Doublespeak

PAKISTAN FOREIGN Minister Khurshid Kasuri’s remarks linking the fight against terrorism to the resolution of the Jam mu & Kashmir problem is a Freudian slip if there ever was one. Though Pakistani officials have rushed to claim that he was misquoted, the fact is that he was only articulating his country’s real policy: unless New Delhi gives satisfaction to Islamabad on Kashmir, it will continue to face terrorist attacks from individuals and organisations sheltered in Pakistan. Mr Kasuri should know he is playing with fire. Pakistan may have gotten away with a lot in the past, but the world is increasingly getting impatient with its twofaced policy. He may also like to recall another set of UN resolutions — 1566 of 2004 and 1373 of 2001 — that makes it clear that terrorist acts cannot be justified on any “political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious” grounds. His own government has also given India bilateral commitments in 2004 “not [to] permit any territory under Pakistan’s control to be used to support terrorism in any manner”.

In the last year or so, even as the peace process has moved at a slow but deliberate pace, there have been disturbing indications that Pakistan has not kept to its commitments. Training camps for terrorists have been re-established, and news of this has come from the Pakistani media itself. At the same time, terrorist attacks on India have been stepped up. Pakistani footprints have also been found on terrorist acts committed elsewhere, such as the London bombings of last year.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has chosen to avoid blaming Pakistan for the Mumbai blasts, even though the government has pulled up Mr Kasuri for what the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said were “appalling” remarks. But this soft approach will only work if the government is able to use the sense of outrage across the world to get Pakistan to act against the terrorist camps and the individuals who plan these attacks, who continue to operate from Pakistan. It is one thing for the government and media to praise the spirit of Mumbai and its citizens, and quite another to ensure justice is done on behalf of those who were killed and maimed on Tuesday.