India and Pakistan, after the Mumbai Siege

It has been one month since some ten miscreants from across the border, from Pakistan, emerged in the city of Mumbai via the sea route and held the whole of India under siege for about three days. The audacious attack carried out by the criminals of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had the full backing of the ISI or the ex-officials of the organisation. As a result of this gruesome attack, India and Pakistan are at loggerheads and the diplomatic relationship between the two nuclear states is at a very low level. But instead of going on with deploying army at the border between the nations, India has taken the diplomatic route to pressurise Pakistan to take actions to dismantle the terror infrastructure in Pakistan. But the Pakistan government doesn’t seem to be in a mood to do this or doesn’t have the required power and authority to do this.

There are a lot of reasons to believe that the terror strike by Lashkar in Mumbai is a handiwork of the Pakistan army. Pakistan army is waging an unpopular war in the Afghan border against Taliban fighters of Pakistani origin. Under extreme pressure from the United States, Pakistan is forced to fight alongside NATO forces in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. This is a war that the Pakistan army loathe to fight as they are fighting against Pakistanis against the popular wish. They are in look out for an excuse to retreat from the Afghan border and a war with India will be a great excuse for them to withdraw from the western border and redeploy the army in their eastern border with India. A war against India will be a great morale booster for the Pakistani army that is under great stress fighting their own people in the western border. As it is evident from the present scenario, a war or a prospect of war with India is perhaps the only unifying force for the Pakistanis. Right now we are seeing that all political parties in Pakistan as well as army and even Pakistani Taliban are speaking in the same voice against India. So all in all a war can be a great benefit to the army in the pursuance of their ambitions. This is exactly the reason why India is not keen for a war with Pakistan and this is the reason why the United States is also interested in having a peaceful solution to this impasse.

What India need from Pakistan is pretty simple. We want Pakistan to handover the terrorists behind the Mumbai attack to us so that they can produced under a court of justice. The lone terrorist captured in the attack, Muhammad Ajmal Kasab, has told the interrogators that he is from Pakistan and has detailed them about the training that he received from Lashkar at their centre at Muridke in Pakistan. Moreover the precision and planning with which Mumbai attackers had gone on with their assault show that they had received training from people in the army or ex-officials of the army and the ISI. But Pakistan is going on with their denial that Kasab is not a Pakistani and says that Pakistan has no hand in the Mumbai attack.

The only option available with India to pressurise Pakistan into acting against the terrorist infrastructure in their mainland is by carrying out a diplomatic offensive. India has gone to the security council of the United Nations with the demand of banning the terror outfits in Pakistan. As a result of this United Nations had banned the sister organisation of LeT, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa or the JuD. India is also working with the United States to pressurise Pakistan into taking actions against the terrorists. Indian government is also trying to rope in China as well as Saudi Arabia into its diplomatic offensive to coerce Pakistan into doing something substantial in the fight against terror. India hasn’t taken the diplomatic step of calling back its High Commissioner from Pakistan or stopping the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) between the two nations. But the Indian government has called off the cricket team’s tour of Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes.

Pakistan is continuing with its denial rhetoric saying that the Mumbai attackers are not Pakistanis and hence they can’t take any actions against them. They say that they want more evidence from India, proving that the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack are from the Pakistani soil. But India is not interested in sharing the evidences with Pakistan as it is known that if we share the evidences with Pakistan they will use these evidences to help the terrorists to escape from international security forces, as is the experience of the past. In the past, when India shared evidences of the crimes committed by Pakistani nationals, Pakistan had taken some actions for the name sake and the acquitted the criminals under pretext of lack of tangible evidences against them.

Pakistan is a failed state where full-fledged democracy is still a distant dream. If someone thinks that with the arrival of democratic government in Pakistan, the grip of Pakistan army on the policy making of Pakistan is over, then they are thinking so only at their peril. Even now the army calls all the shots in Pakistan and this is evident from the way the Pakistani establishment had responded to the Mumbai attack. At first, President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Sardari promised to send the Director General of ISI to India to help in the investigation of the attack, but immediately had to backtrack following pressure from ISI and the army. So India should have no hope that Pakistan will act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack who have the backing and support of the ISI and the Pakistani army.

