Middle-east is up in flames again. Israel has been bombing the living daylights out of Gaza for nearly 10 days now. Palestine (read Hamas) on its part has kept launching missiles into Israel for a lot more than ten days.

Now I am not someone who lives in the middle-east.I am someone who lives in a country that has an equally hostile neighbour who is more inclined to have a war rather than recognize the terrorists present on its soil, let alone take action on it. But let us come back to the present situation in Gaza.

For the last 9 days, I have heard messages(via TV and newspapers)  from a lot of Israeli leaders and a lot of Palestinian leaders, even some Hamas leaders. A lot of these have been focused around two statements.

1. A disproportionate use of force by Israel.

2. Attacks will not stop till rocket fire stops from Gaza.

I am not going to discuss either of these. If you want that, go watch CNN/BBC and you will find leaders and citizens on both sides doing the same.

What I make out from all those discussions is, neither side wants peace. So in such a situation, how does one broker peace?

To have peace, there needs to be a dialog between Israelis and Hamas. That brings up the first question. Accountability. Israel and its government are open to the international community. The international community can put all the pressure it wants on Israel, but who talks to the terrorists? Palestine currently is ruled by the Fatah party, but Gaza has been overpowered by the more radical Hamas. Who makes sure that Hamas will do what it promises on a negotiating table? I mean, would you believe the word of an organization that fires rockets aimed at civilians, and then hides behind civilians when the army comes knocking?

This is probably an issue we cannot get around. For the last 60 years, there is little trust between the Israelis and the other middle-eastern countries. This mistrust is not going to vanish overnight.

Here is a solution I propose. Let Israel immediately stop all attacks on Gaza and show that it is the more responsible of the two parties. In addition to this, let Israel open the borders leading in to Gaza to let humanitarian aid, food and medicines to get in. This should “ideally” be followed by Hamas stopping rocket attacks on Israel. If Hamas is really so worried about people of Gaza, let it show that it is equally committed to maintaining a state of peace so that life is restored to normalcy for normal citizens.

Just to make sure each side is sticking to its commitments, let there be teams made of Arabs and Israelis watching over both sides. This should make sure there are enough independent observers to ensure all remains well.

If this works, all will be happy. In theory it will.

In practice, there are loads of questions for this experiment. Below are some of them:

1. Accountability - Can a terrorist organization like Hamas be trusted to stop being itself?

2. What if this doesn’t work? What if Hamas fires a couple of rockets? Should Israel have the right to start the military offensive again.

3. How does one make sure this cease fire brings a lasting resolution and not just a small period of calm?

All I hope is that Israel ends this offensive very soon. For sake of all those civilians who are holed up in Gaza. Israel is doing this for its citizens who live under a threat of rockets from Gaza. Let it not create a similar circumstance of those living in Gaza.

Peace. That is all the middle-east region needs. 

“Dawood - Who’s that? We never heard of him before.”

“Maulana Masood Azhar who? Sorry, never heard that name”

“Terrorism? What’s that? Don’t ask us to eliminate terrorism, we’ll go to war”

Pakistan is a nation that is in a state of denial. Never before has clearer evidence emerged that Islamic terrorists have established their roots deep within the Pakistani fabric. Yet all our neighbours seem to do is to turn a blind eye to this menace that has started affecting its own citizens.

The trouble started way back in 1947 when India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan. The biggest flashpoint then was the Indian state of Kashmir. Back then, Pakistan supported the Mujahirs who were no more than armed mercenaries backed by the then rag tag Pakistani army to try and wrest control of Kashmir. They succeeded partially, and what began was a bloody era for people of Kashmir.

What also began here was a clandestine backing of the militant forces by elements in the Pakistani Army. The responsibility of handling these militants was then passed on to the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI). Since then, several acts of terrorism have been  carried on in the state of Kashmir as well as several others throughout India. The developed world mostly ignored these incidences of terrorism till a certain Osama Bin Laden took terrorism to their own backyard.

