This refers to the editorial, “Salahuddin hypocrisy” (July 5). While the United States’ declaration of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist should have come as a shot in the arm for countries resolutely pursuing the agenda of a world free from terror-threat perceptions, the move by Pakistan to immediately declare him a ‘freedom fighter’ and enhance his security only goes to show how hypocritical our neighbour nation has been when faced with the issue of abolishing anything and everything remotely connected with terrorism.
Of course, while not refuting the fact that one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter, it becomes difficult to understand how a person like Salahuddin has served the cause of Pakistan as a freedom fighter. Is Pakistan ‘enslaved’ in any way by India that it has to depend on the likes of Salahuddin to ‘liberate’ itIJ Yes, if waging proxy wars with India is akin to a freedom struggle, the hordes of radicalised, who infiltrate into Indian territories and wage war against the country, are no less than ‘freedom fighters’. However in this milieu, it does appear that India is in a very precarious position. It is also clear that threat perception from China and Pakistan is serious and needs to be appropriately countered.