The memory of the attack on Mumbai on November 26 two years ago begs several questions. Essentially, however, the matter boils down to the security of India. India and Pakistan were the same country, and remain elements of the same civilisational complex although those who broke away from the original national entity mistakenly
pride themselves on being part of a separate vector in human development terms merely because they see themselves as being a single-religion monolith. Strictly on account of this arise serious security concerns for India which have been made no better by the attack on Mumbai two years ago by Pakistan-trained terrorists helped in significant ways by that country’s security apparatus. This aspect is no longer just an Indian allegation. The Americans have come to the same inference. The world believes it. This is chiefly because the set of ideology-driven people, whose numbers run into tens of thousands in Pakistan and who are strongly represented in the Pakistan military and security matrix, have been threatening terrorist acts around the world. For reasons of geo-political considerations, the US cannot take action against Islamabad that will de-incentivise the support of Pakistani state structures to armed thugs it has trained in the name of an international jihad over a quarter century, although some of this element has now returned to haunt Pakistan itself. The pity is that the government and people of Pakistan have shown little resolve to wage an internal fight of any consequence against this tendency. That concerns India all the more as we have a land, air and sea border with Pakistan, unlike those who live across the seven seas.
While we cannot but be alive to the reality in our neighbourhood that gives rise to threat perceptions that seek to alter our way of life, and to our growth and development paradigm, we can hardly be negligent to our own responsibilities in safeguarding ourselves, especially after an epochal event such as 26/11. Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s observations in Mumbai on the second anniversary of 26/11 last Friday can leave no one in doubt that our security systems are far from satisfactory even after the numbing 26/11 experience. Above all, the vacancy of three lakh policemen in the country is yet to be filled. It cannot be emphasised enough that a motivated, trained, and equipped constabulary is the first line of defence. On this front, the lack appears all the more ominous after the chest-beating that was seen in the wake of 26/11. The most guilty in this respect are the state governments. But the security czars at the Centre can hardly be let off the hook. The Coast Guard, near-shore maritime safety apparatus, inventory-building to bolster the security framework have once again gone back to the old somnolent ways. Let’s face it, India today is as vulnerable to the 26/11-type assault as it was two years ago.
Mr Chidambaram’s remarks make it plain that we cannot take Islamabad at face value, that commitments made by Pakistan to capture and bring to justice the seven masterminds, trainers and handlers of the Mumbai terrorists that India alluded to, have not been kept. The inference is that the judicial process that the Pakistan government seeks to take shelter behind appears to be a red herring, a track choreographed by the armed forces syndicate — which runs the country in real terms — not to provide relief on account of India’s concerns.
At a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama in New Delhi earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was not possible to resume meaningful dialogue with Pakistan so long as the Islamabad-forged anti-India terrorist machine proceeded on its perennial course. It has to be said that the Prime Minister has come to this appreciation long after his compatriots. The point is, what next?