Search the Internet          Tips  Links: Terror in America

Ilesh Shah in New York

I am an Indian who has been residing in the US for well over a year now.

Nothing great, except that I have all along been working out of New York, to be precise just one mile away from the once proud and tall World Trade Centre.

My prime real estate location made me a shocked and a helpless witness to the deadliest terrorist attacks.

At the point of writing this, I would imagine the public mood in India to be buoyant at the US declaration of war against terrorism.

No doubt, reports of terrorist training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir having closed down would further enhance the celebratory mood.

While many of us would be glad, some openly and others secretly, at the sticky situation Pakistan finds itself in following the American requests for support, it would be way too presumptuous to link the US position with the issue of terrorism in Kashmir.

Before we try to arrive at some conclusions, it would stand us in good stead to try and understand the American mindset.

I, for one, have been trying to gauge the public mood in US since the Tuesday attacks.

Not one American I have met has talked about Kashmir, and the way the Americans had remained silent observers for years on end.

Nor is there even an iota of acknowledgement about the Indian war against terrorism.

I have realised that the root of such an attitude is the common American penchant to compartmentalise issues not directly impacting them as different.

Which in any case isn't really true.

Why? You may ask.

A terrorist trained in Afghanistan is as likely to foment attacks in Kashmir, as he is capable of bombing embassies in Kenya or blasting ships off the coast of Iran.

Even today, four days after the WTC attacks, the 'common sense' in America is to nail Osama Bin Laden, and not to see the larger picture.

Though there is a dim possibility that the countless strategists of US, as the time progresses, may see the logic of going after other mercenaries also, keeping in mind the previous US responses, it may well turn out to be another case of wishful thinking.

The one way of handling the partial sight of the US is for the Indians to cultivate a more realistic appraisal of situations.

In a classic case of inflated expectations, at a press conference immediately after the attacks, one Indian journalist in his thinly disguised efforts to implicate Pakistan kept on shouting, "Attack Pakistan, Attack Pakistan."

The key to acquire realistic expectations is for the Indians to cultivate greater self-esteem and self-belief.

It becomes all the more necessary if the Americans, or anyone else, have to recognise our concerns as legitimate. We also need to learn a few lessons from Pakistan, which in any situation, adverse or otherwise, seems to get on the right side of the big powers.

The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report