India's 60 years of Independence:

A difficult journey through calamities

INDEPENDENCE: On August 15 India entered 60 years of independence which has been one hell of a difficult journey. During this period, India has fought wars, secession, internal emergencies and calamities of apocalyptic proportions, political instability, corruption scandals and a lot more.

The latest threat from Islamic terrorism is perhaps more serious than the challenge posed by the militant Sikhs or the insurgents in the northeast region.

If the Indian Government does not address the problems that give rise to terrorism at the earliest then it could tear apart the secular fabric of the country and create circumstances for another partition.

India's problems with modern terrorism ironically, coincide with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. During this year Kashmir, the bone of contention between India and Pakistan, erupted in a kind of violence that had not been witnessed before.

The trigger for the violence was when the Government rigged elections to prevent a radical Muslim party from coming to power, as New Delhi feared that they may lead to Kashmir's secession from India.

The daughter of India's home minister was kidnapped and New Delhi was forced to submit to the demands of the terrorists. Over the years, India has blamed Pakistan for providing arms and moral support to these militants, whom Islamabad likes to call 'freedom fighters'.

Before 9/11 disaster in New York, Indian Government had been trying to convince the international community about Pakistan's involvement in Kashmir, but they took it light.

Arguments such as " someone's freedom fighter is another person's terrorists" were given as answers to India's attempts to get Pakistan declared as a terrorist State.

Pakistani diplomats never failed to give the example of Indian support to Tigers in Sri Lanka. "How is our support to the Kashmiris, any difference. We are also providing moral support to fight State repression," these could be heard at diplomatic parties. Due to this support India has suffered a lot.

There may be truth in the maxim the good or the bad you do always you get it back. Since the early 90's, the nature and content of terrorism has gone through a sea of change. 9/11 proves that the modern day terrorists are highly committed and trained: they could plan big and hurt big.

Also, they managed to package militant Islam as against the policies of United States of America and how it promoted dictators and injustice around the world. Militant Islam occupied the ideological space vacated by communism.

Many of the terrorists that were involved in 9/11 belonged to Saudi Arabia - a country propped up by USA, where it has a military presence.

These Islamic militants hate US for defiling their holyland, where the revered Mecca and Medina are located. What has also lent substance to their grievance is the manner in which the Israelis have walloped the Palestinians.

Majority Muslim opinion is convinced that if USA wanted then it could have reined in its ally, Israel. Islamic terrorist organisations like Al-Qaida are targeting all those countries that ally with US in its war against terror. India, which has been racked by its own problems over the last 60 years is now perceived to be a close US ally.

The relationship with US may work at one level, where it gets civilian nuclear technology, foreign investment, greater access to forbidden technologies etc., but it creates its own share of gargantuan social and political problems.

Its technology and growth model is capital driven, which has no space of subsidies and envisages a restrictive role for the Government.

Poor are made to fend for themselves and hope that some part of 8-10 per cent growth that India is hoping in the next few years would trickle down to them. Such policies breed angst against the Indian State and contribute in giving ideological raison de etre to left militants.

Proximity to USA in these times also globalises the local Islamic terrorists that India had to contend with all these years.

The Kashmiri militant organisations like Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) that were making life miserable for Indian security forces are now executing the diktats of multinational terror enterprise run by Osama-bin-Laden.

While most countries can take that kind of heat, a multi-religious society like India with almost 15 crore Muslims living cheek by jowl with Hindus cannot.

A terrorist strike like the one witnessed in Mumbai on July 11 can trigger riots between the Hindus and Muslims or escalate war between India and Pakistan.

Thanks to the secular minded United Progressive Alliance Government riots have not taken place after the Mumbai blasts, but one does not know what might happen later. The uneasiness is quite palpable in the lunatic fringe of the two communities, who want to give a black eye to each other.

The BJP President, Rajnath Singh, taking the cue from the aborted attempts in London to bomb 11 aircrafts and reports many of the conspirators were Pakistanis, wants India to bomb terrorist bases in Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Singh hopes that his mad cap advice would be followed by the Indian Government.

It is in these difficult circumstances that India enters its 60 anniversary.