Sir — This refers to the article, “More things change, more they are same” (December 15) by Joginder Singh. Terrorism is now a global phenomenon, but in India, it is more than three decades old. It first erupted in Punjab, then spread in the adjoining State of Jammu & Kashmir, and became gradually active elsewhere in the country.
While there was an honest intent to eliminate militancy in Punjab, in Kashmir the effort was politically motivated, administratively manipulated and ambivalently supported, with New Delhi remaining clueless and unwilling to end the menace. Consequently, militancy in Kashmir has become a fact of life and a lucrative business.
In the mid-eighties, separatist feelings and political and administrative leanings towards terrorism were kept in an incubator, finally to breathe air and spread muscles in 1989-90, to become a monstrous. In between, New Delhi’s leadership hovered around confusion, and whims and fancies, to let the militancy prolong.