The Insinuations of Terror

Since I returned from Mumbai three weeks ago, I have had some time to reflect on my experiences there, especially as a Pakistani. While I was there this summer I noticed that the media, although not the ordinary people I came into contact with, was distinctly unfriendly towards Pakistan. About two months ago, , Pakistani and Indian border patrols got into a skirmish which each side blamed on the other for starting. The Hindustan Times, a prominent English-language newspaper, reported that of course the Pakistanis would claim innocence and implied that Pakistan had instigated the skirmish. This skirmish was followed by the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, and again, rumors spread that the ISI was behind the bombings. In fact, India's national security advisor, M. K. Narayanan, advocated that the ISI "should be destroyed". Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, even proposed that the Taliban was being managed by the ISI as a tool of foreign policy. Apparently, he had conveniently forgotten the suicide bombings and violence that Taliban-trained fighters have wreaked on Pakistan.

The cycle of pointing fingers at Pakistan without substantive evidence continued with the bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad on July 25th and 26th. Almost immediately, the media accused Pakistan, or more specifically, the ISI, of having a hand in the bombings. Although a shadowy organization named the Indian Muhajideen claimed responsibility for the bombings via an email sent to the media, rumors arose of this organization being nothing more than a front for the ISI. In fact, just two hours after the last bomb exploded in Ahmedabad, a newscaster announced that Pakistan probably had a hand in the bombings.

The days following the attacks were tense. The multiple bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad had put the country on high alert, and the media kept showing sensationalistic images of streets running with blood after a bomb exploded outside of a hospital in Ahmedabad. Escalating violence between Pakistan and India only provided further circumstantial proof that Pakistan was involved in the recent terrorist attacks. On July 28th, at the Line of Control in Kashmir, Pakistani soldiers opened fire on Indian soldiers, killing one. In retaliation, Indian soldiers returned fire and killed four Pakistani soldiers.

The violence in India has been terrible, but I find the claims against Pakistan to be slightly absurd at times. Pakistan certainly is partly at fault for the situation in Kashmir, but of course the Indian troops also share the responsibility of the violence. The bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad to me definitely seem homegrown, but it seems that because the Indian government cannot find other culprits, it picks the target that has historically had many altercations and bloody disagreements with India: Pakistan. Pakistan has become a convenient scapegoat for the Indian government; instead of working to apprehend domestic terrorists, it blames Pakistan for infiltrating the country and seeding terror throughout India.

Yet the situation in Afghanistan certainly makes matters murkier by implicating the ISI; in fact, the Afghan government blamed the ISI for the bombing. Although the C.I.A. has not supported the Afghan government’s assertions that Pakistan had a hand in the bombing of the Indian embassy, the agency has complicated matters by presenting evidence to Pakistan suggesting that members of the ISI have cultivated ties with militant groups operating in Afghanistan. The nature of these relationships remains obscure, as does the exact involvement of the ISI in the escalating violence in Afghanistan. Yet the implications are tangible. As the US questions the ISI’s policies and its loyalties, this provides further room for conjecture on the part of the Indian press that perhaps Pakistan really has been behind all the terrorist attacks on India. It also makes it easier to believe that if the ISI has connections to the militants in Afghanistan, then it may also have connections to a group such as the Indian Muhajideen.

Where does the truth lie? The secretive ISI certainly commands a good portion of it. The recent C.I.A. evidence makes it obvious that the ISI has not been forthright about the extent of its dealings in Afghanistan, and the Pakistani government should increase the accountability of the ISI. Yet this does not mean that the next logical leap would be to blame the ISI for the attacks in India.

The relationship between India and Pakistan has a long way to go before the two countries are completely reconciled to each other. These past two months have been especially tense ones for the two countries, with multiple incidents of violence disrupting the ceasefire in Kashmir and the hesitant peace between the two countries, and do not bode well for the future. America’s most prominent South Asian allies have to work at becoming allies with each other as well.