The Pak conundrum

Our neighbour greeted us for the new year by sending some people across the border with gifts. It only turned out to be that the gifts were not roses, but guns. Another day, week, month has passed with the news of Pakistan pumping more bullets and bombs across the border. This time, the only difference was that it was Punjab, not Kashmir. Gujarat, Punjab and Kashmir, with their borders to our friendly neighbour, are the most sensitive states when it comes to bearing the brunt of infiltration and subsequent attacks. Poor army, air force and navy personnel lose their lives. The issue is, how long can we keep closing our eyes even though we know the intentions? On top of everything, the twitter handle of the Pakistan Government 'condemns' these attacks. It is like the left hand apologising for the right hand slapping you! How ironic can it get?

 

(image source: www.indianexpress.com)

The painfully amusing thing is that every time there is a peace 'overture' from us, it ends with these 'gifts'. Pakistan was unfortunately founded on hate. They made their intentions clear from day one of their independence. A state basing its politics on religion is unfortunately going downhill. I don't understand what ordinary Pakistanis would make of this situation. Every single day, their schools are just teaching one thing to their kids - 'Hindu' India is our enemy. This is despite India having one of the highest Muslim populations in the world.

Unfortunately, the only agenda of Pakistan seems to be belittling India, at any fora it gets, apart from these attacks. I remember, after the November 26, 2008 Bombay terror attack, the then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew all the way to India - not to share our grief, but to 'advise' India not to attack Pakistan! Today there are new revelations that we were 'hours away from bombing them' and the like. The western world has double standards for terror on their soil and on Indian soil because we allow them to do it. The recent example is France. No one can humiliate you unless you allow them to. Our pusillanimity reaches new benchmarks. How much can we get pricked?

What's the solution? Well bombs can never be the solution. We have bombs, they also have bombs. Can we bomb Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi? They will in turn bomb Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore, Madras and the like. Is this a solution? Well, certainly not. We have to talk. But what is there to talk? And can we talk? Anymore?

Pakistan's  Presidents, Prime ministers, Ministers, Legislators and Judges apart from the common man live with such fear as to what would happen next. What can we talk with them? There needs to be a complete change of head and heart in Pakistan. They have allowed religion and the Army to run their lies to such an extent that they are unable to control terrorism at their own homes. It started with Zia Ul Haq and continues to this day. The issue is I cannot get into your head and change it. Will they? very bleak. I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. They have got so deep in this quagmire that they are just sinking in quicksand.

Just imagine, if an air force base can be stormed (Pathankot, in this case), how safe are civilian stations? The only solution forward is that we have to secure ourselves as much as possible. There needs to be no stumbling block when it comes to security and profiling of terror suspects. After all, this is our country and we have to protect it. Terror has no religion and when a bomb blasts, it does not kill people who belong to a particular religion.