The war rhetoric provides little clarity as the daily pronouncements of the Indian leadership are vague on why and how and when. There is clarity in the deadly mission of the enemy-denying India its existence as a free nation. The attack on Parliament on December 13 was an act of war, the last in a series, and in its evil symbolism the most provocative. India was provoked, the act of terror deserved a rejoinder. India has the military means and the national will to deal with the terrorists as well as their sponsors. That was India's initial reaction too. The current position of the sponsor is blatantly dishonest, as if it is determined to force India to translate its words into action. For Pakistan-whose sponsorship of radical Islamic terror is one of the most ordinary truths of the times and whose leader in the department of half-measures is as notorious as Yasser Arafat-is publicly parading its dishonesty, thereby reducing India's options.

True, war is an option the subcontinent can do without at the moment. Pakistan has a chance here to come clean and avoid the worst. President Pervez Musharraf, since September 11, has been very smart in talking a language America wants to hear: Islamic fundamentalism is bringing a bad name to Pakistan. What has he done to restore the good name of Pakistan, if it ever had one? Nothing, either he couldn't or he didn't bother. If Afghanistan for a few years was the headquarters of radical Islamism, Pakistan, America's most important ally in the war against the evil apparatus of Osama bin Laden, still continues to be the safe haven of the enemies of civilisation. One token arrest of the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed can't make Musharraf country a friend of freedom. India is not fooled.

The general has to do a lot more. Most importantly, he has to hand over terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim to India, not so difficult as these people are not living in inaccessible caves, but are the privileged beneficiaries of the general's hospitality. Diplomacy can work, and India should take every step to make it work, if Musharraf is ready to cooperate with India in its struggle against terror. That is, he should pass the information on the terrorist network to India. Actions he won't repent in retrospect. Remember, India is under attack, India has to defend itself. The nation is not negotiable.