Key points
- Expert says Modi’s approach may give the “trigger into the hands of the terrorists”
- Anti-Pakistan terrorists may attack India and frame Pakistan: Ex-Indian minister
- Arum Shourie urges Modi to stop “unjust treatment” of Muslims in India
ISLAMABAD: In his first public address following three days of bloody stand-off with Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced what he called a “new counter-terrorism doctrine”.
He said India has adopted a new counter-terrorism doctrine, “Operation Sindoor,” emphasising “zero tolerance, decisive retaliation, no nuclear blackmail, and holding both terrorists and their sponsors accountable”.
His new approach, however, drew sharp criticism from within the Indian political and public circles.
Flaws in Modi’s policies
Former Indian cabinet minister and author Arun Shourie appeared on veteran journalist Karan Thapar’s show to outline flaws in Narendra Modi’s policies, saying such formulations may give the “trigger into the hands of the terrorists and those who control them.”
“But there is a danger in such things and that is that you give the trigger into the hands of the terrorist or those controlling terrorists.”
The former Indian Express Editor explained by giving an example as to how terrorists fighting against Pakistan might exploit the three key elements of Modi’s policy to inflict harm on their enemy through India.
“I’ll give you an example which may be more congenial in India. Suppose there is a terrorist group that wants to do something against the Pakistani establishment, let’s say in the north west of the country or Balochistan. To inflict harm on their own establishment, they actually do an operation in India, and then we have to respond according to these three elements.”
“Answer to terrorism is intelligence”
He said, therefore, much more is required in this and the first element in that current is intelligence.
“The answer to terrorism is intelligence. You can’t bombard like Gaza. Then you are alienating the population and you will get a flood of terrorists next time. You can’t destroy airfields and airbases every time. You must be able to target the individual terrorist.
He questioned the capabilities of the Indian intelligence agencies, saying the Pahalgam attackers reportedly roamed the area for a few months before carrying out the attack, successfully evading any arrest.
“Pahalgam (attack) itself shows that we don’t have the (intelligence) capacity. We didn’t spot them (terrorists). We didn’t know that they had come in. Two joined them from within India. We did not know. They must have been loitering. They must have had shelter. We did not know.”
Treatment of Indian Muslims
About the alienation of religious minorities in India, he said that for an effective response against terrorism, the Modi government must treat Indian Muslims equally first.
He said it is a prerequisite to treat Muslims justly, fairly, properly and equally.
“Absolutely. That is the first requisite before technology, before intelligence, before everything. And Mr Modi, who is supposed to be a strong ruler, must ensure this,” Arun Shourie said.
Talking about Indian media’s reporting on the Pakistan-India conflict, he said what the Indian media did before and during the conflict was a crime against the country.
“It is a disgrace”
“It is a disgrace. It’s a disgrace to the media. Actually, that is wrong. It’s a disgrace to the country. Even that is wrong. I don’t think it’s just a disgrace to the country. It is a crime against the country. You bring our country to such ridicule in the name of free speech. At the same time, you are pushing the government by raising expectations. You are pushing them to do things that would be wrong for the defence forces may or may not be prepared at that time. You certainly don’t know.”
