What's Next After Mumbai?

Varanasi, Bangalore, Delhi, and now Mumbai.The tolerance capacity of India will certainly leave no one in any doubt, muchleast the terrorists themselves. They must surely be revelling in the weak-kneedresponse of the Indian government towards these atrocities. The blasé and banalresponse from the home minister and others that investigations are going on andthat we will fight terrorists will not fool anybody about the inherent lack ofwill in the government to tackle this menace effectively. We are celebrating theability of Mumbai to take these attacks in its stride and get back to work. Butsurely, this "chalta hai" attitude is also responsible for theslumber of the government?  It would have been much better had the citizensof Mumbai decided that for one day they will not do what they are supposed to doand will ask their government for some explanations. It’s difficult but itneeds to be done. How long can this go on? Do we value the lives of our citizensor not? It’s not enough anymore to say, as the Prime Minister has done, thatterrorism won’t hinder India’s progress. What does he mean when he says thatwe will win the war on terror? The Indian public, which has been suffering thisrecurring onslaught of violence has a right to some answers. 

A terrorist attack inNew York changes the contours of US foreign policy forever. A terrorist attackin London generates a whole new debate on domestic terror laws and the threat ofIslamic radicalism in UK. But even after countless terrorist attacks in India,nothing changes. One wonders if even the Indian politicians have new statementsto make after so long. 

The only response thatthe government could come up with was reiterating the same old platitude that wewill win the war against terror as if winning this war is an apple that willfall in the government’s lap at an appropriate time. The other thing it didwas to do what it does best: lash out at the reported statement by Pakistan’sforeign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri that sought to link the resolution ofdisputes with the attacks. It was classic Pakistan-speak and should have beenignored with the contempt it deserves. But then what would have been left of thegovernment’s response? Blaming Pakistan has always been the default fall-backposition of the Indian governments of all hues and so it was repeated again,with the caveat this time that the secretary-level talks have now beenpostponed. 

The question is thatafter sympathies have been expressed and Pakistan has been blamed, what next?And the answer is that the government will get back to its business of managingits recalcitrant allies, the allies will get back to their business ofblackmailing the government, and the opposition will get back to its business ofsorting out its internal disarray. The lives lost in Mumbai will be forgotten ashave innumerable other lives that have been lost to the scourge of terrorism.India will move on as has Mumbai after the attacks. But the terrorists who havedone this will not, as they plan their next attacks. They know fully well thatthe ever-forgiving Indian government knows only one way to respond – withhigh-sounding but meaningless words. Over the years, this has emboldened theterrorist groups to move from mere hit and run attacks to assaults on politicaland economic infrastructure of India’s major cities. 

The Indiangovernment’s response has always been an ad hoc one to such atrocities withoutany attempt to evolve a coherent policy that tells clearly to the perpetratorsof terrorism that India will not be tolerant of terror, ever, in any form. Afterall, it was India’s then foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, who personallyescorted three murderous terrorists to freedom after the hijacking of the IndianAirlines Flight in 1999, making it perfectly clear that the Indian state willbow to the demands of terror, howsoever unreasonable they might be. One canreasonably argue that for a liberal democracy combating terrorism is alwaysdifficult as the law of the land must prevail and there should not be a resortto draconian measures not considered legitimate by the majority. But conversely,the survival of a liberal, democratic environment is predicated upon a decentmeasure of security that a government can offer to its citizens. It would nottake much to destroy the liberal ethos of this country if the citizens of thiscountry feel that they are never secure. And therefore a robust response of thegovernment is needed. 

Why is India beingtargeted, after all? Because India is a liberal democracy where thesecond-largest Muslim population of the world has a political voice as potent asthe majority? Because Indian model is a challenge to those fanatics who believethat there is only one way of living and that’s their way? Because Indiaprovides space to all kinds of voices and expressions even when they challengethe ethos of the country? Because India enjoys good relations with Israel andthe US, the two global villains, that are somehow deemed responsible for all theevils in the Middle East? 

If yes, then all theseclaims demand only one response: an unequivocal stance from the Indiangovernment not to bow to the demands of terror. India cannot be blackmailed intochanging the foundations of its political system and India cannot be blackmailedinto pursuing a foreign policy that goes contrary its national interests. Afterall from a country that aspires to the status of a great power, nothing less canbe expected. But more importantly, the idea of India is too powerful to besacrificed at the altar of a few fanatics.  

But we need agovernment that is able to stand up and make sure that this message gets out tothose who are all too happy to see a government in a perpetual state ofindecision. We need a concerted, sustained counter-terrorism strategy, insteadof mere political rhetoric, pieties and platitudes. The problem is clearlybigger than Pakistan’s support for extremists in its territories. There’s ahome-grown element to this problem too that requires addressing. Let us not bein any doubt that the war on terror poses new legal challenges and grave moraldilemmas for the world and this is especially true for democracies. But it’stime for the largest democracy in the world to face these challenges head on.That would be the best tribute to those who lost their lives in Mumbai and tothe innumerable other victims of terrorism. 

Harsh Pant teaches atKing’s College London