AT a recent Hindustan Times leadership summit former US president Obama recalled that at the time of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Washington was “just as obsessed with how to dismantle that network [LeT] as the Indians.” The US and India see Lashkar-e-Tyyaba behind every `terror’ act in Kashmir or elsewhere in India. But, documentary analysis shows secretive Mumbai trials were translucent (Davidson, Betrayal of India: Revisiting the 26/11 Evidence).

The Jewish-controlled media describes Hezbollah and Hamas as religious terrorists. Examples of religious terrorists are Rabbi Meir Kahane, Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir (Jews), and Aum Shinrikyo doomsday (Japanese). In seventh century India, the thugs strangulated gullible passersby to please the Hindu Devi Kali, and the 19th-century adherents of Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) mercilessly killed their pro-Tsar rivals.

A nation should not be punished for individual acts of terrorism, according to principles of natural justice. Unfortunately, it is common to dub one’s adversary (like Kashmiris or LeT) ‘terrorist’ because it enables state terrorists to eliminate freedom-fighters.

Let us have a universally-acceptable definition of ‘terrorism’.

Amjed Jaaved

Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017