Pakistan’s Response to America’s War against Terrorism
27 Sep, 2001 · 590
Prof Chintamani Mahapatra wonders how Islamabad will fight one kind of terrorism while it continues to promote another
As terrorism struck the symbol of power – the Pentagon, and the symbol of wealth – the World Trade Centre, in
Washington DC
and
New York
on September 11, it heralded a new type of war in the 21st century between democracies and terrorist outfits.
Pakistan
is a quintessential example. But they may have to be pressurized to play ball. This is what the Bush White House has done. It came up with a set of demands and asked
Pakistan
to spell out whether it is with the
US
or the terrorist outfits.
Pakistan
, which has aided, abetted, trained and equipped the terrorist groups involved in atrocities in
Kashmir
, has only paid lip service to the dead in the recent terrorist attacks against
America
. President Pervez Musharraf had declared “unstinted supportâ€Â
However, democracies can easily be identified but not terrorism, which does not represent a country, nor an individual or a group. One man’s terrorist is someone else’s freedom fighter. Thus all democracies may not unite in a war against terrorism. Non-democracies may also not cooperate in the war against terrorism, especially when some of them have been promoting terrorism themselves.
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