War?
After 26/11 all that we’ve been doing is blame. First we blamed the politicians for not giving us security. Then we blamed Pakistan for not cooperating with our drive to eradicate terrorists.
This blame game has escalated to a “brilliant” child-like argument. Ibrahim breaks Rohan’s toy. Rohan says, “You broke my toy!” Ibrahim says, “No! You broke my toy!” And the argument goes on. This magnifies to a fist fight and finally both ended up with broken teeth and blue eyes. This is exactly what war is going to do to us.
On one side, India is battling the recession, the people’s disbelief in its government and is trying to better the lives of its citizens who are deeply affected by what the year has offered to it. On the other side, Pakistan has sunk deep in debt, its economy being more adversely affected than ours and is struggling to strengthen the new found democratic government.
The terrorists are seeing one success streak after the other. First they awesomely managed to terrorise the world on 26/11. Their bigger aim was to widen the gap between India and Pakistan, and push them to the brink of war. Well! Here we are…They must party-ing in their dungeon…rejoicing the victory of their motive!
We’ve always studied in our history classes that war has done nobody any good. So why is it even an option? Just because we are better equipped to destroy our enemy? When will we mature?
The citizens of either country know deep in their heart of hearts that war is not the answer to their problems. But some of us are just getting carried away by the anger inside us and are not able to find a medium of channelling it. Who is going to save us from falling over the brink?
Hey Payal, That is so good…you really made a very logical and strong point and i really hope this message is passed on to our politicans who are just waiting for the WAR to happen. Good Going Di…
Ankur Shah
December 27, 2008
True. But then what is the solution? Surely not war, but what? Surgical strikes on the terror camps in Pakistan? If Pak refuses to do anything, who is going to bring down the terror in their territory (hey that rhymes).. So does India do a US and carpet bomb those areas not inhabited by civilians but where we are positive the camps exist? With satellite imaging it is easy to pinpoint the locations.
Pakistan also has its national pride to think of, besides the fear of another coup in the government by th ISI and the army, if they agree to Indias demands. Surgical strikes will not go down well with them. But what other option do we have, if they refuse to cooperate?
Anirudh Hariani
December 28, 2008
surgical strikes won’t work cause every stage of plannig is brilliantly showcased to the entire world…the terrorists would’ve changed base by now!!
I don’t know…maybe join forces with the UN…get China to force Pakistan to try and act against these anti-State elements!!
It’ll be a long process actually…for Pkistan government to have the power to go against them would mean their citizens should offer complete support…and that clearly will take really long! As of now…Pakistan government is sandwiched…on one side they have these elements trying to brainwash them and threatening nucleur war…on the other side is the rest of the world forcing them to get rid of those elements altogether. The government has to be extremely strongly supported and strong-willed in their eradication drive.
Payal Shah
December 29, 2008
Surgical strikes in no way involve live news broadcasting as decisions are taken by govts presumably instantaneously…What you say above ^ is obvious. Besides gettin china to pressure pak will be near impossible given the polarisation of power in asia between china and india. As far as the UN is concerned there will never be a consensus in the SC at least w/o cooperation from states such as china. veto, rem? i dont rem the US obligng the UN when they carpet bombed afghanistan, or iraq for that matter (though the latter was clearly a mistake and the former largely disputed). Nor do i see any approval obtained by israel during this weeks attacks on gaza!
And to think the UN is not a failed orgainsation!!!
Anirudh Hariani
December 30, 2008
Its more like: You have a neighbour whose child is disturbed and nefarious. You keep on telling your neighbour to take care of that child but the neighbour is in a Catch-22 situation. He, obviously, can’t kill the child and at the same time, he has to think about his own and his child deteriorating image in the society!!!
A very very complex situation indeed!!!
Nitesh Tiwari
January 1, 2009
Ani…you didnt get my point about surgical strikes…i meant that the media has made our governments every step so publicised…that even if we think of surgical strikes…the terrorists would know that we are plannig on those lines and owing to the awesome technology that they have and the database that they have access to…i’m sure they’d know which areas would be prospective targets…so they would obviously change base…stay silent for a while…probably go into hiding to avoid any casualties on their end!! Get it??
And about UN…ya its a failed organisation cause the world doesn’t want to come together as a whole…cause we aren’t ready for globalisation in its true sense!! But the events that have taken place in the recent times have made the world realise that…we need to protect ourselves cause there are more destroyers than preservers!
Thats precisely where China comes in…the position that they enjoy is actually the deciding factor of our plight!
Payal Shah
January 1, 2009
very nicely put there Nitesh….bt it seems more like pakistan has been nurturing this child since it was born and is very much responsible for its disturbed and nefarious nature who has been causing way too much damage than a mere child would.If killing the child is not an answer to it..probably teaching him a lesson would solve the problem.But time and again Pakistan has failed to do so which made this child grow dangerous than ever before.Denying terrorist connections with their country even after recieving proofs only makes this child stronger and encouraged.So its high time that this complex situation gets resolved before it gets even worse.
Shreya Srivastava
January 1, 2009
If China is on Pakistan’s side…then eventually a nucleur war will be imminent! If China sees the greater good then we can actually get Pakistan to cure its “child” as Nitesh puts it…or atleast take substantial steps towards it…so that we can feel safer!
