The situation calls for sober analysis and farsightedness

Lal Singh, General Secretary, Communist Ghadar Party of India, 16^th July, 2011

Who stands to gain from the serial bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai on 13^th July?  If the crime is not one of passion but of cold political calculation, then the political motive needs to be examined. 

Lal Singh, General Secretary, Communist Ghadar Party of India, 16^th July, 2011

Who stands to gain from the serial bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai on 13^th July?  If the crime is not one of passion but of cold political calculation, then the political motive needs to be examined. 

There are at least four possible hypotheses to be considered. 

One hypothesis is that this is the handiwork of some Islamic group in our country linked to the LeT or some other underground group in Pakistan.  This is the favoured hypothesis promoted in our country every time there is a terror attack.  It is used as a justification for arresting and torturing various Muslim youth and political activists.  In the majority of cases, this hypothesis has been proved wrong, or nothing has been proved.

A second hypothesis is that the rulers of Pakistan organised it through their intelligence agency ISI, presumably to destabilise India.  The facts, however, show that Pakistan is at present facing the greatest danger of being destabilised and destroyed.  The rulers of Pakistan are themselves engaged in bitter quarrels with the United States over the violation of national sovereignty.  A large number of US intelligence operatives have recently been expelled by the Government of Pakistan for running amok on its territory.  Responding to mass popular revolt against the regular bombing and killings in northern Pakistan by unmanned US war planes called drones, the Government of Pakistan has recently called on the US to halt such operations on its territory.  In response, the US has resorted to the launching of such attacks from Afghan territory.  In the midst of growing tension with the most powerful superpower on earth, it is unlikely that the rulers of Pakistan would choose to attack India at this time.  At a time when their country is being presented as a failed state or a rogue state, they stand to lose and not to gain politically from the bomb blasts in Mumbai.

A third hypothesis is that the crime has been organised from within the ruling circles of India, to divert attention from the corruption scandals and other problems that are currently plaguing them, and to create conditions for stepped up repression and police methods to curb all opposition.  This hypothesis cannot be ruled out, given the history of using individual terrorism as a justification for state terrorism.

A fourth hypothesis is that this has been masterminded by the intelligence agency of the United States, as part of its strategy to discredit Pakistan, bring India closer to itself and isolate China, which has stood by Pakistan against the violation of her sovereignty by the US armed forces.  The way the political situation is developing, the US stands to gain by deepening the divisions and animosity between India and Pakistan at the present time. 

It is to be noted that both India and Pakistan have been seeking to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an important grouping consisting of China, Russia and four central Asian countries.  It is in the strategic interests of the US to prevent such a political alliance of Asian powers from taking shape at this time.  Stoking the flames of Indo-Pak hostilities, through another series of bomb blasts in Mumbai, serves this strategy very well.  Hence this hypothesis may be considered the most likely one, from the standpoint of political motive.

When any crime is committed, professional investigation and detection require assembling all the facts and analysing them.  There is need to consider all possible hypotheses and examine each on the basis of available facts.  To jump to conclusions and point fingers at someone based purely on prejudice is neither professional nor responsible conduct.

Home Minister Chidambaram has stated that “Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terrorism” even before any factual evidence has been gathered.  This is the height of unprofessional and irresponsible conduct.  It appears that such leaders are eager to sing the American imperialist tune.

In this context, the Iranian parliament deserves to be applauded for boldly listing 26 former and serving officers of the US political and military establishment, charging them with heinous war crimes and violation of human rights.  The list includes Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, General Tommy Franks, head of the US Central Command during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006.

Indian parliamentarians are not displaying the courage to speak the truth nor the honesty to strictly seek truth from facts.

If all available historical facts about terrorist acts in the 20^th and 21^st centuries are assembled and analysed, the inescapable conclusion is that the Headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C, is the real epicentre of terrorism.