TV crews, always hungry for the ‘human element’ after acts of inhumane terror, buzzed outside Red Fort explosion suspect Dr Muzammil Shakil’s home in Pulwama, Kashmir.

The doctor and his associates in the Faridabad module had stockpiled more than 2,900 kg of ammonium nitrate (weight of an adult Indian elephant) and other bomb-making materials in two rented rooms.

Muzammil’s mother Naseema, in burqa with a yellow scarf around her head, said he left home about four years ago and never returned. “We had no information about him during this time. When he was arrested, we came to know from others," she said.

But her other son and Muzammil’s brother Azad Shakil (who has now reportedly been arrested) had a different story: “He [Muzammil] had last visited us in June during our father’s surgery."

Clearly, at least one of them is lying. Or both.

How to treat families of terrorists is a sensitive subject. Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti wasted no time in appealing for humane treatment of these families.

But in a non-linear war where terrorists are not bound by any morality or rules of engagement, where they often derive silent and active support from families and community, do governments have to chain themselves to the loftiest ethical standards?

Can one ever win a non-linear war by linear........

© News18