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With two massacres-one of Amarnath yatris, the other of innocent civilians in Doda-and unprovoked artillery fire at the Line of Control, Pakistan has made its intentions loud and clear.
If talks fail, kill. There cannot be a more abominable act than gunning down innocent civilians to score a point. The global community should condemn these killings for two reasons. First, they constitute cold-blooded murder of civilians by terrorists sponsored by another nation. Second, they clearly seek to subvert the peace process initiated by India that had culminated in the Agra Summit.
The killings incidentally have ripped the mask of geniality Musharraf has been donning for the world media during the past one week or so. Behind the suave exterior hides the cold, calculating leader of a manipulative junta. Musharraf is a military dictator. Under his sherwanis and smart one-liners, he is all rock, capable of even taking the extreme step of using a nuclear weapon to settle scores, as he almost ventured to do during the Kargil war. This is what the world needs to realise. Musharraf is the true face of a State where terrorists dictate the terms of diplomatic engagement with another nation. It is therefore not easy for Musharraf to shrug off his proximity to terrorist and fundamentalist organisations. His covert hand, therefore, is responsible for the killings the terrorists perpetrate on the innocent civilians of Kashmir. Musharraf has been actively supporting various terrorist groups within Pakistan and in Kashmir. It is no secret that he has allowed these groups of killers to set up offices in Islamabad, and let them collect funds and recruit boys for their killing missions in Kashmir. He is so enamoured of them that, before leaving for New Delhi to talk peace with Indian Prime Minister, he sought the blessing and advice of the leaders of several of these fundamentalist and terrorist groups. What they told him was unambiguous: Talk nothing else but Kashmir. He followed their advice to the tee. In fact, he went a few steps further and sanctified these killers by calling them freedom fighters. His brazen attempts at legitimising terrorism as a noble fight for freedom, at Agra and later in Islamabad, should make the global community realise Musharraf's gameplan. He has not changed one bit since Kargil. He wants Kashmir at any cost. Talking peace is only a distraction, a smokescreen to put in place what his mentor, Zia ul Haq, had called Operation Topac, a diabolical plan to dismember India.
India needs to be on full alert
in dealing with Musharraf. Talk to him, by all means, but with a gun tucked
in the waistband. The issue is not about Kashmir alone. It is about national
honour. Pakistan cannot dictate terms to India. It has no locus standi
on Kashmir. If India has chosen to take an open and holistic view of the
issue, it is out of her eagerness to broker peace in the region. Not out
of pusillanimity. This should be made clear to Musharraf. The only way
to achieve this is by launching an intensive counter-offensive operation
against terrorists. The Government should give a carte blanche to security
forces to go all out; they must be allowed to engage terrorist groups with
a vengeance unseen since 1996. Only a strong hand can ensure peace.
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