The Mumbai attack of 26/11 and the way in which Indian security forces and Mumbai police responded to it had shown to this world and the terrorists that India is a strong state with brave and courageous people. Though we were shocked for a short period of time, we have come back with more resolve and grit. At this point of time, we should also thank and salute the brave commandos and cops of India for saving thousands of people and for saving the pride of this nation. As an NSG commander has said, we hope that such an attack will not happen again in India, but if at all it happens we will make sure that the perpetrators of such crime will not go back safely. War with Pakistan is not a first option, but if that country is not ready to take actions against the terrorist infrastructure prevailing there, then we will have to resort to that last option. But till then, we have to go ahead with our diplomatic offensive and corner Pakistan and force them to take actions against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Today, 10 December 2008, marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Back in 1948, on the same day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration which has since become one of the most important documents of the civilised world. The Commission of Human Rights, a standing body of the United Nations, was composed for the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The commission was broadly represented by the delegates of the global community under the Chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that the inherent dignity and equality of human beings is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace and forms the basis for the peaceful coexistence of different people in this world. The declaration also aims at promoting equality and social justice for all men and women irrespective of their caste, creed, race, nationality, colour, language, religion, national origin, social status, political opinion and birth or other status. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also aspires to end slavery and other similar inhuman practices as well as cruel and degrading treatment or punishment.

There are 30 articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the basic principles of those articles are dignity, liberty, equality and universal brotherhood. The articles set forth the various principles of human rights in the realm of individual rights, rights of individuals in the political and civil society, public and spiritual rights as well as social, cultural and economic rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a legally binding treaty on the member countries of the United Nations but the declaration had a major influence on the constitutions of almost all countries since 1948. It is also the foundation for a number of universal treaties and has a very important influence on the laws of various international organisations.

Though the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in the year 1948 and 60 years had passed since then, human rights violations are still going on in various parts of this world. Organisations like the United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are constantly trying to pressurise governments of various countries for the strict adherence to the principles proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But there are a lot of rogue states in the world that are continuously violating the basic tenets of the declaration. Such states should be diplomatically convinced by the international community to follow the principles of human rights as envisaged by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is not only the responsibility of nations or international organisations, but that of all human beings to understand, disseminate as well as follow the basic principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As the declaration itself advocate, adoption of the various articles of this declaration is paramount to the achievement of international peace and universal brotherhood. So let us make a promise that we will follow those principles all our lives as well as voice our disapproval with courage whenever the basic tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are violated by individuals, organisations or nations.

The Quintessential Lady

A humming bird sings and flies past me,

Then comes back and flies round and round,

Her humming, quite mirthful, quite jocund,

So does my beloved sister speak,

With a sound, quite mirthful, quite jocund,

My sweet, new sister, with whom,

I have vowed to share the stage of this life,

In her affectionate heart, an indelible pain,

On her charming face, an indelible smile,

For she had learnt the art of veiling,

Agonizing incidences of appalling yore,

Under pretexts of affable humour.

During vexatious days, befriended her parents,
And told them, “at times life can get painful,
Yet we mortals have to live on and on,
Like the sun that sets westwards every dusk,
Only to rise in the east every morn afresh”,
And she, my beloved sister, goes on in life,
As a dutiful wife, for her life’s companion,
He, her better half, lives so merry, so easy,
Often proclaims, “Life is simple when she’s near”
She to her son, a mother, so special, so great,
And all mothers are so special, so great,
God wisely sent to build heaven on earth.

In this world, where made are promises,
To be broken, shattered or forgotten,
I, being a poet, possess an emotional heart,
And words so honest, truthful and earnest,
Makes a conscientious promise and swear,
To my sweet, new sister, with whom,
I have vowed to share the stage of this world,
“Even while I would rest in my sepulchre,
Old, decrepit and dead, my sincere soul,
Will be encumbered with a brotherly affection,
Coveted by the angels in the heaven,
And the devils beneath the blue sea.”

I stand upon this world, pleased and awed,
To have done a thing often held implausible,
And now with pride to the world I announce,
I have discovered the quintessential lady.

(Written on and dedicated to my new sister who is perhaps the greatest woman I have ever met in my life, next only to my mother. Her story is an inspiration to all who know her and knowing stories like her's make us understand that this life is worth living, though it is besmirched with pains and troubles)