The ways of rescripting India’s language of engagement with non-state armed groups like the Taliban are discussed. The engagement essentially does not accord moral legitimacy to acts of violence by the Taliban, but pushes for refashioning India’s image from being an “alien” other to a “differentiated” other.
The political leadership in Pakistan, even when democracy has grown and strengthened, has limited writ over what it can do regarding what the military considers its terrain. The Taliban may have been partially eliminated, but other equally odious militants continue to find protection through some organisations and individuals in the military. Dealing with the threats to Pakistan’s future and stability entails a deeper look within rather than blaming India or Afghanistan.
An extremely well-researched report prepared by an expert on Afghan music and brought out by the Copenhagen-based Freemuse not only sheds light on the state of music and musicians of Afghanistan at a critical juncture of history, but also provokes wider questions about the basic relationship between artistes and religious and political bigots.
Despite public support to root out the al Qaida network and depose the Taliban, the Bush administration will be mistaken if it believes that the Vietnam syndrome - a public aversion to unnecessary foreign adventures - is obsolete. The degree of domestic dissent will depend on how carefully the US conducts its Afghan operations.
India's foreign minister has described the war against terrorism as between a coalition of democracies and terrorism. But that does not isolate terrorism. There are many countries which are not democratic or are semi-democratic whose support needs to be enlisted. India's main enemy today is not Pakistan, or Afghanistan, but terrorism. It should contribute in building the broadest possible anti-terrorist coalition.
Short of the Taliban graciously handing over Osama bin Laden and his rabble no imaginable act of appeasement can stay the hand of the US military. But pure retaliation will not suffice. Ample ploughshares must accompany the shiny high tech swords if the hatreds that steered the fatal airliners are to be stemmed rather than stoked.
