By The Editor: Siddharth Sehgal

Pathankot attacks were like the proverbial I told you so moment for PM Modi’s initiative of warming up to Pakistan. People on both India and Pakistan’s side anticipated reaction from Pakistan’s militant groups but not so soon after PM’s visit to Lahore. The attacks on Indian embassy and Pathankot airbase signifies not only that efforts to normalize relations will take much more than a handshake but also that Nawaz Sharif’s authority  is subject to wills and whims of their army and intelligence apparatus.

 The fact that groups like Lashkar and Jaish are able to operate freely on Pakistan’s soil, run bases, raise money and train young people to cross the border and attack India puncture holes in their claims of peace. Media and analysts on our side may say that Pakistan is serious this time and Nawaz Sharif’s call to PM Modi and his high level meeting with army, ISI, political and government cadre shows their sincere efforts to act on India’s evidence but my question is, if all this is a sign of cooperation then why attack at the first place. I regret to be so hawkish in perspective but I doubt anything significant will happen on their side. They will simply tell their radical outfits to lay low for a while and nothing will come out of these inquires. Pakistanis simply want to put on a show for people writing checks in Washington that they can rein in the troublemakers and that will be that.

 Now Pathankot does shows some weak spots in our armor, the recent indications that drug mafia, corruption among border guards and moles may be responsible for this breach and given the border with Pakistan this weakness needs to be taken seriously. Until recently drug problem in Punjab was linked to cabal of corrupt officials and traffickers that has its tentacles right up to some top people in Badal government but terrorism would be a side effect if not direct result of this nexus is something we never thought of. It’s not a secret that SAD government in Punjab is riddled with incompetence, graft and to much extent directly involved in the drug menace of the state but now the security and safety of our citizens are at stake and this should be addressed right away.

  We are and should always be committed to peace but such attempts to double cross us must not go unpunished. I am not saying to go along the Iran-Saudi relations line but peace cannot be imposed and certainly not at the cost of Indian lives.