Author: Nilanjana Bhaduri Jha
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 18, 2002
When Omar Abdullah speaks, people
listen. The Lok Sabha listened attentively when the young minister told
the world that India does not need its empty support, that India would
not let the Jammu massacre go unanswered. His father nodded imperceptibly.
Participating in the discussion
on the terrorist strike of May 14, Omar, dressed in off-white Pathan suit,
spoke with hands clasped behind the back and straight from the heart.
With a heart-rending account of
how a soldier's family was massacred in cold blood, the Minister of State
for External Affairs had a simple question: "What do we tell that soldier
who defends our borders?"
The Kaluchak attack was "as grievous
as" the attack on Parliament, hesaid, because this would have repercussion
on the Army's morale.
His father, Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Farooq Abdullah, sat above in the visitor's gallery listening
to every speaker. When Omar rose to speak, Farooq leaned forward - impassive,
attentive.
Omar Abdullah had no time for niceties.
He went straight for the jugular. Why was the option of war always talked
about in nuclear terms.
"I fail to understand how could
Pakistan even consider a nuclear option. Given the size of India and Pakistan,
which country will be around?... Pakistan will be stupid to consider the
nuclear option," he said.
Pakistan, he said, was working on
one assumption: that democracy and coalition politics would delay consensus
on any matter of gravity. "They just have to turn on the television and
listen to this discussion to know howwrong they are," he said.
Warning Pakistan that the Jammu
massacre would not go "unchecked and unanswered" by India, Omar also slammed
the international community for paying only lip service to India's concern
on cross-border terrorism.
"If this is support, then thank
you very much. You can take your support back. We don't want it," he said,
reminding the nation that India's fight against terrorism was clearly not
the international community's fight.
The minister said that New Delhi
would battle alone as it had in the last 20 years. It would also continue
to be stubborn in its demand for handing over of the 20 terrorists by Pakistan.
And there would be no resumption
of dialogue till cross-border terrorism ended.
The Kashmiri leader said that though
impending elections in the state were important, they were not more important
than national security. Because fair elections were not possible without
security being assured.
