Retributive Justice

IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY that is more accustomed than us to coping with the devastations of terrorism, October 7 has become symbolic of a people’s determination to put an end to the constant threats posed by the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and the regime in Iran. Whether the Jewish state succeeds in ending more than 75 years of existential threats is still a work in progress. Obviously, how far its strategic goals are realised depends not only on the resolve and capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces but also on how the world responds to conflicting pressures. The war to safeguard Israel will not be fought in the Middle East alone.

It is still very early to be certain if either Pahalgam or April 22 becomes etched in the collective consciousness of India. As of now, the initial shock waves followed by explosions of visceral anger have injected a sense of determination in the political leadership. Egged on by the backing of the entire nation—or, at least its overwhelming majority— the prime minister has promised that those who were first humiliated and then gunned down in cold blood will secure retributive justice. Without saying so explicitly, the government has made it clear that the pusillanimity and diplomatic circumnavigation that marked the response of the Manmohan Singh government to the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai in 2008 will not be repeated. Indeed, thanks to the Balakot air strikes of 2019, the expectation on the street is that India will not stop at merely putting the Indus Waters Treaty on indefinite hold. The national consensus is that the response to the Pakistan-inspired, if not Pakistan-organised, terrorism must be more militaristic.

As of now, Pakistan has not admitted any role in the Pahalgam attacks. It is being made out by the commentariat in that country— including the likes of ‘liberals’ who have connections in the West and among Delhi’s Khan Market gang—that this was yet another false-flag operation timed to coincide with the visit of US Vice President JD Vance. Their contention is that the Pahalgam massacre of Hindu tourists is a repeat of the Chittisinghpura massacre of Sikhs during US President Bill Clinton’s visit in 2000 which, too, was allegedly a false-flag operation. I have heard the likes of Najam Sethi make this claim on TV and I am sure it was repeated in one way or another at the controversial Pakistan conference organised by Harvard University’s Lakshmi Mittal Institute.

There was a time when Pakistani liberals were the toast of a self-loathing subset in North India, the type who were turned to jelly on hearing poetic Urdu and tasting biryani cooked with the forbidden meat. They contrasted the liberal licentiousness of Congress-run Delhi and ‘secular’ Bollywood to the narrow-mindedness of their own mullah-military dispensation. Since Narendra Modi and BJP came to power, this indulgence of decadent India has yielded place to a hatred of the new Bharat. The Pakistani elite with dual nationality now views India as a fascist state and a Hindu variant of Donald Trump. They find support from liberal arts academics of Indian origin in US academia who gladly do Pakistan’s bidding, if it will facilitate Muslim consolidation in India and the eventual fall of the Modi government.

It is certain that the larger project to ‘persuade’ Pakistan to stay away from meddling in the affairs of India will take time. What is certain is that as the impatience level among Indians rises, we are likely to see the emergence of an educated fifth column arguing for maximum Kashmiri autonomy and a political battle against Hindu majoritarianism. Apart from the usual suspects in the ghettos of Hyderabad and the centres of nawabi nostalgia in the Aryavarta, the centres of defeatism will be the media. Soon, there will be manufactured outcry against the media guidelines issued by the Centre, and there will be attempts to stir up communal feelings around the opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

It was a huge surprise for most Indians to learn of the very large numbers of Pakistanis who had immersed themselves in India, including some Aadhaar and voter ID cards. Some of them have been turfed out, and in the coming days, more will be detected and put into holding centres pending deportation. They will become the subjects of human rights traders who will also try to draw in the judiciary to their misplaced campaign.

This time, apart from taking the necessary actions against terrorists on both sides of the border, the war to cleanse India must not exclude the Home Front.

India-Pakistan relationsjusticeKashmirNarendra ModiPahalgamterror attack