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Dear Readers,

As predicted BJP bombed out in all the four States where Elections were held for the  Assemblies. After the Dec 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, BJP had been playing the “Pakistan Card” for all it is worth, positioning almost all of India’s Armed Forces in a threatening posture on Pakistan’s borders. However, the Indian masses proved they were not so gullible to fall for the cry of “wolf” every time and BJP suffered severe electoral defeats. Faced with revolt during the Budget session, the “kar sevaks” of Vishva Hindu Parshad (VHP) provided the badly needed distraction by forcing the reigniting of the “Babri Masjid” Ayodhya issue.  The Ahmedabad riots have been the worst communal carnage since the destruction of Babri Masjid in 1992 by Hindu activists ignited countrywide communal disturbances resulting in loss of over 2,000 lives, over 90% Muslims.  BJP’s secular mask finally came off and the bloody violence has exposed this as a farce perpetuated for universal camouflage of Hindu extremism.  I am taking the liberty of re-reproducing my article in THE NATION entitled “Shame and Resolve”.

If the fact of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping was senseless, the act of his murder was inhuman. While we Pakistanis may never be able to live with the shame of Daniel Pearl’s brutal killing, being battle-inoculated by two decades of terrorism we will eventually come to terms with this ghastly atrocity. Skeptical about Pakistan as a viable entity when he (and his wife Marianne) first flew in on Sept 16, 2001 from Mumbai where he was based as “The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ)’s Bureau Chief, he would comment quite frequently about how wrong he had been about Pakistan, how one could never discover the real truth without personally visiting the area and inter-acting with the people. Tragically a vicious minority proved Pakistan otherwise. Refined and sensitive, Daniel had been filing material in WSJ favourable to Pakistan, his confidence in moving about freely without any personal security reflected how much he was at ease in Pakistan and with Pakistanis, unfortunately that trusting approach was his undoing. Danny was inquisitive but unlike many of his profession he was not cynical, or for that matter naive, he was simply far more ready to believe. That he was a Jew and his grandparents lived in Israel made him no less a good human being and a friend. Jews are people of the Book and our only difference with Israel should be the status of Al-Aqsa, the mutual terrorism unleashed against each other by the Israelis and Palestinians is a matter to be settled between them. Can anyone refer me to when Yassar Arafat last mentioned Kashmir favourably with Pakistan? Danny’s frank, candid comments showed an absolute lack of prejudice that was not only refreshing, it made Daniel Pearl much more, a friend to cherish, both in life and in death.

Those who killed Danny were no friends of this country, or for that matter Islam. To call them human beings would be to cast aspersion on civilization as we know it, animals are far better beings than such savages. Our beautiful religion has no place for such scum of this earth. How dare such people profess Islam to be their religion? More than shame, one feels anger. We are responsible for not standing upto such a vocal, deadly minority in our society. Do we remember the Chairmen of KESC late Shahid Hamid and of Pakistan State Oil, late Shaukat Mirza? We failed to bring their killers to justice, it was only a matter of time before our inaction condemned another gentle soul like Daniel Pearl to such brutality. An intense young man, father of as yet an unborn child, Danny had so much to give to this world, so please forgive this rage within me that the world was denied the beauty of his living being. To his widow, Marianne, who had the strength of character to be gracious about Pakistanis even in her bereavement, words only serve a reflex crass purpose, forgive us and even though this venal horror was perpetrated by a vicious handful representing the savage and callous among us, the shame of Daniel Pearl’s murder will live with Pakistanis for a very long time. Daniel Pearl was my friend and I am proud of it, I will grieve for him as much as others who cherished his friendship did. I will also grieve that monsters of the kind who murdered Daniel Pearl claim association with my country.

The most bitter anti-American, anti-Jew among us would have that much sense to realize that kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl at this time would be taken adversely against Islam and Pakistan. Would genuine Muslims and patriotic Pakistanis carry out such an act? Howsoever much the world lays terrorism at the doorstep of lack of education and/or affluence, there was no element of poverty or ignorance influencing the perpetrators in the committing of the dastardly act. Well-educated, most suspects belong to well-to-do or middle class families, the perpetrators of the Daniel Pearl atrocity had enough sense to understand clearly the consequences of carrying out the horrific, senseless murder. These murderers must not go unpunished. Of those released from Indian prison because of the Kandahar hijack, Moulana Azhar Masood and Omer Saeed Sheikh are prominent because they were never charged for any crime in any Indian court despite five years of incarceration. Neither having ever physically fought within Kashmir, Omer’s claim to notoriety is a penchant for luring and kidnapping western tourists. His very first potential kidnapee turned out to be an Israeli, horror-struck his immediate superior sent him back saying, “do you want us to be killed?” Holder of a British passport, Omer was allowed to roam freely in Pakistan, and now surfaces as the brains behind the recent atrocity. One must call into question his motives, was it a desperate act to scuttle the growing US-Pakistan relationship? Or is it a mere coincidence that the motives of India and Moulana Azhar/Omer seem to coincide, to defame Pakistan and to have it declared as a terrorist haven that is beyond any redemption, all of Musharraf’s good intentions and commitment notwithstanding.

With the rout of the BJP in the State elections in all the four States being contested, the BJP power rests in the Centre and in four States, only one, Gujarat, being of any size. Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa are small States having only marginal influence in the Centre. A wounded tiger is far more dangerous and herein lies the danger. BJP’s campaign was based on stoking anti-Pakistan feeling in the electorate like they successfully did after Kargil. Blaming Pakistan on flimsy grounds for the Dec 13 “terrorist” attack on Parliament was convenient, it afforded easy passage for the “anti-terrorist bill” even in the face of reluctant allies. India has mobilized its entire Armed Forces on Pakistan’s borders, leaving only Counter Insurgency Forces (CIF) within Occupied Kashmir, in Assam and the Eastern States. Inspite of the hoopla in the US and western world about the need to increase defence spending because China was the real threat to India, only a skeleton force has been left facing China in NEFA and Ladakh. If the Indians really wanted war they would have hardly mobilized so deliberately or allowed Pakistan to mobilize, the sabre-rattling was only to tap the inherent patriotism of the Indian electorate. The voters were not fooled, the BJP Hindutva-policy has already peaked, it is now on a waning card. Though analysts doubt this, BJP may well be toppled in the Centre by a Congress-led insurgence in the coming months. The only card left for BJP to play is the last desperate Pakistan option, despite our other troubles, economic and political, we may yet have to face war, or at least the gravest of provocations. By forcing us to keep our troops on the border and thus divert scarce funds from the economic agenda, India is successfully waging a proxy economic war.

Musharraf’s credibility stands for something in the west and his initiatives are well regarded, India has thus been desperately seeking to undercut his credibility and get Pakistan declared a terrorist State. Even though we have self-inflicted religious extremism on ourselves, we are engaged in serious initiatives to reverse the situation. On the other hand those who hate Islam and Pakistan will try and implicate us somehow. Those who have been arrested in connection with Daniel Pearl’s murder must be expeditiously handed over to the US, subject to interrogation and investigation by their criminal and terrorism experts by sophisticated, modern methods. If claims about Pakistani intelligence operatives, retired or serving, being involved, we must extradite them, whoever they may be. If the US discovers otherwise because of its own enquiries, India’s crying of wolf will stand exposed. That will be the acid test of Pakistan’s credibility and resolve, a sure sign of our long-term commitment.

Let us use the shame that we must universally bear for Daniel Pearl’s murder as a catalyst to stiffen our resolve to rid ourselves of all terrorism, perceived or otherwise.