The day after the 60 hours ended was the day when most Mumbaiites feared getting of our homes…for the first time we felt that we are not living in peace…you think with this idea of war looming over our heads…is it gonna make us feel any better?
Has tit-for-tat ever brought any good in reality? Come one Ani..don’t tell me surgical strikes or war is gonna get our of this..unless the government takes its decisions in confidentiality! And that can happen only in an emergency!!
What option do we have?? We need a REAL cure!!
What Nitesh said was exactly my point..its catch-22 situation and we need to change our circumstances to change to get out this vicious cycle! The effect of war will be the creation of more “children
Payal Shah
January 1, 2009
Hahah thats the most ridiculous analogy ever. “the effect of war will be the creation of more children”….lol. The point is india needs to defend its honour and dignity. One moment its pak in kashmir, the next it will be china in arunachal. Tell me how many terrorist attacks have happ since 9/11 in usa? none…. why? its cause they took a stand. It is a ‘war on terrorism’ for survival- theres no time for diplomacy anymore….Dont get me wrong i’m never an advocate for war, its pointless waste. But we need to take a stand otherwise we’ll be eunuchs who cannot produce “children” to fight the other bad disturbed and nefarious children of pakistan etc… lol. My point being tht if we want to become a superpower, we have to act like one. We cant hold our balls in our hands and do nothing! do you agree?
Ofcourse a nuclear war is not going to happen- for the simle reason that it would mean mutual annhilation, something noone wants. lets take on the nefarious children of pak. watsay?
Anirudh Hariani
January 1, 2009
(Happy New Year)
Anirudh Hariani
January 1, 2009
aye!! its already been 60 years of diplomatic nonsense….
we can’t keep things like India 2020 and “India the next super power” to books….time to practice it out!!!
How many times will you warn the children and let them go…
its time for some severe punishment (well beyond foot rulers and canes ofcourse
Nitesh Tiwari
January 1, 2009
i couldnt agree more with u anirudh.Declaring war maybe considered as an extreme step in this situation but keeping it as an option only sends a message that Pakistan needs to take things more seriously than what they’ve been taking uptil now! This war is not about acquiring land or establishing superiority of one country over the other.Its a “war on terrorism” and agaisnt anyone who supports it. There is no doubt about the fact that the terrorists involved in the 26/11 attacks were pakistanis.Doesnt that make Pakistan accountable for the consequences of the grave offences of its citizens? Pakistan should take some genuine steps to show the world that it does not support terrorism. And it is not India’s duty to tell them how.Declaring war is just a means of putting pressure on pakistan by India for being on the losing end!
Shreya Srivastava
January 1, 2009
i still think is war is not an option…cause our country can’t afford it..i’m really surprised that so many are for this “war against terrorirsm”…i’m not convinced for it!! i still believe we have other options!! its not about the power game…its about general ppl and their safety…in order to prove we our super power…do we really need to pick up weapons…come on…are we going back to the age of barbarism?? your not listening to me…fine…i’ll kill you!! HELLO EVERYBODY wake up!! we are the future…if we dont think of options…are ever going to develop??
Payal Shah
January 3, 2009
i saw this very interesting debate on tv yesterday between some not so famous public speakers and magazine editors on a program called lok mansh on the lok sabha channel,about the current war situation and the indo-pak relations after the 26/11 attacks.Some of them were in favour of this war while some of them were not.But all of them agreed to the fact that the steps taken by India till now were insufficient and some action had to be taken immediately.India has always been known as a peace loving nation and Pakistan has time and again taken advantage of this fact.Political diplomacy and mutual cooperation has always been considered a priority in solving issues.But if Pakistan does not show the signs of this mutual cooperation or there is no concrete result of this political diplomacy in the near future,then we cannot just sit with our hands folded and gain sympathy from the rest of the world and wait for them to help.
Picking up weapons in the defense of your integrity does not mean going back to the age of barbarism! Yes there can be other options to show your retaliation which is what India is trying to find out at present.But the more time we take to find out those options the less effective will be their results.More than the Pakistanis,we Indians are the ones trying to avoid this war which even the Pakistanis know. They have been testing our patience since a very long time now cause somewhere in their hearts they know that India being such a peace-loving country will never stoop down to their level to teach them a lesson.But I dont want anybody to misinterpret our peaceful nature to be our weakness and take advantage of it!Its true that this country follows the gandhian principles of non-violence but that does not mean you keep slapping our faces every time we bear it without retaliation.
Shreya Srivastava
January 4, 2009
Just because we’re avoiding war does not in any way mean we’re weak…we’re mature enough…or let me put it this way…we’re wise enough to try out other options! I agree India’s efforts have been slow…and insufficient on some level! Yet non-cooperation from Pakistan has come owing to the inability of its govenment to owerpower its military forces! Unless and until Pakistan does not realise that the real problem lies within them…they will not change! And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do…make them look deep down and inside and its actually weak condition! By going into war…they’re just going to become stronger in their vague convictions…the military will once again gain complete supremacy over its democratic government and then India’s fate will be in the hands of those few fools who are still living in the age of communalism and discrimination!
Payal Shah
January 5, 2009