Version imprimableCitizens for Democracy
17.5 2025
CFD statement on India-Pakistan hostilities
Citizens for Democracy expresses its alarm at the aftermath of the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, which endangers world peace and leads to further breakdown in the rule of international law, as well as poses a further threat to democracy within India itself.
What happened in Pahalgam was undoubtedly the use of terror to achieve political objectives and it was rightly condemned by all sections of the Indian population, led by local Kashmiri Muslims themselves, who rushed to the aid of the victims and held huge demonstrations against the act. The response of the Government of India was, however, neither measured nor balanced, but was dictated by the ideology and domestic political objectives of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Parivar. Though the Prime Minister cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and rushed back, he did not address the meeting of all parties that was convened by the government itself. In the all-party meeting, the major security lapses in Pahalgam which allowed the terror attack to happen were not adequately explained, nor was any modality of enquiry announced. The finger of blame was immediately pointed at Pakistan, along with actions like putting the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, thereby inflicting collective punishment on all Pakistani people for the purported action of a few terrorists. No effort was made to gather hard evidence to show the Pakistani state’s involvement in the terror attack and present to the UN Security Council.
Instead, a path of unilateral military action against Pakistan, ostensibly to hit terrorist bases with a pious hope that it would not escalate, was adopted. It is equally unfortunate that all the opposition parties went along with the government on this course of action. Even the Left parties with whom there is a tradition associated of anti-war stance, went along with the Government’s option. It is well known by now through experience the world over, that military action against terrorism never succeeds. In effect, the government of India was aping the American war on terror, which also failed. It merely led to the invasion and destruction of two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, without eradicating terrorism. Operation Sindoor, a name chosen with religious and regressive patriarchal connotations, was aimed squarely at the BJP’s domestic political constituency, considering the worsening economic situation in the country which was leading to disquiet, and the approaching elections like in Bihar.
From the outset, the military option was fraught with danger because when two nuclear powers confront each other militarily, the possibility of escalation not only cannot be ruled out, but the escalation itself has the potential to threaten the very existence of both countries and the region. We in India realize that Pakistan is not a monolith. It is a badly divided country. The people of Pakistan and the businesses in Pakistan want peace, normalcy and trade with India. But sections of the Army and the ISI support non-state terror groups which carry out attacks in India. The experience of the past has been that whenever the desire for peace and normalcy from both Indian and Pakistani sides result in substantial progress through talks, there is a terror incident which derails the whole process and resets it to square one. But the BJP - Sangh Parivar combine used the Pahalgam terror attack to foment communal sentiment against Kashmiri Muslims in particular and Muslims in general as verbal and physical attacks took place all over the country against them. Television channels and social media were made use of to create a war hysteria. At this juncture, civil society groups and India-Pakistan people
