Our readers would have noticed our two lead pieces on the front page on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we wrote that India has lost more lives to terror in recent years than any other country except war-torn Iraq, and we backed it up with hard statistics. On Tuesday, we detailed our weak-kneed and bumbling response to terror attacks, both in preventing them and in bringing the merchants of death to book; we also tried to give reasons as to why our governments have failed to deal more firmly with the scourge of terrorism.

Over the next few days and weeks, we will examine in greater detail the obstacles to effectively tackling terror; we will also try to provide possible solutions.

But before we do any of that, we need to be clear about one thing: an attack by terrorists on Indian citizens is an attack on India. Our response must be commensurate. Our anger shouldn't be reserved only for those who commit such acts, but directed equally against those who plan and finance them.

As a paper, TOI is liberal; it has always aggressively pushed for peace. But peace cannot co-exist with terror. Nor, for that matter, can peace co-exist with attacks on any community or class of people, whether they are communal, caste or ethnic killings. It is sad, even criminal, that perpetrators of such violence have often been allowed to go scot-free, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Everything we do to prevent and punish acts of terror must flow from the basic premise that these not only take away innocent lives, but also divide our society, create mistrust among people and leave scars that can take decades to heal. In that respect, terrorism is worse than an act of war against the nation.

In other ways too, it's worse than war, because terror acts are executed by stealth against civil society. They target children in amusement parks on a weekend, office commuters at peak hour on suburban trains, shoppers on Diwali eve in a crowded market, festive gatherings on Shab-e-barat.

Once we acknowledge that these are acts of treason, it will help bring greater focus and urgency to all the agencies and organisations that are supposed to tackle terror. They'll recognise how critical it is that they put aside their petty egos, turf wars and differences, and act as one. Again, hopefully, politicians will feel a pang of conscience and look beyond short-term gains before they decide to protect people who threaten the nation.

For far too long, we have failed to focus on terror as an act of treason. The result has been a depressingly familiar but ineffective drill that follows terror attacks - visits to the spot by dignitaries, announcement of compensation and finger-pointing across the border. That done, it's back to business as usual. Often, this has been touted as the country's resilience, its ability to take blows on the chin and move on. In the process, terror has become routine, benumbing the sensitivities and dulling the responses.

Once the latest terror attack is off front page and prime time news, so is our vigil. There is no scrutiny of whether the killings could have been prevented; whether the right lessons were learnt or steps taken to minimise the possibility of a repeat. This encourages the authorities to remain in denial, and play down terror attacks as isolated incidents. 'India cannot be cowed down by a handful of misguided youth' rhetoric does incalculable harm by putting a premium on complacency and masks the feeble response to the challenge.

The total number of lives lost to terror far outnumbers the casualties we have suffered in all the wars inflicted upon us. Yet, while every external aggression has led to a remarkable demonstration of national will, terrorism has failed to evoke the same steely resolve, although the merchants of terror, through their tactics of a thousand cuts, have bled India more than any war and continue to do so.

The war against terrorism is too important to be left to governments and their agencies. The stakes are far too high for that. Every Indian must feel he is a combatant and committed to securing a safe future for our children and the nation. Terrorists should know that we mean business when we say enough is enough.

Courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/specialcoverage/2311390.cms, August 29, 2007