Rushdie, Bombay, Pakistan, Justice

I thought I was going to hear about Bombay and India; specifically what India did wrong and what the Indian government can do to make things right - but I left hearing more about Pakistan and what the Pakistani government can't or, per the panelists, won't do to make things right.

I was at a panel hosted by the Asia Society on "Understanding the Mumbai Attacks" with panelists Salman Rushdie, Mira Kamdar and Suketu Mehta. Though the conversation started with a highly romanticized vision of Bombay, the bulk of the discussion focused on Pakistan.

The panelists unanimously contended that gaps in Indian intelligence and security are critical issues but focusing on these is a mistake. If one really wants to understand the roots and find the solution to the problem, one must focus on Pakistan. The battle it seems is not between Pakistan and India but between Pakistani moderates and extremists. Rushdie dismissed Arundhati Roy's argument on justice (video) - the idea that terrorists are influenced by injustices committed against Indian muslims (Kashmir, Gujarat...). Instead, terrorists are about power and the attacks are a power grab to drag the world back into the middle ages "at the point of modern weaponry".

Yes, terrorism is about power and I'm sure if Kashmir, Israel-Palestine were resolved, they would find another cause. But, don't you think that events such as the Gujarat riots provide terrorist camps with tremendous recruitment ammunition?

Say, you agree that the problem lies in Pakistan. But, what can you really do? I mean, you can put pressure to ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa and enforce house arrests but what does that accomplish? They can still run their operations as do our MLAs who govern from our jails. I don't agree with Rushdie that Pakistan is a basket case. Yes, it has lots of issues and the government, ISI, the army and the Northwest Frontier are all doing their own thing, but there is a semblance of democracy and when people got to vote, they ousted Musharraf and the Islamist's parties got only 2% of the votes. They vote along provincial lines, but then so does most of India.

I left the panel with more questions than answers. I am curious to learn your thoughts on both these issues - the link between terrorism and justice and the road ahead with Pakistan. I wish I had more Pakistani friends.