Before the Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks begin on February 25th terror struck Pune. This was followed by Maoist terror in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. Was the timing of these terror strikes coincidental? Predictably criticism mounted in India against talks with Pakistan amidst continuing terror. There is justified criticism that Pakistan is not acting adequately to stop terror that weakens India. But hypothetically, even if it were, what then? Critics must ask if India is acting adequately to stop terror that weakens India. Over the years warnings issued by this scribe and other more qualified security experts have fallen on deaf official ears. Some past warnings may be randomly recalled.

On Nov 20, 2005 this scribe wrote:

“In 2004 India persuaded Washington to include People’s War and the Maoists Communist Centre in America’s Terror Exclusion List. But India itself has no national policy or agency to deal with these extremists enjoying international support… Yossef Bodansky, Director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the U.S. Congress wrote this in an official report:

"Islamist subversion of several countries is intensified because of the strategic interests of a third party -- the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) -- and, to a lesser extent, of its close allies. However, it is the close allies -- Pakistan and Iran -- who bear the brunt of the sponsorship of, and support for the terrorist escalation. They do so more because of the strategic calculations concerning the PRC. The intelligence services involved (are) the Iranian VEVAK and the Pakistani ISI. The ISI terrorism support infrastructure in Bangladesh not only supplies and trains on PRC-made weapons and explosives, but the Bangladeshi military officers acting as instructors had received special commando and mountain warfare training in the PRC… The Chinese preparations for a regional escalation and major crisis under conditions short of a major war are thorough. Chinese instructors are directly involved in training Tamils and other Indians for terrorist, sabotage, and espionage operations."

Did Government respond adequately to this information? Is the current synchronization of the Pune terror and Maoist terror mere coincidence?

On Sep 20, 2006 it was written:

“To identify the enemy we must begin by recognizing that only a mastermind can coordinate diverse terrorist movements having a single aim and result… it is delusional to distinguish between separatists, revolutionaries and jihadis. They all serve the same master... they pursue the same goal: to weaken India to the point of capitulation… Responsible intelligence inputs confirm that LTTE cadres imparted training to Kashmir and North-East militants. Since there is no apparent ideological affinity among these groups, their coordinated action would imply a common command and a common aim. The overall larger aim may have little to do with the local demands that are touted. The larger aim is a full-fledged subversive assault on the Indian State … How is this to be countered? Not by hot pursuit, not by TADA or POTA, and not by giving the police free rein to shoot whom they please. To fight terrorism that has advanced so far, India will need to do nothing less than overhaul its system’s working…consider two recent discoveries. Huge consignments of rockets were seized in Andhra Pradesh. The sheer quantity indicated that they were meant for Maoists spread across Bihar , Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The rockets were manufactured in Tamil Nadu. Various Left extremist groups… all receive rockets from a common source. Does that not indicate a common higher command...? Similarly, in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district the police stumbled on the biggest catchments of crude RDX bombs indicating a nationwide network. This renders the previous air-droppings of arms by foreigners redundant. Now home-grown self-sufficient insurgency is being developed. But a parallel industry and huge funds are required for manufacture of these huge consignments. From where do the funds come…?

Did Government ever seriously probe the source of this terrorism-related industry?

On May 9, 2007 it was written:

“In China , the military did not follow the corporate world. The corporate world followed the military… It was the PLA that liberated China and created the communist government…The PLA tended to act independently of the Chinese government… The PLA’s mindset was revealed by its book, Unrestricted Warfare, authored by two Chinese colonels. The book outlines how multi-pronged subversion can weaken and destroy enemy nations.”

Did Government take note of this information?

On Aug 3, 2008 it was written:

“(Fighting terrorism) can become meaningful only if there is an executive instrument capable of implementing policy. Does India have that…? The central government proposed a federal agency to fight terrorism… state governments are overwhelmingly opposing the proposal. They believe that the central government will misuse the proposed federal agency to derive political partisan advantage… Recall how the existing central agency, the CBI, has been used as a political tool by successive governments…The President alone, in the centre, has the democratic mandate and the moral right to decide on matters related to state governments.”

Did Government ever rethink the President’s role?

On Aug 13, 2008 it was written:

“The CBI has… claimed that the fake currency notes were brought into India through Nepal by Pakistan 's ISI. The CBI has also confirmed that the fake currency notes are of such fine quality that they are indistinguishable from genuine notes. That is why branches of the State Bank of India can pass off fake notes as genuine currency… this information has been written about explicitly and repeatedly by this scribe: he wrote these facts in March 2000, in June 2000, in March 2002, in July 2004 and in August 2006. All this time, the fake currency racket was expanding… It was pointed out that fake currency greatly facilitated terrorism -- that it was masterminded by foreign powers…”

Did Government ever consider demonetization to thwart the galloping fake currency menace?

On March 3, 2009 it was written:

“Regardless of which mask the enemy chooses to wear we should know by now that there is but one brain behind the mask… The enemy therefore is one… He seeks to destroy democratic South Asia … The victims of the enemy are divided. The governments of South Asia view each other with suspicion… Cannot the governments of the subcontinent see the looming threat and unite to wipe out the enemy…? The governments of South Asia can together accomplish what NATO cannot… ”

In the forthcoming talks between India and Pakistan the agenda is still unclear. US Senator John Kerry said recently that only a “grand reconciliation” could usher meaningful change. He said: “ Pakistan is at the crossroads.”

It was an understatement. Entire South Asia is at the crossroads.