This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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First of all I pay homage to the 100+ children killed in a barbaric attack by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and pray to god to give their families courage & strength to survive through this crisis.
Entire India stood behind Pakistan in this hour of tragedy and social media was abuzz with #indiawithpakistan trending at the top on twitter. Indian news channels carried the story the entire day. Not only India anybody who is human would have felt the pain. Who kills children? Which religion permits it?
Indian Prime Minister Modi called Pakistan Premier NawazSharif Sharif to show solidarity. Parliament and all schools across the country observed two minutes of silence to pay tribute to the children who died in the massacre.
For India which has been target of terror attacks mostly by terrorists shielded by Pakistan this seemed to be the turning point. Most people felt that now Pakistan society, military, politicians and government would realise its mistake that harbouring terror is lethal and would co-operate with India to curb terrorism.
News channels carried numerous debates with Indian defence analysts / eminent personalities and Pakistan ex military personnel / civil society as panelists. If you analyse all of these debates there is just one conclusion, Pakistan continues to blame India for all its ills. Leave military / ISI / politicians, even civil society considers India as its enemy and is in no mood to learn from this episode living a complete sense of denial. Despite TTP claiming responsibility, many in Pakistan including normal educated people on twitter blamed India for attacks together with Afghan Taliban. When Indian media asked Pakistani panelists about Hafiz Saeed (mastermind of Mumbai attacks) they said he is a social worker who has soft heart towards Kashmiri jihadists.
This didn’t end here. Hafiz Saeed held a big rally in the following days in the heart of Lahore blaming India for the attacks and threatening he would take revenge on India. The courts in Pakistan granted bail to Lakhvi who was one of the main accused in the Mumbai blasts case. Civil society in Pakistan defended this saying courts may not have found evidence. But they forget that it is the duty of investigating agencies to present a tight case.
The Pakistani Prime Minister made a strong statement that he would make no difference between bad and good Taliban. Good. But this also meant an admission that Pakistan has earlier been making this sort of distinction to suit their needs. They also have removed the ban on death penalties. Good step. India has to realise that even if Pakistan will now show a tough stand against terrorism, it will have its priorities. It’s first priority is to take revenge on TTP. Then deal with Balochistan rebels. Fighting terrorists which spill venom against India is not on their priority list.
This is not the first time, India has been disappointed with attitude of Pakistan. Vajpayee started the peace talks with Pakistan, took a bus to Lahore, and they did a Kargil on us. This time we have shown great sympathy and solidarity with Pakistan, and they say India has carried out the attacks. How many times will we provide a chance to Pakistan to correct its behaviour? We are living in a fool’s paradise. We are emotional fools, worrying for their children. How many Pakistanis cared when our people were killed in Mumbai by terrorists sent by ISI? Did civil society show solidarity with our families? Did Pakistan Parliament pay tribute, did their schools observe silence? Answer is a big NO. We might show a big brotherly attitude forgiving mistakes of our younger brother, but they don’t consider us as brothers. The sooner we realise this the better for us.
Pakistan blames that India’s Research And Intelligence Wing (RAW) is supporting the rebels in Balochistan. How come terrorists who have been fighting for a separate state in Balochistan become rebels while terrorists fighting for a separate state in Kashmir become jihadis / freedom fighters?
However, I think that Modi’s call to Sharif was a master stroke to show the international community that India cares. The opportunity should be used by India to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state and stop all US aid to Pakistan.
Brigadier Binod Kumar (Retired), recipient of Vishist Seva Medal opines, “Indians went overboard empathising with Pakistan for recent unmindful killings of young children. It is but human for secular Indians to fully empathise. But Our PM took this empathy to a heightened diplomatic level too which would put tremendous moral pressure on Pakistan. International community/UN would pressurise Pakistan in future dialogues/ interventions to keep its word on bad-good Taliban. If it had to be such a tragic incident to put sense in Pakistan, so be it.”
Politicalbaaba runs a popular blog on Indian politics and elections www.politicalbaaba.wordpress.com. It has been nominated by The Guardian as one of the online voices providing an alternative view of India and the general elections. author runs a blog author runs a blog www.politicalbaaba.wordpress.com. Twitter Handle: @politicalbaaba
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