South Asia After Mumbai

The first blood was spilled at 9:30pm. An hour later, the world realized that Mumbai was under a coordinated terrorist attack that was threatening to lay siege to India’s financial capital. As a Pakistani, I watched in horror as the all-to-familiar images of carnage streamed over the television. I was transported back to September 20, when a suicide bomber at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel blew himself up, claiming the lives of 53 people, including two Americans and the Czech ambassador. The crying child in Mumbai who had lost his parents wrenched my heart with pain, as did the image of the Pathan child whose family was instantly killed by an American drone attack in northwestern Pakistan. The parallels were all too stark and obvious, and my heart bled as it had at each past instance of terrorism, be it in Islamabad, Mumbai, or Baghdad.

Hours later, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went on the air, bemoaning those lost and simultaneously pointing across the border in blame. In assuming a hard line, the Prime Minister made the rather dire pronouncement that “there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken” by India’s neighbors to curb such attacks. The rage of Mumbaikars and Indians in general is understandable. This crime against humanity in Mumbai has shaken India, its neighbors, and its friends. However, it would be a greater tragedy if we let this act of terrorism wash away years of difficult diplomacy and confidence-building measures between the two nations. Rather, this disaster just might provide Pakistan and India with a chance to forge a stronger relationship based in a common vision of a peaceful South Asia.

Recent bellicose gestures by the Indian government and media remind me of the atmosphere after a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. In the days following the attack, over 400,000 Indian and Pakistani troops were amassed on the volatile border . Level-headed diplomacy resulted in a de-escalation of this situation, and set the two countries on several years of peace talks. These negotiations have come a long way, to the extent where Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari recently told a conference in India that he foresaw a future where Indians and Pakistanis could cross the border with a simple identification card. Neogtiations regarding three new trade routes, which promised to bring millions of dollars in commerce to each country, looked extremely promising in the days just before the Mumbai attacks. And, most ironically, Pakistan’s foreign minister was in Delhi on a diplomatic visit when terrorists laid siege to Mumbai. These moves indicated a desire in both Delhi and Islamabad to abandon their difficult past and chart a productive future of cooperation. Then, Mumbai happened.

Pakistan has repeatedly offered its fullest cooperation in the current investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. The people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with their Indian neighbors. After all, it is perhaps the Pakistanis who understand the most what India is going through currently. Ironically, both countries were struck by local sectarian violence in the past few days, as bombs took several dozen lives in the Pakistani cities of Swat, Peshawar and Karachi, and in the Indian state of Assam. The two nations have much in common: they face domestic and international terrorists, separatist movements, and are both under pressure by the international community to play a mature and stable role in South Asia. Rather than letting non-state terrorist actors command our future, we must work together to productively combat these threats.

So, where do we go from here? Pakistan must continue to extend its full cooperation to the Mumbai investigation, and make it clear that its soil cannot be a training ground and safe haven for terrorists. Pakistan’s recent raid and arrests at a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp gives us reason to take heart. India must exercise extreme caution and constraint in its response and show a willingness to work with the Pakistani government during these troubled times. Diplomatic intimidation and flexing of military muscle will serve no productive end. Furthermore, Delhi must collaborate and provide the Pakistani authorities with credible and specific evidence if it expects any significant response. Peace talks, trade, and cultural exchange must remain open between the two nations. Although general elections are coming up in May, the Indian government should look beyond its immediate political ambitions and work towards a sustainable peace in South Asia. And above all other considerations, both sides must reaffirm their desire to work towards a sustainable solution to the Kashmir issue and finally empower the Kashmiri people to decide their future for themselves.

It is appropriate here to remember the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 60 years ago this week. Using this document as a template, Pakistan and India must ensure their citizens’ rights and access to education, social justice, economic opportunity, and healthcare. The terrorism we see today is not simply a geopolitical struggle. Rather, it is an ideological one. Unless we eradicate the roots of helplessness, disenfranchisement and intolerance, we cannot expect a peaceful and productive future for South Asia. We must join hands, as Americans, Pakistanis, Indians and citizens of the world, to turn this catastrophe into an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to peace and prosperity.



Hasan Siddiqi ’08 is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School.