Not a day has passed since the Mumbai terror attacks that Karachi has witnessed any peace. The locals essentially think that it is India’s way of punishing Pakistan for crimes that it probably didn’t commit. India, the conventional wisdom goes on, is after all a more powerful state. Meanwhile Indian Foreign Minister playing to the BJP and Sangh Parivar’s gallery is stoking fire by using very crude language like hinting that there exists a military option. Whether that option really exists or not is something that I’ll discuss later. However our Indian friends should not underestimate the public sentiment here too. The local neocons and the fundos have always argued that Pakistan in the end will have to fight a war with India. So they have developed quite a convincing argument in favor of an aggressive posture. While conceding that Pakistan has supported insurgency in Kashmir they also argue that India’s role in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan have not exactly been too dovish. From arming Balochistan Liberation Army, Sindhi separatists often disguised as robbers, and support for the thugs of MQM India, they say, has done everything within its reach to dismember the badly burdened state, an idea which derives solace from on the record statements of Indian leaders since its very inception. Hence in their words defiance and proactive response remain the only option.
However if truth be told to a billion plus peace loving citizens of South Asia it will be the saddest day if the states of both sides succumb to the pressures of such Dr Strangeloves. The biggest worry, much more enormous than the prospects of a nuclear holocaust, is the damage this situation can do to democracy on both sides. The Pakistani democratically elected government is already under immense pressure. When the Prime Minister, reportedly consented to sending DG ISI to India, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the party which has no representation in the parliament spat venom against Islamabad’s lack of hostility. Almost all parties later joined hands. At a time when President Zardari stated that there was complete consensus between the civil and the military command of the country, both of which he being the Commander in Chief of the Army himself represents, and a statement which could have hardly ever been made in an old democracy, another firebrand cleric Hafiz Hussain Ahmad of JUI-F Balochistan commented that there was no consensus whatsoever. India’s situation is no different. I can understand that the elected government is under severe pressure from the hardliners and their cohorts within the army to behave in a belligerent manner. As elections are pretty near in India one can understand the situation. However what to do? The problem is that if this sorry state of escalation and suspended animation continues incumbent on both sides will suffer badly. The problem with Pakistan is that the remnants of Musharraf regime will essentially cash the situation and harm democracy by dragging the country back to dictatorship. What to do then? Should both sides say tally ho and plunge into a nuclear conflict? I do not think that is an option. Again since people like Mukherjee are inspiring talk of a surgical strike, a limited war or a military option let me state it completely that a limited war or even a surgical strike will never remain just that. I know Indians are counting on the Americans or the Israelis to do what is known here as Asia 2025 and take out Pakistan’s nuclear assets before such a conflict but that too is a no brainer. First, let us talk of Israel. Let me tell you that Israel will never want to risk its chances of better relations with Pakistan. It is refreshing to know that Israel believes as many of us do that both countries do not pose threat to each other. In fact there is great potential of lasting relationship between the two states. So Israel will never do anything belligerent towards Pakistan. Now the United States agreed that we have come under aerial attacks on our western borders but there is no point of convergence between India’s targets and that of the US. In fact since General Petraeus’s posting as the head of the Centcom and the retaining of Bob Gates by Obama Administration neocons who could have supported such attacks have lost their leverage with the US military presence in the region for both the men are moderates and believe in statesmanship rather than the miscalculated application of brute force. Add to it the fact that Pakistan’s command and control system is very well managed. This means that the US and the nations of the world will pressure both sides not to start a war. Hence wake cousins there is no such thing as a military option. Remember that Pakistan is not Iraq and India is not the United States.
Let us then decide to resolve our problems with maturity. The problem with people like Mukherjee is that their limited gray matter never allows them to think like statesmen. He is no Nehru after all. That is precisely why he is continuously mismanaging the situation. The premature demand for twenty suspects, no heroes for me rest assured, smacks of hubris and a premature craving to act as a superpower. Not knowing that the world order has changed these guys are continuously alluding to the neocon ideologies. But let me tell you there is bigger trouble for people like me too who advocate reconciliation between the two South Asian twins. 
I have been advocating for last seven years the importance of multilateralism, respect for the rule of law and that of the international law. The problem folks is that at the time of peace and in the presence of Musharraf both BJP or Congress I governments could have signed an extradition treaty between the two countries. As things stand now there does not exist any such treaty. As it so happens that an overwhelming majority of the names on the list are of Pakistani nationals not Indian. For a person who has always opposed Gitmo and Abu Ghareb it is possible to justify handing of Pakistani citizens to another country? I think not. Besides if these folks have ever been involved in any crimes against Pakistan’s neighbors they are criminals of Pakistan too. In such a volatile situation handing them to India would be viewed as a simple sell out by a weak democratic government and would seal the fate of democracy in the country. What are the other options then? Pakistan government has emphasized the activation of bilateral anti-terror mechanisms. That too in the current situation is unviable. The best, and perhaps the only, option then is that India with the help of the international community probes the matter and compiles the evidence. Then it can provide Pakistan the evidence with the diplomatic request to try the accused. Pakistan government then can ensure that the apex court’s full bench tries these element in open and transparent hearings and they are finally brought to the book. Killing of innocents is a crime and please rest assured that if these people have committed any crime,  and I believe that if not this they must have committed at least a few others, they must be punished and mercilessly. This mechanism will strengthen institutions and the bilateral trust.

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