IJOn Saturday, two lashkar-e-Tayyeba terrorists attacked a bus carrying security forces, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pampore. They killed eight personnel and injured 21 others, and were eventually themselves eliminated as well. After the attack, the usual suspects have made the usual comments – much sadness has been expressed, words of condemnation uttered, and the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives in the service of the nation acknowledged and praised.
The only person who broke the template was Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. She trashed the terror-has-no-religion homily and called out the jihadis for attacking during the Holy month of Ramzan and giving Islam a bad name. All this is well and good, but it is not enough. For even before the tears of those who lost their loves ones dry up, this country, already somewhat immune to such attacks especially in Kashmir, would have moved on – without really asking the tough questions, without really demanding accountability or change. And that is where the problem lies. Such attacks should make us angry, they should make the nation livid! Forget about the geo-politics of the attack or the complexities of the Kashmir situation.
We need to ask the simple questions: How did two, just two, militants manage to attack a bus full of armed security personnelIJ How did two of theirs manage to kill eights of ours (not to mention the 21 others that have been injured)IJ Why were our boys allowed to be sitting ducksIJ What is the point of expressing gratitude to the dead when you treated them no better than cannon fodder when they were aliveIJ The lashkar-e-Tayyeba has taken responsibility for this attack, and on cue, certain so-called hardline sections have already started pointing fingers at Pakistan.
But again, why blame Pakistan, a country that can barely protect its own, when we ourselves haven’t done enough to secure our borders and those who guard themIJ Pakistan’s problems, its anti-India terror activities are well-known – yet why haven’t we raised and strengthened our fences when we know well that terrorism and militancy is on the riseIJIJ