PAHALGAM: INDIA'S MOMENT OF TRUTH

They say we never learn from history, but it is worth remembering, the gates to Fortress India, have always been opened from within.

- SHIV KUNAL VERMA

Pahalgam is a watershed event in the lives of the new generation that is coming of age and now needs to man the ramparts of Fortress India. Setting the emotion aside, we have to avenge the killings and we must do so without remorse and without pity. The Pakistan army, with their government an impotent accomplice, have not only yet again opened a new chapter, they are fighting a battle for their own survival. They say a cornered rat is the most dangerous, for it will do anything for its own survival. The Kashmir card has willy-nilly worked for Pakistan in the past for it gave an artificial, illogical creation the raison d'être for its very existence.

Against a historical canvas, the Pahalgam terror attack should not come as a surprise, for the pattern has been repeated time and again ever since 1947. The word that defines India in the Pakistani military psyche is "buzdil" (बुजदिल) which is an Urdu word that means coward or timid. It describes a person who lacks courage, is easily frightened, and tends to avoid danger or difficult situations. The word literally translates to "goat-hearted", suggesting a lack of bravery. Forget the fact that India fought back in 1947-48, walloped Pakistan in 1965 and tore them apart in 1971, in their mind the "dhoti-wearing Indian" is, and will always remain, buzdil.