Improper And Unwise Suggestion To Declare Pakistan As ‘Terrorist State’ – OpEd

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A member of parliament in India spoke in the parliament demanding that India should declare Pakistan as a terrorist state. Not surprisingly, a few other members of parliament and some politicians in India also echoed this improper and unwise demand. It is good that Narendra Modi government has not reacted to this demand and have just ignored this call.

There are millions of Indians as well as Pakistanis who understand that India and Pakistan should maintain harmonious relationship and should benefit mutually by various measures including collaboration, trade and cultural exchange. Whenever opportunities are provided and appropriate climate sought to be created, the people in India and Pakistan have responded to each other with goodwill, warmth and understanding.

The fact is that due to the prolonged and what now appears to be unending conflict and acrimonious relationships between both the countries, India and Pakistan are spending millions of dollars in maintaining the military strength and procuring arms and ammunitions from abroad. By such approach, only the arms merchants and weapon manufacturers in developed countries are benefited.

It is a fact that extremist elements and terror outfits in Pakistan are creating tensions in Jammu and Kashmir and are whipping up feelings of hate and unrest among the people against India. Obviously, such terror outfits get sort of support from Pakistan government and are given base in Pakistan. India is justified in feeling aggrieved over such conditions.

Of late, Pakistan government has admitted that Pakistan itself has become a victim of terrorist acts, as large number of innocent people including children in schools have been killed in bomb attacks by the terrorist groups. The conditions are so bad that Pakistan is unable to organize even international sports events in Pakistan and the sport loving people of Pakistan are left deeply disappointed. On several occasions in recent times, the Chief of army in Pakistan and Prime Minister of Pakistan have declared that they would wipe out terrorist base in Pakistan at any cost.

However, the ground reality is that terrorist outfits have not yet been silenced in Pakistan.

One is not sure as to whether the continued terrorist attacks in Pakistan are due to the inability of the government of Pakistan to put it down with the force needed or its lack of will. This situation also raises suspicion as to whether the core leadership of Pakistan are being checked and controlled by the terrorist outfits.

In any case, India should recognize that large segment of people of Pakistan are very unhappy and frustrated about the terrorist activities on the Pakistan soil. Possibly , there is realization among the Pakistani people themselves that Pakistan cannot be instrumental in encouraging terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and at the same time expect that Pakistan should get rid of terrorism on it’s soil.

Unfortunately, in most countries in the world today, the views and acts of the government are not fully supported or even understood by the people. Even in regions of conflicts like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and others, most of the citizens feel helpless , as their motherland are being torn by acts of politicians of one color or the other, who fight between themselves to gain control over the country. Innocents suffer beyond description.

While Pakistan government may be directly or indirectly or helplessly harboring the terrorist elements on it’s soil and consequently causing problems for India, the fact is that India would not be anyway benefited by declaring Pakistan as a terrorist state. This would be a counter productive and extremely bad strategy, that would totally prevent any feasibility of improving the relationships between India and Pakistan in the foreseeable future.

There are hawkish elements both in India and Pakistan, who seem to think that war is the solution for the problems . They need to be discouraged by the people in both the countries. They should be clearly told that their voice is not the voice of ordinary people, who have no particular vested interests in politics or conflicts and want to lead peaceful life.

Due to the acts of terror, politicians and those in the seat of power rarely suffer but only the ordinary people feel the pain in variety of ways and for many of them, life gets uprooted. As the pain of the victims of terrorism become more intense, their longing for peace become more intense and they pray that harmony in society should return.

When the peace loving and concerned people assert themselves in both the countries , survival of terrorists will become impossible and peace will inevitably return. The ball is clearly in the court of people of India and Pakistan.

N. S. Venkataraman

N. S. Venkataraman is a trustee with the "Nandini Voice for the Deprived," a not-for-profit organization that aims to highlight the problems of downtrodden and deprived people and support their cause. To promote probity and ethical values in private and public life and to deliberate on socio-economic issues in a dispassionate and objective manner.

3 thoughts on “Improper And Unwise Suggestion To Declare Pakistan As ‘Terrorist State’ – OpEd

  • March 12, 2017 at 3:54 am
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    Dear Sir,

    Your views are greatly respected however there is a fundamental and undercurrent that most miss which has the potential to derail even good arguments. It is something like wearing a superb, classy and expensive 3 piece suit and tie to a pool party where the norm is short and t-shirt.

    The point is the world is an extremely dangerous place and unfortunately India is surrounded by not so friendly countries that can destroy and tear apart the country given a chance. In that context just because it hurts some countries and because they have the power and wealth does not mean only they are the legitimate ones to declare a country as terrorist and destroy, India can also do and should to protect its own interests and the best way is to destroy the character of the country which does not need exaggeration.

    Reply
  • March 12, 2017 at 7:54 pm
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    It’s quixotic to think that there can be much improvement in this relationship. We want nothing to do with India aside from movies and textiles. Your top officials like Swami, Singh, and Parrikar routinely threaten to destroy Pakistan, yet you Indians think we don’t notice and still want to be friends. Maybe if it were still 2008, but times have drastically changed.

    With CPEC, we no longer are obliged to eventually befriend India. Now we can shift cultural spheres out of South Asia and into Central Asia and the Middle East. We don’t need you anymore, and you don’t need us. The best we should aim for is a cold peace where the border is tightly sealed and further diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties are snapped.

    So frankly, an official Indian policy to officially disengage Pakistan would actually be beneficial in the long run and help us both finally conclude our 70 year long divorce.

    Reply
  • March 14, 2017 at 12:29 am
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    An excellent , balanced article.
    Thanks OZA

    Reply

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