WHAT NEXT FOR INDIA

War begets War, Hatred more Hatred. No wars or attempted wars have produced solutions. If that be the case then America’s War on terrorism should have been a resounding success by now. Instead even to day it languishes in a stalemate situation. What have they achieved by their invasion of Afghanistan or Iraq, or by their aerial bombings of camps within Pakistan. Have they brought about any change in the situation. No and on the contrary Unable to retaliate against these attacks what do see, an attack against the Indian embassy in Kabul and now the Mumbai .It is their way of venting their spleen displaying their impotency at targeting their actual enemy the US. It is against this backdrop that one has to view the incessant calls from all quarters for a strike across the LOC at the ‘Terrorist training camps’. Not only will such an reaction be foolhardy but will be a sure catalyst for igniting a full blown war, one which both countries can ill afford at this juncture. After all no country worth its salt wants its territorial integrity violated and take no retributive action. So then what is the answer to the present crisis.. Certain aspects that have come to my mind are outlined in the following Para.

The immediate need of the hour in my opinion is wise counsel and sane and mature reaction at all levels, Government as well as the public. Government has to accept the fact that the strikes resulted consequent to serious flaws in its intelligence network and should take appropriate actions to remedy this flaw. They should examine the idea of a common identify card for all Indian Nationals. This should preferably be prepared at birth and should replace all existing cards. They should be the sole authority for establishing identity of a person. As for the public, they should ensure that they resort to constructive criticism of the politicians and take immediate steps to increase awareness and accept responsibility for sanitizing their neighborhood by acting as eyes and ears of the local police. To start with they can be the first levels of contact for identifying any suspicious movements or activities in their area. More importantly we should take a pledge that we will not fall a prey to corruption and take action to bring to book any one found doing so. All guardians of public places like schools, colleges, buses, trains, Entertainment and shopping locales etc be made more vigilant and imparted necessary education to take preventive action for repeat of any such misadventure in the future. Finally the media must be impressed upon to be more moderate in airing views and opinions lest they jeopardize public safety, and during crisis time afford free publicity to the attackers.

I feel as a start these actions would help smear balm on the bruised soul of our nation. All thoughts of offensive action should be eschewed and wise counsel should prevail.