Switch to 26/11. India’s financial capital Mumbai was held hostage by a group of ten terrorists for 3 days. Unlike previous incidents where all terrorists were killed, this time one terrorist was caught alive. Azam Amir “Kasav” has owned up to being a Pakistani national and has even written a letter to the Pakistani government. Only to be denied existence.

What Pakistan is doing here is playing with dynamite. Even though it has been time and again proven that Pakistan is the home to some of the most wanted on Interpol’s list, like Dawood Ibrahim  (mastermind of the 1993 bomb attacks in Mumbai), Maulana Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-mohammed chief and wanted for numerous terror acts), the chiefs and cadres of world famous terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammed and also Al-Qaeda, it either denies their existence or calls them non-state actors to wash its hands off.

The murder of Benazir Bhutto and the multiple terrorist bombings in Pakistan make it quite clear that Pakistan is now bearing the brunt of the same terrorists it harbors. If this is not enough to serve as a wake up call, only God knows what will!

Pakistan’s democratic government under Mr.Zardari must take swift, affirmative and urgent actions against these known terrorist forces. If they do not, they are sitting on a ticking time bomb that will cause more harm to Pakistan than anyone else.

2008 seems to be the year of the terrorist. After serial explosions in Lucknow & Jaipur that claimed over a 100 lives earlier this year, two more cities have faced the brunt of terrorist strikes.

On Friday(25-July), 8 explosions rocked across Bangalore, the IT capital of India. The bombs were reported to be low intensity explosions, with 1 death and around  20 people injured. Mobile networks were jammed to avoid spread of rumors, but abundant (and critical) information was being posted from Bangalore via channels like Twitter. High alert was sounded across India.

The high alert could not prevent what happened the day after. On a busy Saturday evening, 16 blasts ripped across Ahmedabad. Most of these were low intensity blasts, but some were high intensity blasts. The heaviest blast happened at the Civil Hospital, right outside its trauma center where injured from other blasts were being brought. The number of dead stands at over 40 now, and it keeps rising by the hour.

I am outraged. And so will every other citizen of this country. The internal security scenario in India seems to be really pathetic, with terrorists blasting bombs at their own whim. In the recent past, the buzzword has been sleeper cells. This means a group of terrorists ready and waiting to strike, literally sleeping till the time comes for them to carry out their cowardly plans.

There have been no arrests in the Jaipur blasts earlier this year. This proves the weakness in our security agencies, be it the State Police, CBI, RAW, IB ….. whatever. Nobody seems to bother about these terrorists whose dastardly acts claim hundreds of innocent lives every year.

And the terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for these strikes calls itself “Indian Mujahideen”. Well let me tell you something, you “Indian Mujahideen” pricks, you are not Indian. An Indian will always work towards the benefit and progress of his nation. An Indian will never think about harming his fellow Indians. An Indian will always rise above cast, religion, region to be an Indian first. You sir, are not Indians. You are cowards, cowards who want to follow the agenda of death and destruction. Forget Indians, you do not even belong to your religion. No religion ever asks it followers to take innocent lives.

And if you are so interested in being the Mujahideen, and fighting a holy war, go on the border. And take on a war with the Indian Army. I am sure they’ll rub it in your face that you are neither warriors, nor brave. You are just a pathetic bunch of cowards who can hide and take lives of innocent people. Don’t hide behind excuses of religion and holy wars, you are just ignorant fools with no understanding of life. Maybe if your mother, your father, your sister, your wife or your kids were to die in one of your terrorist attacks, your sleeping conscience would wake up.

And to the Indian Government, and our politicians who run this country, get a spine!! Your vote bank politics have led us to a situation where we innocent people bear the brunt of your inadequacies. Our lives are lost because you are more interested in saving your vote banks than taking steps to make this country safer for its citizens.

We need to stand united, we need to stay calm. These terrorists want to disturb our peace, our lives. Let us be resilient, let us be peaceful and tolerant. Let us not fall prey to the plans of these terrorists who want to instill fear in our hearts. Let us show these terrorists that our unity cannot be shaken by their cowardly acts.

And in all this, let us pray for those who lost their lives and loved ones in these attacks. May God be with them in their hour of need.