ow come there are periodic terrorist attacks in India while there has been none in the US since 9/11? Are the terrorists operating here more resourceful and committed than those targeting the US? Is India a bigger hate object for jihadis compared to the rest of the world?

The answers to these questions are obvious. Since 2005, India has suffered 17 terrorist strikes that have left at least 500 people dead and thousands maimed. But none of the perpetrators has been convicted till now for these ghastly crimes, although India tops the list in terms of civilians falling victim to terrorism. Iraq is the only country that surpasses India in terms of terror-related casualties.

The self-styled 'Indian Mujahideen', which has claimed responsibility for the recent mayhem, is bold enough to give advance warning through e-mail -- which is proof of the high level of sophistication the terrorists have achieved. Their mail also discloses the source of their inspiration, an ayat from the Quran. "When you encounter (in fight) those who disbelieve, strike their necks first, till when you have completely massacred and wounded many of them, then bind them firmly (taking them as captives). Thereafter is the time, either for generosity or a ransom until the war lays down its burden." (Quran 47:4.)

The core question is: Why are the terrorists becoming so bold as to give advance information? The simple answer is that they bank on the pusillanimous response of the 'secularists' to terror attacks. Recall how leading lights of the governing coalition at the Centre, as also of the BSP, visited the house of the main accused in the Gujarat bombings to commiserate with his family that claims he is innocent. Also recall the enthusiasm with which certain constituents of the UPA welcomed the (short lived) lifting of the ban on SIMI. Within days of that tribunal order, subsequently set aside by the Supreme Court, and Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav welcoming it, there are series of bombings and SIMI is the main suspect!

It's not just Cabinet Ministers. The Prime Minister entertains the Jama Masjid Imam who complains against SIMI leaders being detained for the bombings despite ample evidence of their involvement. Should he not have told the Imam that it is the Islamic fundamentalism that people like him preach that is brainwashing young Muslims to join the terrorist organisations?

There seems to be a conspiracy to avoid facing what the world has come to characterise as pan-Islamic propaganda. It runs like this. The centuries since the ascendance of Islam in West Asia have been the golden age of Islam. Christian Europe succeeded in destroying this golden age by defeating the Ottoman Empire in the west and the Mughal Empire in the east. The Islamic state does not recognise any boundaries nor does it want parliamentary democracy as all laws are already there in the Quran.

Government is needed only to enforce these laws and, therefore, every law made has to conform to shari'ah. That is why clerics should oversee all laws and regulations. The return to pure Islamic laws can be facilitated only when modernity (like gender equality, education for women, etc) is destroyed and a Caliphate like that which existed during the Ottoman Empire is reinstated. In this endeavour Allah is on their side. The world will accept its subservience to Islam or it shall be forced to accept Islam's supremacy.

In this context, it would be relevant to quote from the e-mail sent by the 'Indian Mujahideen' minutes before the bombs went off in Delhi last Saturday. Recalling the sacrifices of "two most eminent Mujahids", Sayyed Ahmad Shaheed and Shah Ismail Shaheed, the mail says, "It is the great handwork of these visionary legends that shall always inspire us inshallah to carry on the struggle and fight against the Kufr till our last breath."

Is this the thinking of a handful among Muslims? One hopes so. We have prided ourselves that not a single Indian has been attracted by Osama bin Laden's fanaticism. But the bombings over the last four years have exposed the undercurrent of sympathy for Osama bin Laden's doctrine. Or else SIMI could not have spread so fast. Without this sympathy and the funds it brings such widespread conspiracies could not have been successfully implemented. Without this sympathy the conspirators could not have assembled in safe houses, conducted dry runs, and purchased lethal material to assemble bombs and transport them.

So, when some Muslim leaders issue statements decrying terrorism, they need to be asked why they aren't also decrying Osama bin Laden's doctrine. Instead, we have demonstrations where portraits of Osama bin Laden are displayed and he is hailed as the saviour of Islam; hundreds of children are named after this merchant of terror. US President George W Bush is berated at these meetings for dislodging the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that was totally hostile to India.

National Security Adviser MK Narayanan claims that 800 terrorist sleeper cells have been neutralised. Even if we were to accept this claim, what about the large number of sleeper cells that still function as revealed by the spate of bombings? How do they manage to function if the doctrine of fanaticism does not find favour in the community within which the conspiracies are hatched? Whether in Hyderabad or in New Delhi, the moment the police detain a suspect there is a hue and cry that the community is being targeted.

These fundamentalist leaders know that the UPA Government has its Achilles heel -- the desire not to antagonise the vote-bank of the UPA, including the Congress. This explains why the Prime Minister and his Home Minister did not follow up on the information that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi shared with them about the threat to Delhi. The Home Minister has the habit of throwing up his hands and donning a defeatist attitude.

The country needs a Home Minister who will take the battle into the camp of the terrorists, instead of waiting for the terrorists to strike again and again. It is this pusillanimous attitude that is preventing the UPA Government from allowing Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan from enacting tough anti-terrorism laws. Obviously, the UPA is playing to the gallery. It suits the peddlers of the doctrine of terror well. So, perverse secularism and terrorism go on feeding on each other.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, September 19, 2008