Living on the Brink: Another Terror Flashpoint, Same Economic Burden

 India has never enjoyed the luxury of peaceful borders. Our frontiers have rarely been mere lines on a map. They have long been battlegrounds — arenas of conflict, political strife, and human displacement. People have fled across them, clutching little more than a name, a memory, and the fragile hope of safety.

Back in 1983, as Sri Lanka was engulfed in civil war, Tamil families sought refuge on the shores of Tamil Nadu, arriving by boat — frightened, worn down, carrying grief heavier than their possessions. We welcomed them, just as we did in 1971 when millions fled from East Pakistan. This pattern has repeated itself for decades: refugees streaming in from Myanmar, Tibet, Bangladesh. The subcontinent’s wars have never remained distant; India has borne the human, social, and economic fallout time and again.

Today, the tensions flare again. Terror attacks linked to Pakistan spark familiar calls for retaliation. The world demands de-escalation, diplomacy, and restraint. Yet, within India, there is an equally strong call to respond — to stand firm, to demonstrate strength, and to refuse to tolerate aggression. That resolve often manifests as a spiral of escalation.

Caught in the middle

This is the precarious balance India must maintain — again and again. An unwelcome conflict, a necessary response, a dilemma disguised as a decision. In reality, it’s a choice India never truly gets to make.