CODE RED...

Code red

Last fortnight saw a rare example

of synchronicity of three exceptionally related

events in far-flung parts of the world:

 

 In a fortnight that was also the first anniversary

of the Mumbai train bomb blasts,

 

we had the storming of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad

and

 the failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

 

The common factor that binds these three events together

 is the not-so-hidden hand of what has come to

 be known as Islamic Terrorism on a global scale.

For Indians,

 a rather shaming interest attaches to one of these

occurrences as the terrorists involved in the foiled

incidents in Britain are suspected to have Bangalore connections.

This tentative finding of the British police is a blow

to the self esteem of the citizens of this city as

the city has a well-deserved reputation

as a cosmopolitan metropolis of exceptional secularist credentials.

By far, the most traumatic of these events

was the confrontation between the clerics

 holed up in a bastion of unreconstructed Muslim orthodoxy,

the Lal Masjid in Islamabad and the

Special Service Group (SSG) —

 an elite force once commanded by General Musharraf himself.

Authentic details of exactly what happened are still lacking,

 what with Pakistan Government being selectively

candid about ''Operation Silence.''

 According to official reports,

over a hundred people have been killed in an

operation that was reluctantly undertaken when it

could no longer be avoided and lasted 40 hours.

This extreme step was inescapable after talks with

Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the negotiator on behalf

of the Lal Masjid clerics, failed.

 Ghazi himself

was later killed in the crossfire.

This face off with the Lal Masjid cleric comes at

the end of Musharraf's prolonged dithering over

 taking effective action against this centre of

aggressive Islamic orthodoxy.

As early as 2004, its chief cleric was accused by the

 government of conspiring to attack the presidential

 palace and the US Embassy.

 There have even been calls by Masjid sources for

 the assassination of Musharraf who,

 incidentally, has had other unsuccessful attempts on his life.

Despite such provocations, there was a certain reluctance

 on the part of the government over taking head on

 the cleric's increasingly shrill denunciation of the

 regime and periodical violent protests.

Early in January 2007, women students of a school run

 by the Masjid forcibly occupied a children's

library as a protest against government's plans to

demolish illegal mosques and madrassas.

 In April, suicide attacks were threatened if the Masjid

 was closed down.

Later in June, some students raided an acupuncture

 clinic and took nine persons including

six Chinese women as captives,

 accusing the women of prostitution.

 By early July, the administration had had enough and

began its first serious encounter with the clerics,

 in which nine persons died.

On July 7, Musharraf issued a stern warning that those

 residing in the mosque must choose between surrender and death.

The rest is history

not yet fully told.

On the whole, the much delayed final action has had

the eager approval of public opinion all over the world,

 including Pakistan, where a certain ambivalence

would have been natural, especially among the

 more orthodox but peace loving sections of the Muslim community.

 The Pakistani media has been supportive,

on the whole, seeing a certain justification for this extreme step.

Such criticism as there has been is to the effect

that this decisive confrontation should have come much earlier.

The well-known columnist of Dawn,

 Irfan Hussain, has argued on these lines.

This sanguinary encounter,

 he says, may well have been avoided if only the

 government had acted on his earlier

suggestion that the authorities should have cut off electricity,

water and gas supplies to the complex.

Presumably, apart from his reluctance

 to take the clerics full on,

 Musharraf was too busy with other problems

 like his continuing confrontation with the Chief Justice.

Indian reaction to the ''Operation Silence''

 has been muted but positive as a belated

response to a growing menace.

The media in particular has been approbative,

 with some reservation about cross border

 terrorism in Kashmir being inspired by

quasi-political Islamic fundamentalism.

Ironically, Pakistan itself

has now had to confront the same

 fundamentalism in the activities of the fanatics

 of the Lal Masjid.

 The Pakistani establishment should now take

 more effective steps against Islamic terrorists targeting India,

treating terrorism as a joint problem of both countries. .

On the foiled attacks in Britain and the subsequent

 investigations that point the finger of suspicion at

 Bangalore-based individuals,

it is important that the real roots of these acts are laid

 bare by the British investigating authorities.

Speaking to some women journalists,

 Dr Manmohan Singh made this point in a rather ambiguous way.

He said,

 ''I could not sleep after watching the families

 of Indians on TV last night.

Labelling Indians as terrorists or Pakistanis as terrorists

 is best avoided.

 Terrorists are terrorists.

They don't belong to any community or religion.''

It is likely that an unstated fear of a ''Hindu backlash''

 to such characterisation was at the back of his mind

 when he made these observations.

 If so, it should be noted that recent instances of terrorist attack,

 such as that on the suburban trains of

Mumbai last year had not led to any such retaliatory violence.

 Similarly, the suspicions voiced by

 British investigators about the possible

involvement of 'Bangalore-based individuals'

in the recent terrorist acts in London and Glasgow

have not led to any violence directed at the

Muslim community in the city or elsewhere.

Having said this, one cannot burke the fact that the

 three incidents listed at the beginning have Islamic inspiration.

 Squeamishness in recognising this fact is misplaced.

 Critical comments on these events are not

Anti-Islam but against Islamic Terrorism.

None but the most fanatical Hindu-Indian would think

 that every Muslim is by definition a religious fundamentalist.

The vast majority of the

world's Muslims are peace-loving individuals.

But equally, the current wave of violence

on the global scale is inspired by Islamic fundamentalism

 promoted actively by the likes of

Bin Laden and the clerics of Lal Masjid.