Anger across the country will be high, in the wake of the serial blasts on successive days in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, coming soon after the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul and the blasts in Jaipur. If the initial Pakistani game was to support terrorism in the Kashmir valley, that country has over the years got more ambitious and now seeks to involve jihadi elements across the country. But clear-headed thinking rather than hot-headed action (such as reprisals against innocent Muslims) is what is required. The starting point must be the recognition that a domestic jihadi network is now in operation, one which has gone beyond the passive or active support that it gave earlier to agents who came over from Pakistan. This network, seemingly responding to atrocities against Muslims, is targeting BJP-ruled states, and is demonstrating that it has the capacity to strike at will. Why the bombs used were low-intensity is a factor still to be explained, but the country has been served notice once again.
An effective response to such a terrorist threat must work at several levels. The first is to nab the culprits and bring them to speedy justice. The second is to improve intelligence, to penetrate the jihadi network and to intercept communications so as to prevent such attacks. There were advance warnings in both Kabul and Ahmedabad, though the quality of the specific information is not known. Still, this approach is never foolproof, as even the redoubtable Israelis have discovered. It is not hard for even a small group of terrorists with the most rudimentary tools to attack soft targets in crowded, public places. Other steps therefore are necessary.
One is to address the fountainhead of terrorist attacks, which is in Pakistan. That country’s attitude to India remains deeply hostile, and India does not have the capacity to strike at it in a manner that will put an end to its ever-present temptation to engage in low-grade warfare against India. Again, as Israel has discovered, hitting hard at a much weaker neighbour has limited utility if the environment is such that new recruits are willing to join the jihadi network. Pakistan has to be tackled therefore with a mixture of bilateral diplomacy and international pressure, though experience has shown that the results of these efforts will be minimal. Pakistan therefore needs to be made to understand that its hostility to India is not without costs.
Another required step is to ask the Muslim community’s leadership to step forward. The Dar-ul-Uloom at Deoband took an important step some months ago when it declared that terrorist attacks on innocent victims was anti-Islamic. That message has to go home, and to be repeated by other voices that carry authority within the community.
A third is to ensure that the jihadi network finds it increasingly difficult to get new recruits from within the Muslim community. The conditions must be created such that organisations like the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (Simi) find it impossible to function. This means addressing community grievances — which include those guilty of pogroms against Muslims not being brought to justice. At the broadest level, the socio-economic condition of Muslims must improve, and youngsters in the community must be brought into the educational and professional mainstream. In short, the jihadis must find that they are alienated from the community mainstream.
