Terrorism in India: Do we plan to address it?

One year has passed after one of the most televised terror attacks that India has seen till date. The way it was handled showed how well prepared we were. But what is disturbing is the fact that nothing much has changed since then. The statement of the home minister of Maharashtra state classifying it as a "minor incident" turned out to be right when we try to find out the action taken to prevent such strikes from happening again.

What is the reason behind the "chalta hai" attitude of the law-makers towards such incidents? If we dig deeper, we can see a pattern. In every Indian state, we have some kind of terrorism. The only difference is that in some state it is internal (naxal,...) while in some it is external forces (taliban,...) which is active. Does our political establishment want the naxal or the taliban problems resolved? definitely not.

If we analyze further, it is not difficult to see why the political class whats a status quo to prevail. For example, in West-Bengal, the naxal problem is quickly running out of control. The state government seems to be afraid to act as they believe that they may lose votes if they do. The central government can crack the whip but they don't want to do because they don't want to disturb the momentum (to unseat the CPM) which is in their favour. Lot of people will continue getting killed in encounters in the name of terrorism and naxalism. Questions will remain whether the people killed in encounters were really terrorists / naxalites or folks caught on the wrong end of political class.

Do the police or the armed forces have the wherewithal to contain terrorism or naxalism? Yes they do. Punjab is a good example of what can be achieved if there is political will. But that still remains an exception for whatever reasons none of us would ever know in our lifetime. For instance, when some religious organization or a political outfit issues a fatwa or a similar threat, why do the governments of the day look the other way? The reason is very obvious.

In summary, all the problems that plague the country will continue to stay with us and will only keep getting bigger. In the same way, the fortunes of the political class will also keep getting bigger with every election. What should the rest of us do? Keep paying taxes and follow the rule of the land.