Pakistan’s role in Islamic terrorism is well known. It is simply a misfortune that India happens to be its neighbor. I have read many arguements in favor of containing Pakistan, but none is more powerful and convincing than the one made by Mr. Prem Prakash in this Op-Ed published in The Tribune Dec. 16, 2008. I have no hesitation in saying that India is not serious in dealing with Pakistan. Indian PM Mr. Manmohan Singh has reduced himself to a pitiable situation when he deals with this issue. India as a state does not want todefend itself, that is the impression everyone is gaining! I reproduce the whole piece of article here. Enjoy and think what could be against this arguement! Nothing, I bet!

It is the army that owns Pakistan
by Prem Prakash
It won’t be long before a large group of people march to Wagah on the India-Pakistan border carrying lit candles in their hands, seeking friendship with that country. Makes for great pictures, gives them all the publicity, but where does it take the relations between India and Pakistan?
It is high time that we learn to be realistic about our neighbour. There is far too much talk about the cultural affinity between India and Pakistan and the fact that we were one country at one time.
Yes, we were one at one time. They sought separation and got it. It is a different matter that they do not know what to do with the country that they got.
The founders of Pakistan failed to give that country a stable constitution. The present rulers have totally forgotten what their founder Mohammad Jinnah wanted the country to be like.
The country has become a fiefdom of its army ever since Gen. Ayub Khan staged a coup in 1958. It is not a country that has an army, but it is an army that owns the country.
The army in Pakistan can continue to control and own that country so long as it can project that it faces a threat from India. Take away that threat perception and the Pakistan army will lose all its clout.
This is clear like daylight to anyone who wishes to see it, yet there are people in India who keep making noises about “people-to-people relations”, “one culture” and so on as though the other side is waiting with open arms to befriend Indians.
Whatever cultural affinity existed between the two people has been destroyed. Pakistan today is an altogether a different kind of nation and people.
There may be a miniscule minority having values similar to the Indian middle class, but the large majority of the ruling class has been converted to ‘Wahabi’ Islam. Efforts have been made to indoctrinate Muslims in India as well.
The Pakistan army, which took over the country in the sixties, sought to legitimise itself by telling its people that India is its greatest enemy, and legitimately the ‘Moslems’ should have been ruling in the Red Fort. School books were rewritten and officers and soldiers in the armed forces were indoctrinated with that message.
So, how does India deal with a country with such a fragmented polity? One answer would be to deal with the army. Here again, it is a no-win scenario. Why should Pakistan’s army befriend India and destroy its legitimacy and necessity for that country?
Therefore, let us take a hard look. First, it is just too bad that we have a neighbour like Pakistan, which is hostile. The first and foremost thing to be done is to secure your own house.
The recent terror attack in Mumbai has exposed the fact that India has neither fully secured its land frontiers nor its coastline. We need to get that done.
The whole idea of these trains and buses travelling between the two countries needs a fresh look. We need to study the rise in the number of terror attacks on India ever since these so-called “people-to-people” contacts became too open. There has been a quantitative rise in these attacks as the enemy has been able to use these services for frequent incognito visits.
Yes, let trade relations grow, but strictly on a reciprocal basis. We have serious differences with China, yet trade between the two countries is multiplying. Surely we can do some thing similar with Pakistan if that is workable.
If the government in Pakistan is seen as trying to respond to Indian concerns following the Mumbai commando attack by elements from that country, it is because of international pressure on Pakistan, which is today on the brink of bankruptcy.
If Pakistan fails to get the second instalment of funds from the IMF this month, it won’t have funds in its treasury to pay for the salaries of its staff, and that perhaps includes the army as well.
Let us also not forget that the army there has received well over US $10 billion from the US to fund the so-called war against terror. Further income from this source could dry up too.
Let us deal with Pakistan realistically and without nostalgia. Let us deal with them as a country that is home to the world’s most wanted terrorists, a country that created the “mujahadeen” and “Taliban” as pawns to extend its reach into neighbouring territories.
Let us also remember that it was the so-called “Taliban” who overran Afghanistan, three years after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops. They publicly hanged the President of Afghanistan Najibullah.
Even since the murder of President Najibullah, Pakistan has pushed Afghanistan into the stone age with the help of the “Taliban”. Pakistan has always wanted to create a strategic depth for itself. Afghanistan had to lose its individuality.
India must be realistic about the situation that exists on the ground. Yes, we want a civilian government in Pakistan. Yes, we want the army of that country and its ISI to be brought under civilian control. But, then Americans too have their interests in the region. They want the Pakistan army to fight their war on terror.
For India, the choice is clear. We have had enough of this nonsense of one-way goodwill. It is time to deal with Pakistan as it is. Let us not expect that they will respond to any of our demands about closing down the terror camps or handing over the criminals wanted by India. We have to evolve our own options.
The world today respects the rich and powerful. India today is seen as an emerging power.
Let us strengthen our borders and our coastlines so that the enemy dare not attempt to come in again. Ignore your adversaries and isolate them for what they are doing to the world. Stop the candle light marches to the Wagah border, to shake hands with a neighbour who still dreams of marching into India. — ANI

