Author:
Publication: BJP Today
Date: February 1-15, 2002
Introduction: Advaniji's Press statements
in Washington
Home Minister L. K. Advani has said
that he agreed with President George W. Bush that there could not be good
terrorists and bad terrorists. President Musharraf, he said at a press
conference on Dec. 9 in Washington Dec. thought otherwise.
Here is the text of L. K. Advani's
element at the press conference. "I have come to the United States on an
official visit for three purposes: to express solidarity with the government
and the people of the United States in their ongoing struggle against terrorism;
to thank them for their understanding and support for India's struggle
against the same menace emanating from the same source; and to discuss,
in the aftermath of September 11 and December 13, when terrorists mounted
an attack on our Parliament, way of giving effect to our common resolve
to defeat terrorism decisively and speedily.
I pay tribute to the patriotism
and unity of the American people and the unflinching determination of their
government in the face of the worst ever terrorist attack in history that
they, and the entire horrified humanity, witnessed on September 11. The
resolute war on terrorism in Afghanistan has already achieved significant
successes. India fully supports this war because of our principled belief
that freedom itself, and not the United States alone, was attacked on that
day.
The strong leadership provided by
President Bush in this ongoing war against international terrorism has
been appreciated in India. We also acknowledge the American leadership's
appreciation of, and practical support to, India's own struggle against
the menace of terrorism India was gratified by the strong US condemnation
of the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament, which we believe is as grave
a challenge to India's sovereignty just as the terrorist attacks on the
Pentagon and WTC Towers were to USA'S.
India and USA: Twin Towers of Democracy
I wish to emphasise that India and
the United States have a unique role in the struggle against terrorism.
We are both victims of terrorism. We are both actively fighting against
it, albeit in our own ways with a steadily growing degree of cooperation.
The common threat that we face,
and the coordinated struggle that we have had to wage against this common
menace, have underscored the need for a strong and longer-term partnership
between us, anchored in our shared values and driven by the congruency
of our common interests.
After all, it is instructive to
know why international terrorism has made India and the United States its
principal targets. I think that this is because our two countries cherish
and celebrate all that the terrorists abhor and consider impediments to
the realization of their own strategic objective.
We both believe in pluralism and
secularism, which is rooted in respect for all faiths. We are both open
societies, in which freedom of the press judiciary and enterprise are constitutionally
guaranteed.
Above all, we are both democracies
indeed, I would like to describe India and
America as "the Twin Towers of Democracy".
The terrorists may have destroyed the steel and concrete structures of
the WTC, but they can never harm the structures and the spirit of our two
democracies.
More and more parts of the world
are embracing these universal values. Indeed, these values have come to
be recognized as categorical imperatives for securing development and peace-
both regional and global. The ideology of international terrorism, as propounded
by Al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toyba and
Jaish-e-Mohammed born in India's neighborhood, is feeling threatened by
the steady advancement of these values. Which is why, its attacks have
become more audacious and diabolical in recent times. The happenings of
September 11 and December 13 have demonstrated its willingness and ability
to strike any vital installation in any country at any time.
I would like to recall here the
prescient words of our Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, who had
pointed out in his address to the US Congress in September 2000, that "distance
offers no immunity against international terrorism". During his visit to
the United States in November last, Shri Vajpayee also stated that the
terrible tragedy of September 11 "has created the opportunity to fashion
a determined global response to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,
wherever it exists and under whatever name". December 13 increased the
need and urgency for such a "determined global response" several fold.
Pakistan's double standards in dealing
with terrorism
I would like to take this opportunity
to focus on Pakistan's fundamental, deep and continuing role in sustaining
international terrorism. As everyone knows, Taliban was created and propped
up by Pakistan's ruling establishment. It had done so principally to help
Pakistan as a "force multiplier" in its proxy was against India, conducted
through acts of terrorism not only in the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir
but also in other parts of our country. Over the past two decades, terrorism,
sponsored and directed from across the border by Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) as a matter of that county's state policy, has claimed
nearly 60,000 of our innocent civilians and security personnel - in Punjab,
in Jammu & Kashmir, and in other parts of India.
Therefore, Indians, as also many
people around the world, were bemused when Pakistan effected a sudden U-turn
in its policy towards Taliban and decided to join the US-led international
coalition against terror in Afghanistan. We cannot understand how Pakistan
can now claim to be opposed to terrorism on its west and Continue to rationlise,
justify and patronize it on its east. In a logic that flies in the face
of every norm of civilized international behaviour, President of Pakistan,
General Pervez Musharraf, again indicated at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu
last week that the terrorist acts in Jammu & Kashmir - and by corollary,
elsewhere in India - are a part of a legitimate "freedom struggle" in Kashmir,
which his government would continue to support.
I would like our friends in USA
and elsewhere in the world to ponder: "What type of freedom fighters are
these who set off serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, hijack a civilian airliner
and take it, unsurprisingly, to Taliban-controlled Kandahar, routinely
conduct mass killings of innocent civilians, carry out a terrorist attack
on the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly and strike at India's Parliament,
the heart of the world's largest democracy?"
We fully agree with President Bush's
exhortation that "there cannot be good terrorists and bad terrorists".
Obviously, President Musharraf seems to think otherwise. He would like
the world to believe that there are "good terrorists" at work in furtherance
of Pakistan's stand on Kashmir.
Our resolve and our objective
December 13 has steeled India's
resolve to take our battle against Pak-sponsored cross-border terrorism
to the finish, guided by the objective of bringing it to a decisive end.
India lost her former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to terrorism fomented
in Punjab. It took us over a decade to overcome terrorism in Punjab. But
vanquish it, we did. We are similarly determined to stamp out terrorism
in Jammu & Kashmir and in the rest of India.
We hope that our diplomatic and
political initiatives, coupled with the concerns expressed by the international
community, will lead Pakistan to end its cross-border terrorism against
India.
In this context, we highly appreciate
what President Bush and his administration have done so far to make Pakistan
begin to comprehensively abandon its policy on terrorism. However, Pakistan
has so far neither shown any sincerity in wanting to end cross-border terrorism
against India nor taken adequate, demonstrable and effective steps in that
direction.
India has never been wanting in
self-restraint. We have shown immense restraint during the prolonged proxy
war waged by Pakistan, which we faced many grave provocations. India made
several sincere and bold efforts in the past three years to seek peace
with Pakistan. Each time, Pakistan responded with betrayal. As far as India
is concerned, December 13 has been the gravest of provocations so far.
Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee has spoken for on billion Indians when he
said that it has "breached the limit of our endurance".
We shall not take another betrayal
this time around. Pakistan must act - sincerely, decisively, demonstrably
and speedily. The touchstone of Pakistan's sincerity will be its positive
response to the following legitimate demands put forth by India:
1. Handing over to India of 20 terrorists,
whose names, along with copious evidence of their acts of crime against
India, has been given by us to the Government of Pakistan. Many of these
terrorists are Indian nationals and have been sheltered in Pakistan.
2. Closure of facilities, training
camps, arms supply, funding and all other manner of direct and indirect
assistance for terrorists on Pakistani soil, including on areas controlled
by it.
3. Stoppage of infiltration of arms
and men from Pakistan into Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
4. A categorical and unambiguous
renunciation of terrorism in all its manifestations and wherever it exists,
irrespective of the cause it seeks to further".
