The War on Mumbai is a few hours short of touching the 48 hour mark. Operations continue at Taj and Nariman House while Oberoi has been cleared. The casualty rate continues to climb as more bodies are recovered.
Meanwhile it is becoming clear that with some of the Terrorists were of Pakistani origin the Government of India is reacting along predictable lines. While External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was vague in blaming “some elements” from Pakistan, we are told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked his counterpart in Pakistan to send the ISI Chief to New Delhi.
Unofficial stories are doing the rounds of specific Intelligence having been given to the Congress Government in New Delhi and in Maharashtra of a boat having left Karachi, Intelligence we are told was ignored and not acted upon.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s mini-address of sorts to the nation? via the media at Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai and the subsequent lull from the BJP leadership on the above unofficial story is foreboding of a political storm breaking in the days to come.
With this being an election year and the current events breaking in the middle of an election cycle, some politics is inevitable and must be factored as one of many costs accruing from the collateral damage of this terrorist strike.
The larger question however is “What is the right response for the Indian State ?“
Nitin over at The Acorn while cautioning against a knee jerk response, calls for an Indian Strategic response that
“…to focus on Afghanistan, and its border with Pakistan. That theatre is a key front in the global war on terror?and India?s own?”
This idea merits further debate and analysis.
Offstumped believes that it is critical for any strategic response to accurately define the enemy. One cannot overemphasize the significance of defining the enemy for we are challenged with not one but?a “Many Pakistans” problem.
It is this “Many Pakistans” problem that makes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s purported request to talk to the ISI Chief in New Delhi premature and prone to missteps.
Before engaging the political players in the Pakistani establishment, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should have defined for us the people of India and the world community
- the nature of the War that has been thrust on us
- the?nature of the enemy that has called this War against the?Indian State including the many Pakistans problem
- the strategic options that the Indian State reserves??in its response to this War that has been inflicted on it, including the right to act anywhere in the extended neighborhood of the Indian Sub-Continent while being not limited to our frontiers
Having done so the Prime Minister, taking the Opposition into confidence, should have made the political case to the Indian people on the latitude his Government needs to exercise these Strategic Options to demonstrate his Government means business and not mere talk.
Not doing so runs the risk of the Indian State engaging with and providing legitimacy and sanction
- to those who maybe complicit in these Acts of War
or
- ?with those lacking the mandate, will or the wherewithall to follow through on any guarantees in acting against those responsible for these Acts of War.
Offstumped Bottomline: The proposal to share information with the ISI Chief is reflective of a mindset that views the mayhem in Mumbai as a Law and Order problem that will go away by bringing a few individuals to justice.
It is important to recognize that the attacks on Mumbai were an Act of War. The first response to these acts of war cannot be an information sharing session with the ISI. The Prime Minister must first define a Strategic Framework and Doctrine for how the Indian State will conduct this War on Terror. Until such a time it would be irresponsible of the Government to engage with any external player.
Filed under: Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Manmohan Confidence Vote, War on Terror, betrayal of aam admi
[...] is exactly the reason why Offstumped had called for the formulation of a “Strategy” first before making concrete recommendations which at best are isolated attempts to filling a gap while [...]
[...] years later in the aftermath of the 26th November Mumbai Attacks, Offstumped once again reiterated that Offstumped believes that it is critical for any strategic response to accurately define the [...]