Sri Lankan cricketers are safe; sadly, we can't say the same for the state of Pakistan

Yesterday, in Lahore, The Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by gun-yielding, and even rocket-launcher equipped terrorists, and many players were injured in the attack. That they are all out of danger and safely back in their own country is a relief, to say the very least.

This attack once again reminded me of precisely what I, and many others, have been saying for the past so many years. Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists, and they have produced a Frankenstein that they no longer control. Without an argument, the terrorists are a creation of the state and have always been given all the monetary, military and political support they needed to create mayhem in India. Now, as was witnessed very recently through the large celebrations & public display of arms by the Taliban in the Swat Valley post Sharia law being allowed there, the radicals want much more power and wish to control everything in Pakistan, much on the same lines as they did in Afghanistan till a few years ago.

The tentacles of terror have truly gone beyond their maker's control (the Pakistani politicians, army and ISI) and are now deliberately attacking civilians, and even foreigners and teams on a goodwill mission to Pakistan, to spread their awe & fear. The September 2008 Marriott attack in Islamabad was a grim example of the same, and even yesterday’s attack was aimed at bringing their power & capabilities to international notice – much like the US 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks.

There were many knee-jerk reactions in Pakistan to these attacks to absolve themselves of the blame. These ranged from – this is a work of RAW; after all Sonia Gandhi promised retribution for 26/11. Another being – this is the LTTE striking with vengeance as a last hurrah in their fight against the Sri Lankan army. I, for one, do not believe this at all. And there are many reasons for the same.

12 heavily armed terrorists attacked the team bus, being escorted by 6 policemen. All the policemen were killed and all the terrorists got away unharmed and escaped being captured. Wow!

How could the terrorists manage this feat, especially given the fact that the bus route to the stadium was changed at the last minute due to security concerns, and nobody but the police were supposed to know the route. The only sound logical reason that comes to my mind is that the terrorists were Pakistani insiders, possibly policemen/ISI men themselves rather than radical terrorists, who staged this to create an impression that Pakistan is itself a victim, and not a perpetrator, of such attacks. If the RAW or the LTTE did it, they would surely not know of the last minute change in route, and would not have been able to strike. Even if they managed to do so somehow, they would certainly have been captured or killed by the Pakistani forces – goddamn, at least 1 out of the 12 could have met that fate. That this did not happen, is proof enough of the complicity of the authorities running the show there.

Anyhow, the purpose of this piece is not to defend our nation or the LTTE against the blame, or to fault Pakistan. I write this as a grim reminder of what is our fate, if such terrorists were allowed to take center-stage in Pakistan. They have no love for our nation, and I dread the day the nuclear option against India will cease to be an “option” and will become an “opportunity” in Pakistan. For that very reason, we have to continue applying international pressure on Pakistan to fight this menace. And yet, howsoever much we may not want to do so, somehow help them combat this terror. It might be their creation which is hurting them now, but it is our neighbour’s house collapsing that will take our own home with it as it falls. Difficult thought to digest, but a bitter pill that I fear we will have to swallow.