So we read a op-Ed in NY Times on Dec. 9 contributed by The Pakistani President Zardari (remember Mr. 10 % !). The title is: “The Terrorists Want to Destroy Pakistan, Too!”
Some of the observations are:

1. “The Mumbai attacks were directed not only at India but also at Pakistan’s new democratic government and the peace process with India that we have initiated. Supporters of authoritarianism in Pakistan and non-state actors with a vested interest in perpetuating conflict do not want change in Pakistan to take root. “
2. To foil the designs of the terrorists, the two great nations of Pakistan and India, born together from the same revolution and mandate in 1947, must continue to move forward with the peace process.
3. India is a mature nation and a stable democracy. Pakistanis appreciate India’s democratic contributions. But as rage fueled by the Mumbai attacks catches on, Indians must pause and take a breath. India and Pakistan — and the rest of the world — must work together to track down the terrorists who caused mayhem in Mumbai, attacked New York, London and Madrid in the past, and destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September. The terrorists who killed my wife are connected by ideology to these enemies of civilization.
4. For India, Pakistan and the United States, the best response to the Mumbai carnage is to coordinate in counteracting the scourge of terrorism. The world must act to strengthen Pakistan’s economy (Mr. 10 % asking for more money!) and democracy, help us build civil society and provide us with the law enforcement and counterterrorism capacities that will enable us to fight the terrorists effectively.

To your charges, Mr. Zardari, I think the best response is what Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed in a veiled reference to Pakistan said in the UN: “Raising dust to confuse the trail so that the “merchants of terror can hide” is not acceptable. “
Mr. Zardari, do not you know that Pakistan has over the decades become an established hub of terrorism! It is a failed state, a rogue nation who must be dealt sternly! It is an international migraine! What ever is happening in Pakistan is regrettable and worrisome for India, and pakistan has become an incorrigible rogue for India! India has not been able to set its own house in order and Pakistan is exacerbating the issues for India. Can India take some effective measures to solve the issues, I doubt it!

Can this happen in India? Nope, never!
I live in Illinois and the Governor of Illinois – land of Linclon- has been arrested today (December 09, 2008) on corruption charges. He was actually put in custody (though later on released on bail, but his passport was forfeited). Read part of the story as narrated by CNN:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to hear federal corruption charges against him. He was released on $4,500 bail.

The governor, who appeared in court in a blue jogging suit, also had to forfeit his passport.
FBI agents arrested Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, early Tuesday on federal corruption charges related in part to the selection of President-elect Barack Obama’s successor to the Senate, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declared Tuesday a “sad day for government.”
“Gov. Blagojevich has taken us to a new low,” he said. “This conduct would make [Abraham] Lincoln roll over in his grave.”
Lincoln was a congressman from Illinois before becoming president.
Fitzgerald said the government had bugged the governor’s campaign office and placed a tap on his home phone.
Each was charged with a count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery, authorities said.

Charges are also that he tried to sell the senator seat vacated by the President -elect Obama (senator from Illinois). In USA constitution, if a senator seat is vacated, the Governor has the right to nominate a person for rest of the term.

In India, politicians cutting across party lines, ideology and of all sizes and shapes and gender indulge in blatant scandals, misappropriation of public funds. They are thick-skinned to whom no law authorities can touch. You touch a politician in India and huge roar and cry will be there! How dare you! Can a credible governance emerge in our counrty?
To read the whole story about Blagojevich, click on this link.

So the verdict is out for 2008 State Assembly elections (results our December 8):
Delhi remains with Congress, MP and Chattisgarh remain with BJP. BJP loses Rajasthan.

Congress despite the wins is the biggest threat to our national unity and security. It has shamlelessly indulged in divisive politics. It has not taken to set the home turf in order. One after another terrorist attack has been ignored.
And about BJP: Rediff has rightly observed: “The BJP has not only lost, but its entire stance on terrorism stands exposed. It will need many chintan baithaks (seminars) for party leaders to discover why the voters did not buy their serious and quite justifiable allegation of the Congress party being soft on terror”.

Lok Sabha elections are a few months away. Will the nation make a firm decision to press for national security?

