Beyond easy solution to Pakistan's terrorist threat
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I HAVE a lot of respect for Selig Harrison, who is one of the most knowledgeable commentators on South Asia. However, I find his analysis somewhat shallow regarding how to counter the terrorist threat within Pakistan (“The other Islamist threat in Pakistan,’’ Op-ed, June 17).
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a dangerous organization capable of committing heinous acts that have taken the lives of many innocent civilians in India and Pakistan. But simply banning the organization or even disarming it is not likely to solve the problem. In any case, the task would not be easy.
As Harrison himself notes, Lashkar-e-Taiba, under the name Jawat-ud-Dawa, runs legitimate charities and seminaries. During my visit to Pakistan a couple years ago, Pakistani academics told me that the country’s public education system was on the brink of collapse. This is where the “madrassas’’ stepped in, offering not only education, but food, shelter, and a healthy dose of religion.
Disarming Lashkar-e-Taiba would be good, but it would take much more to stop terrorism in South Asia. There should be an immediate resumption of the dialogue between India and Pakistan that India called off after the Mumbai attack. India, with its powerful military, can surely talk to a weak Pakistan government from a position of strength. It is in India’s interest to bolster Pakistan’s nascent democracy, which will eventually be the real antidote to terrorism.
Subrata Ghoshroy
Jamaica Plain 
