India Attacked: Please don’t politicise Pulwama 

The Pulwama terror attack last week was an attack on India. The cold-blooded murder of nearly 50 Indian security men by a Jaish-e-Muhammad operative bore the undeniable footprint of the ISI and the Pakistan Army, which have been using terror as a weapon against India for the past three decades and more. It has turned Kashmir into a battlefield through a proxy terror war. Whatever excuse Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan may offer, the world knows that Pakistan is one of the fountainheads of terrorism. Pakistan, which allowed the mastermind of 9/11 tragedy Osama bin Laden to stay on its soil, cannot claim with any credibility that it has nothing to do with the Pulwama terror attack. It is known that Jaish chief Azhar Masood was extended protection by the Pakistan Army and that Jaish claimed responsibility for the attack. The world understands and we Indians, with our past experience like the attack on our Parliament and the Mumbai terror attack, know Pakistani game-plan of ‘bleeding India through a thousand cuts’. This is the reason why Pakistan today stands globally and diplomatically isolated. Virtually every other country, including UK, USA and France, has condemned the terror attack at Pulwama. Chinese support alone amidst worldwide condemnation is not enough to wash off Pakistan’s nefarious designs inside India.

Naturally, India needs to stand united in this hour of national grief and tragedy. Home Minister Rajnath Singh did well to call an all-party meeting to evolve a national consensus on how to deal with the post Pulwama situation. The entire political spectrum unitedly authorised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take whatever action he deems necessary to deal with the situation. That was the right course Indian political parties should have taken. And, they wisely did. But, unfortunately the consensus that had emerged at the all-party meet started crumbling within three days. Charges began to be traded between the BJP and various regional parties that the Pulwama tragedy is being used by the ruling party for electoral purposes. They even blamed the Prime Minister first for addressing thinly veiled election rallies and for whipping up passions in the wake of the national tragedy. The BJP was, obviously, quick to deny the charge. But the denial carries little conviction in the wake of BJP president Amit Shah declaring that since there is a BJP and not Congress Government at the Centre, there would be no compromise on national security. If this was not a blatant instance of politicising the tragedy, one doesn’t know what else could qualify as such. The threat of terrorism to Indian unity is increasingly being turned into an emotive, electoral issue rather than an issue of national concern. It’s indeed, shocking. It’s the primary duty of the ruling party and the Prime Minister to avoid politicising Pulwama. We sincerely hope that better sense will prevail and India will stand united to face the challenge.