In the last one decade Pakistan has unleashed a war of terrorism on its eastern neighbour, first in Jammu & Kashmir and in the last three years on India as well, pretending that it has nothing to do with it and if anyone is killing and torturing people, they must be freedom fighters, locally brought up.

In the first place freedom fighters don't kill their fellow citizens as the Pakistani-sponsored terrorists have been doing in what can only be described as genocide. They have been indulging in a "pogrom'' just as the Nazis did in Germany in the thirties. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits have been forced to leave their ancestral homes in order to survive.

Neither the United States, nor the European Union nor anyone else have come to their succour. It is common knowledge that the terrorists the right word is jehadists have been trained, paid for and protected by Pakistan, which Gen. Musharraf has always strenuously denied.

Even at this very moment, as The Pioneer (July 20) has revealed, that Indian intelligence agencies have evidence to prove that cadres of various terrorist outfits are being trained in 27 camps situated in Pakistan and 28 situated in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and four more in the Northern Areas.

In all, Pakistan is training murderers in 59 camps, but Musharraf wants "evidence". A perfidious India-hater who sought to control Kargil it ended in a fiasco to Islamabad thanks to the bravery of our soldiers - Musharraf wants `evidence' of any Pakistan connection with terrorist activity.

It is a cruel joke. The Pioneer has gone further to reveal the names of all the centres where terrorists are being trained and to declare that "Pakistan Army and ISI have ensured that these camps are nearer to cantonment areas and have been camouflaged as army centres".

Gen Musharraf controls the Pakistani Army. The Pakistan Army controls the ISI and the ISI controls SIMI. SIMI, notwithstanding the certificate given to it by Amar Singh, is a body of traitors who are out to create maximum damage to India. What, in the circumstances should India do? Many suggestions have been put forth by various organisations, individuals andthe media.

Roughly they are as follows: Irrespective of the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power, mount an attack on the country and destroy its cities in the same way Israel is devastating Lebanon, facing, if necessary, nuclear bombing of Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Amritsar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi etc, within the range of Pakistan's missiles.

If that can't be done, or is considered too drastic a step, mount an attack on the terrorist camps beyond the Line of Control, in a limited and clearly delineated and limited way. * Snap diplomatic ties with Pakistan. * Break off Peace Talks.

The United States, as hypocritical as ever also wants "proof" from India that it was Pakistan that was behind the serial bombings in Mumbai as if the bombers would leave their visiting cards behind.

Washington, on its part, has so terrorised our Prime Minister that the man who said that he was convinced that the Mumbai "terror modules are instigated, inspired and supported by elements across the border" has now been reduced to say, after the meeting of the G-8, that he has "always believed the destiny of the people of South Asia are closely inter-linked" and that "both our countries need peace and stability". That belief, unfortunately is shared neither by Pakistan nor by Bangladesh.

We are feeling ourselves that these countries want to put peace and prosperity above working for devastation of India. And if the United States believed in it, it won't be offering two dozen F-16 war planes and billions of dollars worth spare parts to Pakistan. Washington is speaking with a forked tongue.

India's hands, in the circumstances are tied behind its back. How many more bomb blasts and how many more killed, wounded and maimed should Mumbai and other cities accept as part of life before our government say: Enough is enough? A threat has also been made that if another attack of any kind occurs, major steps will be taken, without specifying what they are.

Terrorists are not going to be cowed down with words. And the words of sympathy offered by members of the European Union are less than useless. They are no more than pro forma statements to be made on occasions such as Mumbai faced on 11 July.

No doubt our intelligence agencies will gear up in the months to come and we can expect police forces to be more alert in the future but in the end it is the anti-Hindu mindset of the Pakistani Army that will have to be faced.

Can Musharraf be dethroned? The United States won't let it happen. It wants Musharraf. He will be kept in power as long as the United States thinks he can be useful to it. And Musharraf knows how to play the political game.

Can India offer confederation idea to Pakistan along with Jammu & Kashmir as part of a larger solution? The matter has been raised often enough in the past evoking no interest or warmth in Islamabad.

Pakistan's fear is that in a confederation it will always remain a junior partner. It wants its independence and it wants Jammu & Kashmir by hook or by crook and it will not stop at anything till it gets its way. And devious have been its ways.

Pakistani leaders right from M. A. Jinnah onwards have lied through their teeth and they have included Ayub Khan and Zia. It hasn't dawned on Pakistani leadership that in 1946-47 Indian leaders conceded Pakistan under duress and not because they believed in the two-nation theory.

The sooner Pakistan leaves India alone, the better it would turn out to be. But if it insists on continuing to aid terrorists a time will come when all of South Asia will explode most violently and let it not be said that Islamabad has not been warned.

The best bet is still an Indo-Pak Confederation that can act to save the face both of the Pakistan Army and the jehadists. India and Pakistan are now on the brink of a precipice.

Something can yet be done to avoid disaster, but the ball is now in Pakistan's Court. What the thugs who make Pakistan policy must realize is that should there be another 11/7, the Pakistani citizens had had better watch out.

No one in this senses wants a war and certainly not nuclear war, with millions killed. The message must also be understood by Pakistan's biggest friend and ally, the United States.

And that message is: Don't push India any further. It won't do good to anybody, least of all to Pakistan.

Courtesy: www.samachar.com