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In the context of Satya's letter and Harshal's reply thereto published in
Mumbai Grapevine on 4th January 2002, the Article on the subject pubished in
the Outlook (Jan 8-14) may be of interest.
V.K.Venugopal



Shut The Door  
War by other means -- though never the sneaky means of hit-and-run killers
-- would be in order. What comes to mind is the origin of the word
'boycott'. 
 
SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY 

 
If nationhood is tested and tempered in the crucible of danger, India should
by now lead the world in strength, unity and resilience. I exclude the
unending violence in Kashmir from this maturing process for that is a
battlefield where bloodletting is to be expected. Nor do I cry woe over
assaults on the bastion of democracy for democracy is not a monument of
stone and cement that barbarians can demolish. But murderous raids in the
capital city of the republic are as portentous as the attacks on the Twin
Towers and the Pentagon in America. More dangerous, in fact, for December 13
revealed that our enemy is not an alien intruder in distant skies but
someone who moves unnoticed and indistinguishable in our midst.  

When I now see a white Ambassador insolently rushing the traffic lights with
its red bulb glowing atop, I cannot help but ask whether a gunman lurks in
its cushioned depths or just a fat and self-important bureaucrat. A special
parking sticker plastered on the windscreen conjures up visions of a bomb
ticking away in the boot. Even khaki is no longer the prerogative of the
forces of law and order dedicated to upholding this beleaguered state. It
has become the butcher's camouflage.

We are none of us safe after the attack on Parliament House, following
earlier violence in the Red Fort and the IC-814 hijacking when a young man
on his honeymoon was cruelly stabbed to death in front of his unbelieving
wife. We must all suspect each other and ourselves. Who in the crowded bus
is exultantly preparing to sacrifice himself in order to slaughter the
innocent many? Whose innocuous shopping bag is waiting to explode? Mandatory
identification cards would only mean another flourishing cottage industry in
'duplicates'.

The dividing lines between homegrown traitors, fifth columnists and
disguised agents who can lose themselves in teeming cities are faint. The
negligence and corruption of immigration authorities and the treasonable
greed of communal legislators who bestow ration cards and other marks of
domicile on illegal aliens hold the state to ransom.  


They have made it difficult to separate citizen from criminal. That may not
be terrorism's worst legacy, but the destruction of trust is certainly one
of the most pernicious. Fear and mistrust can corrode a country's  unity;
they can destroy the multicultural fabric of nationhood more surely than
knife or bullet.

If there is no ready cure for the cancer of suspicion, there is an answer to
the problem of insidious aggression. George Bush said it loud and clear when
signing the executive order to freeze the assets of terrorist institutions,
"If you do business with terrorists, you will not do business with the US." 

That is what India must say to anyone who prevaricates about groups like
Jaish-e-Mohammad or Lashkar-e-Toiba. For if 9/11 (as the Americans call it)
changed America's perception of the world, the attacks on harmless civilians
here by sinister shadowy organisations will be the touchstone of India's
relations with its neighbours in the new millennium.

This is not a recommendation for war, for no nuclear power can ever forget
its awesome responsibility. But war by other means-though never the sneaky
methods of hit-and-run killers-would be in order. What comes to mind is the
origin of the word 'boycott'. Captain Boycott was the agent of an absentee
English landowner whom the Irish peasantry ostracised in 1881. An Irish
nationalist leader advised everyone in the parish to "turn his back on him;
have no communication with him; have no dealings with him.You need never say
an unkind word to him; but never say anything at all to him. If you must
meet him in fair, walk away from him silently. Do him no violence but have
no dealings with him. Let every man's door be closed against him; and make
him feel a stranger and a castaway in his own neighbourhood".  
 
In modern diplomacy, that would mean a total ban on trade and travel. There
must be no overflights. Ships and aircraft that have been contaminated by
contact must not be allowed haven. In 1970, India House in London gave me a
special passport for Israel because no Arab country would let me in with an
Israeli stamp in my normal passport. Emulating Arab rigour could be followed
by more sophisticated forms of embargo.

India will find that the purveyors of popular western brands will have
little difficulty in choosing between the world's biggest middle-class and
some rogue state that is regularly looted by its custodians. No one objected
when Rupert Murdoch dropped the British Broadcasting Corporation from Star
television out of deference to Chinese sensibilities.

That is the true magic of the marketplace. It commands obedience. In the
final analysis, all conflict is economic. That is why war by other means can
be more devastating than war.

For 'fair' in the verdict on Boycott read the January 4 meeting in Kathmandu
of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or any United
Nations gathering anywhere. Instead of the self-serving hypocrisy of
ostentatious public bonhomie, let India make the most of SAARC's 1997
decision to allow three or more countries to enter into sub-regional
arrangements without waiting for all members. Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan,
which took the lead in pushing through that innovation to thwart a spoiler's
veto, should now cooperate with India to formalise a meaningful free trade
association. It would be in Sri Lanka's interest, too, to demonstrate that
constructive cooperation cannot be hostage to state terrorism or the
politics of envy and insecurity.

The Gujral Doctrine's magnanimity must not be repudiated. But weeding out
evil would reinforce the essence of a philosophy that holds that the bigger
partner should earn the gratitude of smaller neighbours by making
concessions without reciprocal return. For though Atal Behari Vajpayee
rightly says that countries cannot choose neighbours as they choose friends,
confusing neighbours with friends can invite disaster until neighbours prove
by their conduct that they are prepared to be friends. They can do so easily
enough by matching generosity with grace.

As Bush's studied ambiguity on the LeT even while proscribing it
demonstrated, India cannot expect too much overt assistance from the United
States in this grim battle for survival. But it cannot afford to alienate
Washington either. An American stake in India's growth would be both shield
and sword against an enemy who is everywhere and nowhere. That means heavy
American investment, corporate collaboration and strategic cooperation. If
there is vigorous partnership instead of surrogate service, a burgeoning
economy would also enhance security.That, too, is the irresistible magic of
the marketplace.

It will be a long haul. To say that patience is running out or that the
ordeal is beyond endurance is to concede defeat. Someone should advise the
prime minister that such definitive comments do scant justice to the
people's capacity for suffering.They also imply desperation where the need
is for steely courage. India cannot afford to fail. It is here, rather than
in the bleak fastness of Afghanistan's sand and rock, that the real
Operation Enduring Freedom is being fought. This battle is not just for the
benefit of an omnipotent superpower but for all mankind.

(The author, a former editor of The Statesman, is writing a book on Indo-US
relations)  
 

 


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