The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Mounting frustration in Kashmir

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Thursday, Nov 17, 2005

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Mounting frustration in Kashmir

Inside of 48 hours, Jammu and Kashmir has seen four dramatic terrorist attacks: a bomb attack that almost claimed the life of senior People's Democratic Party leader Ghulam Hassan Mir; another, which injured former Minister Usman Majid; a suicide-squad strike in the heart of Srinagar; and an ambush on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy. By the horrendous dimensions to which we have become accustomed, the fatalities and injuries inflicted in these attacks have not been exceptional. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertion that such violence reflects a "truth deficit" in Pakistan's promises to end cross-border terrorism illustrates just how frustrated New Delhi is with such events. Ever since investigators established that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba had carried out the recent serial bombings in New Delhi, there have been growing calls for a more aggressive line on Pakistan. It takes no great imagination to see that the killing of some politicians of the ruling coalition or the murder of dozens of civilians in Srinagar could well have done enormous damage to the peace process. Prime Minister Singh has done well to point out that, in the face of continued terrorism, Indian opinion may make it difficult to sustain the dialogue process. On how exactly Pakistan can be made to keep its promises on ending support to terrorism completely, though, there are no answers yet.

Mr. Manmohan Singh cannot, of course, be expected to find an answer overnight to a question which has troubled Indian policy-making for two decades. Since the mid-1980s, Indian establishment has repeatedly threatened action in the face of Pakistani provocation, most recently in 2001-2002. Today, this is no longer an option. Even leaving aside the manifest dangers of military adventurism in a nuclear environment, a crisis might end up inflicting great harm. Another important fact is that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has in fact part-delivered on his promises to end terrorism. Violence in Jammu and Kashmir has been in steady decline since 2002. Measured by indices such as the number of attacks on Indian forces and the levels of troop, police, and civilian fatalities, the period between August and October this year has seen less terrorist violence than the same months of 2004. For all its problems, then, the peace process has yielded real dividends. On the other hand, Pakistan has apparently shown no inclination to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorist groups such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba that continue to run training camps, raise funds and recruit new cadre. For years, Indian policy-makers have hoped that confidence-building measures would persuade Pakistan to come to the table without a gun tucked under its combat fatigues. This may seem a long and hard process, but there is clearly no alternative to continuing engagement and the quest for durable peace.

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