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We are entering very uncertain times. We Indians have always, particularly since Independence, been living in various degrees of uncertainty _ what with our Five Year Plans; the annual visitations by our Union Budgets _ the perennial nightmares of Indian business and industry; terrorism which has maimed or killed thousands of lives in Kashmir and showed its ugly face in Mumbai in December 1993, and of course the weather on which depends prices and profits. So uncertainty has always been us. So what's new?
What's new is that a new member joined our club on September 11 _ no less than the world's most powerful nation (and the most democratic), the U.S. of A. What's not new is our response to the tragic events of September 11. The first thing our `leaders' could think of was Pakistan. `Good, serves them right', these `leaders' seem to say. `Now how about branding Pakistan a `rogue' state or a `terrorist' state, they suggested to the US. And we offered full enthusiastic support. When the U.S. of A paid no attention we were offended. And our leaders 'sulked' and developed a sense of grievance.
It is not surprising that the USA was indifferent to India. Because it is not in the USA's national interest to do so. Pakistan's cooperation is crucial to America in its `war against terror' and in any case Pakistan has been a tested ally of the United States over the cold war years. So what if the Taliban is a Pakistani creation; so what if terrorists have their training camps in Pakistan. After all, the Stinger missiles are also of American make given by the self-same Americans to Taliban to fight another enemy in another war, another kind of terror.
American response has always been dictated by national self-interest. It is the bottomline that has mattered to them. Their declarations about human rights etc. have been so much hot air. Too bad about Tienenmen Square, but business must go on as usual. This time they have been targeted on their own turf and so they are so angry. 'How dare you' they said and declared a 'war on terror' as if terrorism began on September 11, 2001.
What am I driving at? Simply this. Let's not invest the Americans with a halo. They are as good or as bad as people grouped together in a nation or tribe are.
They react to protect their interests. Threats far away from home give them the pleasure of pontificating and acting like neutral policemen. September 11 has brought home the fact that the Atlantic Ocean no longer protects them. They have been flying high secure in the belief that they will have missiles that will stop enemy missiles in their tracks. But they were dumbfounded when a passenger plane was used as a missile by religious fundamentalists who were prepared to die.
Just as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war bade goodbye to global confrontation and marked the beginning of global cooperation, September 11 does indeed mark the end of one kind of era and the beginning of another. An era of confrontation. Is this a confrontation with Islam and the rest of the world which is not Islamic? My answer would be yes and no. Yes, it is a confrontation between the fundamentalist forces in Islam. It is not a confrontation between Islam per se (see the articles in this feature by Dr. Srinivasan and Prof. Iqbal Ansari) but between Islam as represented by Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Omar, the Taliban and a whole lot of terrorist outfits operating out of Pakistan, and the rest of the world.
This is the time for us, as much as our `leaders', to pause and review past attitudes, in two areas in particular _ Pakistan and Kashmir. The enmity between the two nations has cost both of us dearly, in terms of the denial of the basic needs of both our peoples. Because much needed resources are being diverted to the securing of weapons of destruction, and it would be stupid to deny that the bone of contention is Kashmir. With the eradication of terrorist breeding grounds across the border, it should be possible for India and Pakistan to discuss the Kashmir issue sensibly and in an atmosphere of relative peace.
The developments after September 11 therefore represent a threat and an opportunity for both India and Pakistan. They need to seize the opportunity with both hands for the peace and prosperity of the peoples in both our countries. Meanwhile let's at least behave as a mature democracy should.
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