Obviuosly this nation called Bharat- that has secular ethos in its roots- chose agains as if to restress the fact- in 1947 to be a secular country officially! Good step. But the official India has deviated from the path of secularism gradually over last 6 decades. What we see today is classification of Indians as Majority and Minority based upon the faith they practice. Hindu Citizens are treated as “Reserved class” and “Non-reserved class” based upon the caste they belong to. The Constitution allows special treatment of states (read Kashmir). This is divisive polity at its best. The nation has been bleeding since last 2 decades for sure becuase of Jehadi terrorism yet there is a debate – unduly prolonged debate- whether to call this terrorism as Jehadi terrorism! What else this is? Are we blind?

India is paying the price. Congress party has done the utmost dis-service to the nation in this regard. BJP has disappointed too. The current Government -headed by de facto Prime Minister Sonia Gandhi – is crying publically that they have the evidence that Pakistan is involved in the recent terrorist attack in Mumabi. US agency CIA has come out with a verdict towards that conclusion too. US Secretary of State – Ms Rice – is already here to cool the tempers: in actual pour water on something concrete action that India might be considering against Pakistan. What happened when we knew that LeT was involved in the Parliament attack in 2001. Is there something more sacrosanct than Parliament?
India has to first set its own house in order. I quote François Gautier here: “Under Sonia’s rule, Indian Muslims, too, have been used as electoral pawns. They have been encouraged to shun the Sufi streak, a blend of the best of Islam and Vedanta, for a hard-line Sunni brand imported from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Ok, may be the nation will get rid of Sonia regime in the next Lok sabha elections which are hardly 6 months away. Ok, may be L K Advaani will become the Prime Minister. Will he bring about a true secularism in practice? I doubt it. The division of citizens on the basis of majority and minority will continue. The demon of caste-based reservation will raise its head again and again. Kashmir would continue to be isolated because of the special attention it receives ( I call it discrimination with Kashmir itself!).

Now that the whole world is talking about Mumabi terrorist attack where more than 200 people were killed: Pakistan is in sharp focus. The needle of suspicion on Pakistan is stronger when CIA says that the suspects came from Karachi via sea route. Come what may, India will shout loudly about pakistan’s role, Pakistan is already deflecting those charges: in the end India will sit down quietly. This is nothing new.

Well, moreover this attack has exposed India’s security lapse. The western media is discussing the sensitive and timely warnings given to Indians by CIA about the possible attacks. Fox News reports: “Of greater concern for India was the apparent failure to act on multiple warnings ahead of the Mumbai attacks, which Indian navy chief Sureesh Mehta called “a systemic failure.”
India’s foreign intelligence agency also had warnings as recently as September that Pakistan-based terrorists were plotting attacks on Mumbai, according to a government intelligence official familiar with the matter.”
Shamefully enough, when Indians commandos arrived in Hotel Taj and other hotels, their maps regarding the locations were not exact, whereas we hear that the terrorists had exact details of the place.
The government- a pack of non-efficient , unpatriotic ,corrupt and selfish politicians – has let us down again and again.

If you can not defend your own home-turf and boundaries: outsiders or by-standers will start giving you unsolicited advice! That is the case with my India which has just been humiliated by another terrorist attack.

On CNN, Campell Brown today asked Mr. Fareed Zakaria and another expert and both nodded that appointing an Observer for Kashmir would be a good idea ( as one may be aware, Obama -the President -elect had came up with this novel idea) and now we see Zakaria welcoming it! For what? I am dismayed that a person who has his roots in India- implying that he at least understands the Kashmir issue in depth- is sailing in the flow instead of trying to rationalize the issue!
This is also a lesson for India that if you can not act with diplomatic maturity, people (read other nations) will jump into the fray and come our with their own theories and solutions!

Another issue that has come into sharp focus after this Mumbai 2008 attack is the preparedness and readiness to face such emergencies. CNN today reveals that CIA had warned India almost a month back that sea route may be used to cause another terrorist attack in Mumbai. And foreign press is not mincing words how we dealt with this attack: the extra slowness with which commandos and army was summoned, that NSG was not even present in Mumbai, it had to be called from Delhi, and that once they landed in Mumbai, they were taken to the scene by local city buses (BEST service).
The world seems to buying the idea at least this time Pakistan’s role in these attacks on Indian land. The American media is even contemplating whether India will strike back? People across the world have taken a grim view of these attacks and Pakistan will have difficulty in deflecting the attention from this ‘accusation’!

Back home , heads are rolling. The inept Home Minister -Shiv Raj Patil- has resigned (made to resign, actually). His parameter for success as a Minister- had been how pleased his boss- Ms Sonia Gandhi – had been ! He had openly stated this in last few weeks. This is the work -ethics in our politics in India. It may be remembered that Shiv Raj Patil is one of those politicians who are well edcuated and have some substance. But it seems that Mr. Patil has lost his shine over last many years.