Respond ... NOW!

The demographic of India is such that terrorists are bound to have some success. That said, the all round impression is that terrorists are getting it all too easy. The latest round of blasts in Jaipur have further enhanced the worldwide reputation that India has so carefully built up over three decades; the reputation of being a "sucker state". When Jaipur was hit on May 13, the Central Government was slow to respond; when it did it told us to wipe up the blood and silently mourn the dead.

It is not that India was always like this. Neither has this been a Congress tradition. Under Indira Gandhi, our Army managed to shatter the Pakistani Defence forces in one swift manoeuvre in 1971. We acquired nuclear capabilities in 1974 and uprooted Khalistani extremists from the Golden Temple a decade later. But then, Narasimha Rao sat on India's nuclear weapons programme through five years of his rule, always too scared to mention this to the world. Manmohan Singh, who, only a decade ago, had courageously proclaimed a free economy for a confident India, has distinguished himself through inaction as Prime Minister. One is tempted to concede that Rahul's faux pas a year ago had a kernel of truth to it: It takes a Gandhi to energize the Congress, though not the nation.

We all understand how vital the Indo-Pak peace process is to our long term security interests. India needs to focus on the much greater challenge on the Northern Frontier, for which purpose the North West must be secured. And there are still many eggheads in Washington who swear by Pakistan. Unless India gives, at the very least, an impression of a willingness to work with Pakistan on terrorism, India's concerns will not find favour with the old guard, some of whom, among them the inexorable Henry Kissinger, have not moved ahead since the Cold War. However, in doing so, if India appears to be bending backwards, particularly at a moment when Pakistan is at its most vulnerable, it is quite likely that the world will just walk all over us.

In order to negotiate from a position of strength, India needs to build up, at the very least, a credible intelligence system. In order to call the bluff on terrorist camps in PoK and Bangladesh, India must present well documented evidence before the world. It is a pity that India refuses to overtly consider this possibility that is ours for the taking; it would be all too easy for Indian agencies to access Israeli assistance, which they would be all too happy to offer. And finally, courageous acts breed prestige and in a strange way, also generate credibility. For instance, on Sept 4, 2007, Israel insolently sent a small contingent of bombers to smash an innocuous looking compound in Syria. Given the credibility of Mossad and the IDF, most of the world concluded, without any visible evidence whatsoever, that the target had to be important... perhaps even a nuclear facility!

The Jaipur blasts also have several repercussions on the domestic front. We consider them one by one. Let us talk about POTA. It is not that a single law can make the Indian people safe from terrorism; much less one that prescribes drastic measures, for terrorism is, by its own description, a death cult. It is all about letting the terrorists know that the Indian State is eager and willing to take them on. The repeal of POTA sent out a wrong message, further bolstering the idea that Indians are "weaklings who believe in democracy".

Unfortunately, the moment for the execution of convicted terrorist Mohammad Afzal has passed. If the BJP were to come to power and order his execution, it would create a gruesome spectacle for the world, for it would appear that his hanging was a political act, rather than the outcome of a legal process that has unambiguously found him guilty of an act of war against the State. Afzal is not a dissenter but a terrorist, as such he deserves to perish as mere scum and not as a hero. His sentence is not due to the weight of public opinion, but due to the weight of evidence against him. Unless this government or the next is able to make this distinction clearly, hanging Afzal would add nothing to India's war on terrorism, if we are fighting it at all.

Vasundhara Raje might have hit the nail on the head when she put the spotlight on (illegal) immigrants from Bangladesh. Incidents such as these are impossible without local support. Immigrants from Bangladesh had come under the scanner after the Hyderabad blasts as well. Although it is possible to sympathize with hordes of poor people fleeing famine in a failed state, they have no excuse to transplant their anarchy to India. Deporting them en masse would be the best option, if only it were viable and humanitarian(not to mention the fact that Bangladesh would never accept them back). But it will not help for the Rani to take her frustration out on these immigrants, the large majority of whom are probably just trying to make a living for themselves. The government needs to act decisively to secure the Eastern Border and crack down on corrupt BSF personnel who have made illegal immigration into a thriving business.

Finally, the Oracle mentions that these blasts will have no impact on the Assembly elections due in November. Given the temperament of the Chief Minister, who naturally steers clear from communally sensitive issues, the terrorist attacks will have no place in the BJP's campaign later this year. In December of 2007, even as the BJP top brass heaped praise on "Moditva" (=vikas + hindutva) as the standard model for retaining power, there was a whimper of dissent from Vasundhara, who mentioned pointedly that Moditva was not necessarily the only model. Therefore, although the people of Rajasthan can expect a few visits from the Lion of Gujarat, he will not be setting the issues. For both BJP and Congress, it is back to the drawing board.