India is reeling with yet another terrorist attack that seems designed to halt the Indian economic miracle and derail its democratic, open society, writes Gamal Nkrumah If Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not yet lost all his hair, he would surely be tearing it out right now. Pity we shall never know, since he hides whatever is left of it underneath his venerable Sikh turban. He has good reason to be glum. Five blasts rocked the Indian capital New Delhi this past week. The three big explosions in three districts of Delhi caused havoc and claimed the lives of more than 20 and injuring scores. The first blast went off in Paharganj, the second in Govindpuri and the third and most devastating, since it was detonated during the rush hour when shoppers were scanning the popular Sarojini Nagar market in the heart of the Indian capital. Hard on the heels of the spate of riotous disasters that had befallen Indian- administered Kashmir, the Delhi blasts pose poignant questions. The pundits pontificated as to the ripple effects of the blasts. Commentators and politicians alike sounded the alarm bells. Their outlook is grumpily elegiac. As this week's bombings bloodily highlighted, Indians are prey to terrorist attacks. India could not have ignored the global war on terrorism even if it had wanted to. Moreover, India's unfortunately anarchic democracy has been directly shaken up by the war. The question uppermost in the minds of India's friends abroad is whether the Indian government has a strategy to stop these terrorist attacks that kill innocent civilians? "As is well-known, India has been a victim of international terrorism for more than two decades. From this standpoint, the government has been engaged in initiating and stepping up measures to prevent terrorist attacks against Indian citizens and targets, India's Ambassador to Egypt A Gopinathan told Al-Ahram Weekly. There is no room for debate about this: India, a vibrant democracy and a thriving economic power, is not overly preoccupied with terrorism. Yet the facts are that the country has been subjected to numerous terrorist attacks over the past two decades. On 29 October 2005, three powerful serial blasts exploded in Delhi, two days before the Hindu Deepwali festival claiming the lives of some 70 people. On 18 May 2007, a blast was set off in the Mecca Majjid, Hyderabad, killing 13. Then on 25 August 2007, 42 deaths were recorded in Hyderabad's Lumbini Park. But the list has snowballed this year. In Jaipur 13 May 2008, a blast resulted in 63 deaths. On 26 July 2008, 29 deaths in Ahmedabad. And now, India's capital city. All is by no means lost. India is sure to bounce back. Asif Zardari, ominously sworn in as president of Pakistan on 9/11, may be preening himself over his dubious triumph, but he is in a far less enviable position than Manmohan Singh. On the face of it, militant Islamists are not a species likely to flourish in a multi- religious, multi-linguistic, sprawling country such as India. Nevertheless, India is yet another target of Al-Qaeda. India's security services have broken up several Islamist terror cells. The Indian government was asked to advise on the likely effects of the bombs. The pundits predict a more precarious position for India with predictions that the international economic slowdown would inevitable catch up with India. Be that as it may, there are also sensible reasons for India's political classes to pay heed to militant Islamists. The omens are not good, they prophesy. They set out the arguments. Here is a recipe for conflict: economic slowdown, intensified terrorist acts, and an indifferent international response. Arab countries had little beside warm words of support to offer. The longer-term question is what these events mean for a booming India. In the eyes of more hopeful Indians, the question is whether that lack of capacity is all that it appears. For all this, parallels with the late 1990s, when terrorist attacks were on the rise, have their limits. Then there is the regional dimension, which is intricately intertwined with the rise of terrorism in India itself. Of all India's neighbours, Pakistan tries hardest to sound sympathetic. However, most Indians remain unconvinced about Pakistan's true motives. Rigorous nationalist lines. In the final analysis, the fight against terrorism in South Asia really does appear to be a matter of life and death. Yes, in general terms this sounds ominously vague. Is there no concrete plan of action against the terrorists? Again Ambassador Gopinathan sounded somewhat unspecific. "Over the years, the government has made several efforts to improve the machinery and methods for intelligence-gathering to prevent terrorist attacks, and to improve the machinery and methods for investigations after terrorist attacks in order to identify and prosecute the culprits. In this sense, this is not one static plan but more in the nature of a dynamic response to evolving situations to keep pace with the more and more sophisticated methods which the terrorists seem to employ," the ambassador explained. So are Indian Muslims to blame? Are we expected to foresee recrimination and acts of revenge against India's Muslim minority? Ambassador Gopinathan was emphatic. "It would be completely wrong to blame one single community or one single religion for the acts of a few misguided individuals," he said. "As experience the world over in recent years has shown, terrorism recognises no regional, religious or linguistic barriers; equally, its victims belong to all regions, religions and languages. Therefore, recrimination and acts of revenge against any minority community within India are not foreseen. We should also remember that the constitution of India and several legislations enacted over the past six decades provide security and protection for all minority communities in India. And, what about India's association with the United States militarily and with Israel? Does this make India prone to be attacked by Islamist militants? Ambassador Gopinathan does not believe that Delhi's close political and strategic alliance with Washington makes India more susceptible to terrorist attacks. "It would not be correct to assume that India's association with another foreign country makes India prone to terrorist attacks. India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for more than two decades. Thus, many of the acts of international terrorism against Indian citizens and targets in India predate the so-called friendship or association with one foreign country or another. The perpetrators of the terrorist attacks do not seem to be making any demands for changes in policies or attempting to engage in blackmail for political purposes. Therefore, one is led to conclude that these terrorist attacks are aimed at destabilising India and at weakening the rapid economic growth that India has been achieving in recent years. They are also aimed at destroying or denting the social fabric and communal harmony that have characterised independent India throughout the 60 years of its existence. In the context of the international war against terrorism, can Egypt and other Arab countries cooperate more closely on the question of terrorism? "India has consistently called for enhanced international cooperation to deal with international terrorism. We believe that it is only when such cooperation increases that we can hope to tackle international terrorism. It is with this end in view that India proposed more than a decade ago at the United Nations the draft of a Comprehensive Convention for International Terrorism that seeks to fill the gaps in the sectoral conventions against terrorism adopted already. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to adopt the text of the convention owing to persisting differences," he extrapolated further. "We sincerely hope that in the light of mounting incidents of international terrorism member states of the United Nations will come together, sooner rather than later, to resolve the outstanding differences in the draft and adopt the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism," the ambassador suggested. "We believe the ratification of such a convention will add a valuable tool in the hands of the international community in dealing with international terrorism," he concluded.
