The Mumbai mayhem – many questions , one answer!

 For the last couple of years, Indo-Pak relationship was relatively better. In fact, it was  improving continuously. The transition of power to the civilian government and their    willingness to drive Pakistan towards the revival of its image as a civilized lawful state  though  beneficial to the people of Pakistan but caused enough worries to the Pakistani  Military  establishment & ISI.The success of the civilian govt. , improved relationship with  India and a  terrorist free Pakistan .. all pushes the Military & ISI to the back seat .  Pakistan was ruled by the Military for most of the periods since its independence. Military could become a dominant power in Pakistan by selling the Ant-Indian sentiments.

 In the eve of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Pakistani Military regime found solid support from the West & Saudi Arabia. Billions of dollars in aid and thousands of young Muslims from all over the world including those from South East Asia came under the controlled wings of Military – ISI combine .The power & privileges of the military never reached such a height before! When Soviets left Afghanistan, ISI trained Talibans took control of Afganistan.. , ISI then shifted its full focus to Kashmir.If there is no trouble, there is no engagement.. thus there is no role to play . “Catching fish in troubled water” is the hall mark of ISI operation . In the search of a bigger role in future , the military & ISI aligned themselves with the pan-Islamic ideology of Al-Qaeda & Taliban . As a result , all the covert activities of Al-Qaeda , Taliban & other Mujaheeden groups gained significant moral & material support from the ISI . So , far it did not cause any harm to the Western interest , West kept quiet .

But the aftermath of 9/11 changed the whole scenarios. Talibans & Al-Qaeda were up rooted from the power of Afganistan but then found their safe heaven under the protected umbrellas of military & ISI in remote provinces of Pakistan.The US-led coalition compelled the Pakistani military controlled govt. to become a party in the war against the terror .But that participation never came with full heart and soul of the military. So far the “Business of Terror” remains; ISI & Military can control the power with all the privileges. Thus, elimination of the terror was never an agenda of the military regime of Pakistan.When US forced Pakistan to deploy more troops in its western Border , mounted pressure by the US-led coalition force from the eastern border of Afganistan , Taliban & Al-Qaeda found themselves on the run .It then became important to shift the focus as well as free the western border of Pakistan relatively to make the life of the terror parties easier .Only way it could be done is through creation of tension between India & Pakistan, what also can put the civilian govt. of Pakistan in trouble, thus killing two birds in one-stone !

The revival of tension between the India-pakistan, switching the attention of world to something in disguise of “Kashmir issue” can greatly help ISI, Military, Al-Qaeda & Talibans to gain more strength for their own survival & reincarnation.The way Mumbai attack was executed bore all the signatures of great allies of the most of the beneficiaries of the terror groups & their God-fathers. A very well trained team with money, manpower, logistic & local support through months of well thought planning under expert institutional guidance.India is a vibrant democracy, a rising world power in terms of its economic growth, a home of 155 millions of Muslims. More Muslims live in India than Pakistan ! No other part of the world ensures more democratic rights for such a large number of Muslims .The diversified multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic & multi-religious Indian society found a secular & democratic way of living through accommodating each other. In the home of 1 billion plus people with majority of Hindus, power of the state often remains with persons of other religious faiths what is rarely a reality in any other part of the world .Thus Indian Muslims are more patriotic & liberal like any other Indians. Fundamentalism & fanatic ideas find no rooms in India which is a remarkable trouble spot for the Al-Qaeda led pan-Islamic movement.

Aftermath of the Mumbai attack, when many talked about a lot of different reasons, some even pointed out that Muslims are poorly treated in India, could be a possible cause of such attack! The fact is that in the process of socio-economic transformation, a large number of Indians are still poor in any standard that includes Hindus, Muslims & people from other religious faiths. Statistical comparison may reveal that Muslims are relatively behind the Hindus in terms of the economic growth. One of the possible reasons is that while Hindus were adept to the changes of their life style, Muslims were not. Being a secular & democratic country, state can only advice but can  not enforce its ideas on the life style . For example , while Hindus were more open to under go western education , practice single marriage as well as  birth control , Muslims were relatively far behind to adapt them . As a whole, the Indian State & the Society do not discriminate any one based on religion or ethnicity. Some, can provide some stray incidents as example to counter shift blames on the Indian System, then question would remain what is the % of such incidents where such a huge diversified population continues to live in harmony for many years?

When pundits across the world re-visit the Mumbai attack, they need to be in agreement that 11/26 is inseparable from 9/11 , London & Madrid attack ! Any attempt to segregate the incident of 11/26 from the rests would dilute the gravity of the facts . All need to understand that terror mongers in disguise of different forms and names are from same source with same ideology & thought process .Their mission and ambitions are guided & controlled by the same God-Fathers in quest of their own power & privileges . World needs to come together now to eliminate the terror roots with out any vested & compartmental interest .In the process of the elimination of the terror , all should ensure that the civilian government of Pakistan survives & democracy always prevails .World also must ensure that the true power & full control of the state remains on the hands of the elected representatives of Pakistan rather than the hands of a few generals of the powerful military . Madrassas engaged in spreading hatred needs to be demolished so that they can no longer serve as “breeding ground of terrorism” . While doing so , world should ensure that economically backward people who often get attracted to the Madrassas for certain benefits can find alternative liberal institutes capable of meeting their needs as well as bringing them back to the mainstream education so that the appeal of fundamentalism no longer remains meaningful to them. The whole transformation process , may take some time . The world including India must engage itself to fund and foster the process of “transforming pakistan” from the feudalistic, fundamentalist, failed state to become a progressive, democratic state through patience, co-operation, funding and if needed ,. through application of ‘the collective force’ as the last possible option only .  
• Related reading :

         Pakistan & Terrorism

       The Mumbai Carnage