take any great clairvoyance to understand that the public pronouncement of ‘‘political, moral and diplomatic’’ support to the so-called freedom struggle actually amounts to supporting violence against innocents. Poor innocent people were killed in Jammu in order to provoke New Delhi into a response beyond protests. The military forces stand deployed on the borders for more than six months since the major strike on the Lok Sabha in December. The aim of the terrorist organisations and their patrons was undoubtedly to push India toward the use of force across the borders. It was also hoped that this would incite a communal reaction which would inevitably justify the use of violence in the name jehad across the border. New Delhi’s dilemma is that restraint, necessary up to a point in the complex war against terrorism, also tends to undermine the credibility of the anti-terror campaign. The question is whether Washington is sensitive enough to look beyond its own immediate interests to the dynamics of escalation and restraint that we are experiencing in this region, or simply react with travel advisories when Musharraf rattles his nuclear sabre later. New Delhi would no doubt take up these issues once again with British Defence Minister Jack Straw and US Secretary of State Colin Powell when they visit New Delhi soon. The critical issue is that, as the victims of international terrorism motivated by religious extremism, the international community must surely act in a more definitive manner than has been evident so far. It must stand up and be counted to prove which side it is on — terrorism or civilisation. The issue is not a question of dialogue between India and Pakistan, the mantra repeatedly spouted by Musharraf and others. The core issue is the urgent necessity of winding down terrorism for which Islamabad must take clear and firm steps. It is not enough for the world community, especially the US and China, to simply keep looking for excuses for the failure of their friend, General Musharraf, to deliver on his commitments. They have to do more before a disillusioned India is forced to take matters into its own hands.
