DURING his visit to New Delhi, US Secretary of State Pompeo and India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale announced “those who support or abet terrorism in any form should be held accountable” (The Statesman, March 11).

Isn’t it terrorism when Meerut Cantonment police, along with 80 BJP members, led by Shahid Bharti, burns down “over 250 Muslim houses, two dozen cars, two-wheelers and nine buses?” Why was there no reaction to at the Gujarat carnage under then chief minister Narendra Modi now prime minister; the burning alive of Christians, the attack on Golden Temple, anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the killing of beef-eating minorities by cow vigilantes (gao rakhshak), persecution of Kashmiri students in Indian states, and so on?

A crystal-clear manifestation of this mentality was the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s 11-phase gaurav or papadshahi yatra (pride parade) in July 2002. The current arson is a natural sequel to Bal Thackray’s declaration: “Muslims can never be trusted. They are like snakes.”

M. Ali Bakhsh

Shikarpur

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019