Nearly 200 people lost their lives in the serial bomb blasts in India’s financial capital of Mumbai. The number is insignificant in a country of a billion but deliberate planned massacres have this cruel meaninglessness to them that rile up the hearts of even the disinterested.
The immediate Indian response to the blasts was muted as the government refused to pin down the attack on Pakistan supported militant groups before enough corroborating evidence could be collected to point to as much. The response was markedly different from the theatrical over-the-top response of the BJP led government, which deployed troops at the border after the attack on the Indian parliament.
The muted response comes amidst strong pressure on Indian government to take ’strong measures’. While a casual observer may take this to be a sign of pussyfooting, there is a pragmatic rationale behind toning down the response - the elbow room that India has when it comes to Pakistan is very limited given that outright conventional war is not an option and that hostile rhetoric will only play into the hands of right wing elements in Pakistan.
The only recourse hence is an honest attempt by India to resolve the issue of Kashmir and if need be bend a little bit to make adjustments on the issue. India’s flexibility on the issue, combined by strong pressure from US, will go a long way in strengthening the hands of the moderates in Pakistan and in implementing reform.
Dismantling of the ‘terrorist infrastructure’ will need time given the widespread sympathy within the top echelons of Pakistani military towards Islamic extremists. In addition, the fact that the regime is fighting fundamentalist Islamists in one part of the country, NWFP, makes it unlikely for them to take upon themselves yet more another onerous task of dismantling the terrorist training camps in ‘Azaad Kashmir’.
The simple disheartening lesson of the current bomb blasts in Mumbai is that there is no easy way out of a ‘bad neighborhood’ for a country. We can’t sloganeer our way to reforming our neighborhood nor bomb our way. The only way is patient reform while keeping India’s own sectarian and other problems under control.