| |
COMMENTARY
Time to go that extra mile on
Kashmir
By Romeet K Watt
MUMBAI - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
has, undoubtedly, made history. He has the distinction
of being the first Indian premier in the past 17 years
to address a "well-attended" public gathering in the
heart of Srinagar in Kashmir. Let us, please, forget how
successful, well-attended political rallies are managed.
The mechanism is the same - whether organized in
Srinagar or Patna, or for that matter, Lahore or
Karachi.
Symbolism apart, Vajpayee has indeed
earned, if not anything, a few brownie points. A blend
of poet-politician at his very best. On the first leg -
Day 1 of his much publicized visit, when he interfaced
with the people of Kashmir, he chose, conveniently, to
put aside all the contentious issues, displaying his
charisma, and poetic acumen.
Striking a
conciliatory note, Vajpayee talked and talked about
peace; the need for peace. And of course he surprised
many when he extended his hand of friendship to
Pakistan. He only chose to raise thorny issues on Day 2
of his historic visit to the state.
Talk of
reactions and you had Islamabad in a spot of bother, at
least to begin with. Taken altogether by surprise at
Vajpayee's peace offer, Islamabad recovered, in time, to
welcome the initiative. And, once again, remarked about
the statesman-like qualities of Vajpayee.
However, if his Day 1 musings were for the peace
constituency in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), his parting
shot just before he flew back to Delhi was aimed at his
own domestic constituency in the rest of the country.
And, of course, section(s) of his own
government. At the end of Day 1, the hawkish elements
must have been in such a frenzy at the turn of events
that External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha must have
found it difficult to find a hiding place. Or he must
have thought, perhaps, he should try and prevent
Vajpayee's flight from landing in Delhi as a mark of
protest for making him look like a fool.
The
prime minister of India, at the end of his two-day
visit, reminded us that, no, he did not forget to
mention, say, the Nadimarg massacre - where 24 Hindu
civilians were killed by the militants - but simply
chose not to. Because, he said, he wanted to make a new
beginning. At the end of his journey he was again his
usual self, making known India's known position - the
prerequisites that are to be met by Pakistan for any
meaningful dialogue on Kashmir.
Talk of making
new beginnings and Vajpayee will be attempting it for
the third time. That is if we live to see the day. At
least our dear premier is giving it yet another sincere
try - so the least we the loyal countrymen can do is
look the other way - and hope that there is not another
war debacle, or for that matter another terror attack on
our parliament. Third time lucky for talks with
Pakistan. We hope so. At least there is a positive
start, with the premier announcing the restoration of
full diplomatic ties and restoring air links.
But on the first leg of his journey he had
perhaps given enough leeway to Islamabad to make the
best of his earlier conciliatory gestures.
Pakistan, it seems, was so moved by Vajpayee's
statesman-like-qualities that President General Pervez
Musharraf's poster boy, Prime Minister Zafar Ullah Khan
Jamali, coolly picked up the phone and spoke to Vajpayee
for about 10 minutes. Apart from exchanging
pleasantries, well, it seems they did get down to
discussing, among other things, "relevant issues".
Washington. London. Paris. Beijing. Everyone was
thrilled, happy. Peace has been given a chance in South
Asia. Nuclear holocaust has been averted. So far, so
good.
What next? First, let us not go on a
warmongering spree and be a spoilsport by not giving
peace a chance.
Fast forward. It would seem
really odd that while Jamali is playing perfect host to
our Vajpayee, treating him to tasty desserts, our poor
Havaldar Shide continues to fight a grim battle for
survival.
Havaldar Shide, let me enlighten you,
is with the Ratriya Rifles, posted in the Doda-Rajouri
sector, engaged in counter-insurgency operations. He is
dutifully, against all odds, smoking out bigwigs of the
militant groups, smashing their hideouts in the deep,
thick jungle of Doda.
He also deserves peace, if
not a good meal, at a time when his prime minister is
talking peace. And he could make use of this peace to
muster the courage to write a postcard, if not an
e-mail, to his commanding officer about his experiences
in counter insurgency operations. What are his
impressions? What does he think he needs in terms of
logistics, equipment, and so on, to make his operations
all the more successful?
Indian and Pakistan
should talk. No one in his right mind would cast
aspersions on such a need. But it is also imperative
that peace be given a chance in Kashmir - in the true
sense; in a way that bloodshed stops, albeit
temporarily, but that has to be done, the sooner the
better.
The least Pakistan can do at this
crucial juncture is to impress on the United Jihad
Council - the conglomerate of all the terrorist outfits
operating in J&K - to call for, say, a two-month
moratorium on its violent activities. Pakistan can bring
this about, with discretion, of course.
It is
not a tough request: a very reasonable, sensible way to
create an atmosphere of the utmost good faith - one of
the essential ingredients for a healthy meaningful
discussion.
Romeet K Watt is editor
of the web newspaper The Kashmir
Telegraph, and also heads the Mumbai-based
think-tank Kashmir Bachao Andolan.
(The
Kashmir Telegraph)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
