Tread Lightly !

A nation bays for blood as the memory of events 3 weeks ago linger on in the mind, igniting passions like never before. A newly-empowered media feeds off the public hunger for retribution, organizing shows and interviews with "expert" guests to analyse the road ahead, each pretending to be Prime-Minister-for-a-day!

While I respect the passions that have arisen among my countrymen post 26/11, a lingering fear at the back of my mind has grown into full-fledged panic : war cries can be heard from different corners, some subtle, and some hardly so! The aam aadmi may still consider bijli-sadak-paani to be of prime importance, as was evident from the results of recent assembly polls, but the intelligentsia which hold true power in this country, and whose voices are most loudly heard by a hard-of-hearing-bureaucracy, seem to have retribution firmly engraved in their minds.

Among the darkness, there is the need for voices of sanity to speak out as beacons of hope and change. Do not get swayed by the rhetoric of an increasingly reckless media and the ever-opportunistic political class. Our aims, and our demands, should remain clear, and beyond corruption! The focus of this administration, and of every other administration that follows, should be the overall security of its people : the rozi roti should not be separated from the need for protection against terrorist threats : both are equally important. Our coastlines are vulnerable, our police force poorly trained and ill-equipped, our borders porous, our intelligence agencies clueless and our citizens unaware : Internal security should remain the prime concern for our government at this juncture : to ensure that lapses of the sort that occurred in relation to the Mumbai attacks are never again repeated! Attacks will occur in the future, without doubt, for we live in a world of conflicting ideologies, where the values of tolerance and understanding grow increasingly scarce! Limiting their scope, and saving as many lives as possible, is, however, the duty and obligation of the ruling class.

The issue of Pakistan, and who truly is in control, is complex, and to be treated with care. What concerns me is the lacksadaisical manner in which the media, with expert panels featuring actors, singers, NGOs and CEOs, attempts to peek into the future to predict the nature of the response that will/should emerge from the government! Since when have these faces developed such vast skills in international diplomacy? They are entitled to their opinion, as is every citizen of this nation, but for them to pose as policy-makers in a media-concocted fantasy is simply ridiculous! From the chaiwallah down the street to your favourite barber, every citizen of this country feels he/she knows what must be done to solve this country's problems. But when the onus is upon them, the vast majority of them fail to come up with any coherent policy to bring about this "change" we seek : we speak from experience, because we HAVE elected a lot of these chaiwallahs to office, and bear the brunt of our folly today!

Exercising military force should NEVER....and I repeat... SHOULD NEVER come under consideration. To restrain from such brute force is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of maturity! In dark times, it is all-too-simple to propagate violence than to propagate peace. Our response must remain measured. Diplomatic pressure from different corners, economic sanctions, trade embargos will force the Pakistani government to tow the Indian line. This will ensure that the fledgeling government of Pakistan, regardless of the manner in which it was formed and the nature of elections conducted, remains relevant. The ISI and the Pakistan Army may be beyond the control of the Pakistani civillian government, but for India to discredit the authenticity and to undermine the authority of this government is to play into the hands of the Army. Air strikes against terrorist camps and installations may yield short-term gains, but ultimately, will only do our cause greater harm! The Taliban and Pashtuns which control much of Pakistan's Western Front, could possibly unite with the Army under the banner of "Pakistani nationalism". The Pakistan Army has shown in the past its overwhelming lust for power : should the democratic government of Pakistan be undermined domestically and internationally any further, the situation may yet arise once again! The Pakistan Army would then be able to focus on the Indian border, rather than being distracted by the losses incurred during its current internal battle with the militant tribes in the Western Areas. The Army would exercise every resource under its disposal, including nuclear arms, to ensure victory. A nuclear exchange is a conflict that the sub-continent, and the world at large cannot afford! Though we may prove victorious in the long haul, the loss of lives will be too great to allow any sense of jubilation! Let us not deploy our armed forces with the same sort of reckless abandon that has led America into the quagmire that is the Iraq War.

The deaths of innocents and of security personnel during those 3 horrific days affected every one of us, and with due respect to those who lost parents, children, friends and neighbours in the attacks, though their grief may be incomprehensible to people like me, to adopt an "eye-for-an-eye" approach would be devastating to world peace. A single misstep could send the region hurtling towards decades of instability! This is no time to give in to machoistic or jingoistic urges! It is a time to tread lightly, to absorb selectively the information we receive from the media, to separate the objective report from the emotional outcry that may or may not be truly honest, and develop informed opinions. This must not be our 9/11, but rather, our own, distinct 26/11, characterized by a measured and calculated response for the world to admire and emulate! Our increased significance in a multi-polar world bestows upon us an increased responsibility to promote harmony among the nations of the world, and it is a responsibility we CANNOT shirk!