The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Needed, action

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Thursday, Dec 11, 2008
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Needed, action

Though Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari sounded sincere (“The terrorists want to destroy Pakistan, too” — Op-Ed article, Dec. 10), it is clear that the sabre-rattling by the Pakistani military impedes his actions. Otherwise, why would he have taken a ‘u’-turn on sending the ISI chief to India? There are a host of accused and confirmed terrorists living freely in Pakistan. If he really wants to wipe off terrorism, he should be strong enough to defy all the forces that come in the way of peace. Indians and Pakistanis are acutely suffering from terrorism. It would be better for us if Mr. Zardari, instead of his emotive articulations, takes the required actions against the terrorists. We want business.

Shadab Husain

Lucknow

Mr. Zardari’s article appears just at the right time when there is a surge in anger in India against Pakistan. He has confessed that he has no control over non-state actors and that he wants to build the economy, presumably with the help of Arab world, in a bid to contain terrorists.

Only if he takes up the task of destroying the terror camps in Pakistan with the help of India and the U.S. jointly will the rest of the world come forward to assist the country in its economic growth.

V.S. Sankaran,

Madurai

Mr. Zardari tends to homogenise terror in South Asia, implying that India and Pakistan are on the same side. Second, he accepts that the previous administrations in Pakistan sold its peace and sovereignty to the West in the fight against the Soviet Union sowing the seeds of extremism in South Asia. Mr. Zardari misses the point that either Pakistan nurtured terrorism in its own soil to weaken India or turned a blind eye to the mushrooming growth of terror outfits, which have now gone beyond the control of the government and he is forced to label them as non-state actors. If Mr. Zardari wants to start a new chapter, he must cooperate fully with India in bringing the Mumbai accused to justice.

Ashwani Sharma,

Ghaziabad

Mr. Zardari’s article sounds hollow. If Pakistan too is affected by terrorism, why is he not cracking down on such elements? Why did he take so long to launch the military strikes on camps of these non-state actors? Was the killing of Benazir and the bombing in Islamabad not proof enough to crack down on them? Did a Mumbai have to happen for him to introspect?

More than to the world, he is answerable to the people of his country. Some people take a boat from Karachi and come to Mumbai. It is as much our negligence – of allowing them to enter India — as of Pakistan — of allowing them to get trained. If Mr. Zardari was serious enough, he would not have stopped with “putting restrictions.” It is time he gathered proof about attacks in his own country. He owes it to the people of Pakistan.

S. Sudhir Kumar,

Hyderabad

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