In the face of a gravely provocative and hostile act of aggression – such as the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, 14 February, – a mature nation should display five qualities. Unity. Fearlessness. A steely resolve to punish the aggressors. A complete lack of hatred, revengefulness and triumphalism. And readiness to understand and address the root cause of the problem.

India has shown some of these qualities – to be precise, the first three in the list. That’s heartening. However, more work is needed to develop the remaining two.

First, Unity: Just before the news of the terror attack came in, the acrimony of the election season was visible all across India. The 16th Lok Sabha had ended its term the previous day.