Yet another massacre

The Tribune

Yet another massacre

A MATTER of national sorrow that it is, the massacre of 27 persons in Jammu on Saturday has put the Indian Government on the horns of a dilemma. It has to decide whether it will respond to the ultimate provocation by issuing yet another "tough statement” as it has done all along in the past, or it will find a more effective method of letting the perpetrators know that enough is enough. Even its ominous avowal that its patience has run out has become old hat. And as far as crossing the "Lakshman rekha” of civilised behaviour is concerned, that was crossed right at the time of the December 13 attack on Parliament, as the Prime Minister had himself announced.

The newly anointed Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, has only recently said that General Musharraf has not proved to be trustworthy. That narrows down India's choices greatly. In an interview, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee had said that India should have taken retaliatory action immediately after the assault on Parliament but was persuaded by world leaders not to do so. That is why Kaluchak happened.

As if that was not enough, Jammu has added another inhuman page to this never-ending bloody story. The question is how long India will respond to such provocations with only empty words. An Arab saying is that "if you backstab me once, it is shame on you; if you backstab me twice, it is shame on me”. This earthy wisdom should be taken note of by the world is general and India is particular. They have believed in the wily General's promises repeatedly and the latter has merrily demonstrated time and again that his assurances are not worth the magnetic tapes on which they are recorded.

It is high time the world learnt a few lessons. One, Pakistan is just not going to shut down its terrorism export houses, whatever pledges its leaders may make in public or privately. Its protestations that the jehadis are not under its control are meaningless because its army has been actively involved in pushing them in. Two, this deadly brigade is not going to confine its activities to India alone. Afghanistan had already proved that the pestilence can spread in all directions. The world will be ignoring India's concerns only at its own peril. And three, power-drunk mischief-makers are never going to listen to the voice of reason.

To them it appears to be a sign of weakness. Unless you are rough with roughnecks, you can never make them behave. Only when realisation dawns on them that they will have to pay a high price for their perfidy can they be made to mend their ways. That is not a call for war but only a suggestion to eschew the policy of appearing overeager to offer your cheeks whenever you are slapped. The argument that the frustrated terrorists are deliberately trying to provoke India into waging war against Pakistan has been used far too often to be relevant.

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