Beyond the boundaries

Burney's is a welcome gesture because there is already a whispering campaign among the Hindus -- thanks to the RSS-BJP combine -- that the Muslim population in India does not speak out against the acts of terrorism in the country. This is not true. I have read statements by several Muslim leaders, a few from Kashmir as well, condemning terrorism. They have bemoaned the bomb blasts at Delhi in no less strong terms.

Indian Muslims have, however, a point when they ask why it should be incumbent on them to condemn terrorism every time some incident takes place. Since most of the perpetrators of blasts have turned out to be Muslims, the community unfortunately has to bear the cross. But I must add that the Muslims in India are different from the Muslims elsewhere. For example, during the Taliban-Al Qaida days in Afghanistan, Muslims all over the world participated in the sectarian war in the name of jehad. But not a single Indian Muslim rallied behind the call of the so-called holy war.

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The Indian Muslims are, indeed, angry that the cross-border terrorism is giving them a bad name. The Pakistan establishment does not realise the gravity of dangers and difficulties it creates for the community and the support it builds up for the Hindutva crowd whenever there is a bomb blast in India.

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which has been found responsible for the blasts at Delhi, has its men in Pakistan. Even though Islamabad has banned it, some in the Pakistan establishment continues to support the LeT. Incidentally, the prisoner whom BJP Foreign

Minister Jaswant Singh had conducted to Kandhar, heads the outfit.

Despite the solemn assurance by President General Pervez Musharraf, first to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and then to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, not to allow the terrorists to use the Pakistani soil for their activities, cross-border terrorism continues. Maybe, Musharraf is helpless. But the general impression is that he is not doing enough. Only the other day did the 9/11 Commission on terrorist attacks in the US ask Washington to put pressure on the Pakistan government to stop the menace. "Pakistan remains a sanctuary and training ground for terrorists," said the Commission. This is a slap in the face of President Bush who applauded Musharraf by name earlier in the week as an ally in fight against the "radicals in Islam."

The terrorists know no boundaries. They have only their purpose to serve: to kill and to disturb the rhythm of citizens' lives. Even Pakistan is not safe because they have again struck in Karachi, more or less at the same place where they had killed the French men some time ago.

At one time, the Pakistan President would himself argue that it was a "freedom struggle." He has become silent after Manmohan Singh has said again and again: "Terrorists cannot be freedom fighters." However, the thinking of the Pakistan establishment has not changed. One of Musharraf's senior ministers, who admitted the other day that he provided assistance to the militants from Kashmir when they first crossed the border, said at a seminar in Lahore some days ago that he would be riding the tank going to India. The only inference that India can draw from this is that either the Pakistani establishment is divided or the assurance to stop cross-border terrorism is eyewash.

The thesis that the acts of terrorism can put pressure on New Delhi to hold talks on Kashmir is wrong. The effect is to the contrary. In fact, if violence were to stop India would have to per force discuss Kashmir. I am not sure whether the Indian and Pakistan Prime Ministers discussed Kashmir at the Saarc summit at Dhaka. But terrorism must have been discussed since this was very much on the mind of Manmohan Singh after the Delhi blasts. The recent incidents at Srinagar are reportedly the handiwork of the new branch of LeT. The Pakistan establishment should realise that such incidents are bound to have an adverse effect on the peace process. It is welcome to see that the opening points of contact on the Line of Control (LoC) have not been disturbed in any way. They should not because they are important arteries for rehabilitation work. Also they may one day soften borders between the two Kashmirs.

One thing noticed before the opening of entry points was that there was no sense of urgency, neither at New Delhi nor at Islamabad. India took time in arranging the foreign secretaries' meeting and Pakistan took 16 days to initiate work after it reached an agreement with Indian on opening of the LoC points. The real reason for the delay, as a dispatch by the Gulf News foreign editor points out, is what an Indian official said: "We cannot say this publicly but it is not because of landmines or landslides. It is because of Pakistan. They simply do not want to accept Indian help or relief. Geography and history dictates that we must help but they don't want to accept our offers."

This may well be true because some in the Pakistan establishment and most among the fundamentalists do not like greater contact between the peoples of the two countries. New Delhi has taken some unilateral steps -- giving visas to senior citizens at the Wagah border -- but Pakistan has not reciprocated them. The number of Indians getting visas has gone down in spite of Islamabad's repeated statement to increase people-to-people contact.

The Pakistan establishment has a lot to explain, because the Saarc spirit is defeated by discouraging contacts among the people in the region. With Afghanistan being a Saarc member, people-to-people contact has to increase. A new set of possibilities has arisen in the region. Manmohan Singh said in his speech at the summit that the right to transit passage should be applicable to the Saarc countries. It means that Dhaka can send its goods to Pakistan and Afghanistan through India. It also means that Pakistan can send its good to Nepal and Bangladesh though the Indian highways. Above all, it means that South Asia as an entity is beginning to take shape.

Kuldip Nayar is an eminent Indian columnist.