- The terrorists knew what they were doing in Sri Lanka
We will never get the right answers unless we ask the right questions. Nor will we understand the implications of truth until we learn how to face facts. We cannot disguise horror by prefacing it with a adjective. Let me offer an example that is currently relevant.
We often soften the impact of barbaric by describing it as senseless. Let me be clear. The havoc let loose on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka was not “senseless”. It was the work of vicious forces who knew exactly what they were doing.
Initial reports suggest that the Towheeth, or Tauhid, Jamaat was responsible. It planned this ruthless mass murder of innocent Christians at prayer with care, coordination and a ruthless desire for maximum kill rate. The Jamaat is affiliated to groups in Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan in its inner ring and better known organizations on the perimeter. It belongs to networks armed, trained and financed by extremely powerful state and non-state interests. The outrage in Sri Lanka is another chapter in a long war initiated by terrorists who use mass murder as a means of creating fanatic space. Its signature clues are visible in the debris of churches and carnage of dead and wounded.
At least three of the dead are Indians. Our hearts go out to them. But may I ask a subsequent question? Why don’t our minds follow our hearts? Why do we stop thinking once the tragic funerals are over?
In the terrorist universe, anyone who is not with the Jihad is an enemy
Without minimising the enormous tragedy of Sri Lanka a thought perhaps deserves mention. India was surely also a target of these terrorists.
We cannot say what will happen next, particularly in the midst of a turbulent and decade-defining general election. There is no room for complacency. But it is absolutely obvious that terrorists no longer find India the playground for violence that it used to be during the UPA decade. During every Diwali we would become apprehensive. Every city seemed vulnerable. Terrorists realised that there would be no accountability when Dr Manmohan Singh did nothing after the horror of Mumbai in 2008. Those days are over. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the political will and military nerve to seek cross-border accountability for cross-border terrorism.
What is deeply troubling is the Congress attitude to national security. Its election manifesto weakens our security and defence forces, through a dilution of capability and statute provisions.
An outstanding virtue of India’s philosophical heritage is our belief in pluralism and harmony. We do not therefore punish the many for the sins of the few. Our enemies believe that brutal terrorism will provoke communal riots. Each time we have lived by our principles rather than succumbed to rage.
But why does Congress consistently protect the malignant few in the name of the many?
Think about it and think also about whether a Congress leadership as currently constituted can, or even wants to, keep our country safe. This is the Congress which offers succour to those who raise slogans on a campus threatening to dismember India into little pieces.
A virulent Jihad, launched by a few malevolent members of a much larger community, has made Sri Lanka part of its war zone for conscious rather than random reasons. Its strategy has been consistent. It hits where least expected. There are no boundaries to its barbarism. Memory is a major victim of complacency and so we have forgotten that the Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked in Lahore by Pakistan-based terrorists. Unfortunately Colombo did not pursue this potential national calamity for reasons that can only be described as appeasement. We shall see what happens next in 2019.
In the terrorist universe, anyone who is not with the Jihad is an enemy; indeed even benefactors can lapse into apostasy if they are not careful. India’s unity, security and prosperity are in the crosshairs of killers. We are in the midst of a confrontation we did not seek. To win we need a leader who understands the meaning of vigilance and the power of counteroffensive.
