Public Anger against Pakistan

The details revealed by the terrorist who was arrested on Thursday were also the trigger for external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s terse conversation with his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during which he made no bones of India’s anger. There were pointers available in public to what transpired between the two foreign ministers. A call from Mukherjee froze the smile on Qureshi’s face, who had engaged in a gamesmanship of sorts by taking the call at a press conference with women journalists. Soon afterwards, the usually protocol-conscious MEA released the contents of the conversation in a move aimed at both conveying India’s sentiments and addressing the growing popular anger against terrorism in India. Analysts rated Mukherjee’s statement as tough. In Mumbai, the operations against the terrorists have been cheered by citizens shouting “Pakistan murdabad!’’. While there was unanimity that the PM needed to engage in plainspeak with Pakistan, his unorthodox move to invite the ISI chief raised many eyebrows within the government. The decision, taken at the highest levels, doesn’t address the concerns about how the Indian system will share intelligence or evidence with the ISI without jeopardizing its assets—moles—or helping the ISI blur the evidence provided. The misgivings about the move are strengthened by the failure of the joint anti-terror mechanism between the two countries thus far for these reasons. Pakistan readily agreed to India’s bizarre suggestion because it gives it a unique opportunity to showcase its “cooperation’’ to the rest of the world—on a terror attack that targeted US, British and Israeli nationals.India’s move came even as the government refused to accept help from Israel and only reluctantly did so from the US.