Author: VK Grover
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 6, 2002
Plato once remarked, "Of all forms
of deception, self deception is the worst." Successive governments in our
country have deluded themselves into thinking they can make peace with
Pakistan, and that Pakistan will eschew terrorism and come to the negotiating
table. The present Government, riding on the coattails of the Americans,
actually believed that President Musharraf would come down hard on his
own jihadis and stop infiltration into J&K. US Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage gave us an assurance and we promptly took steps
to defuse the tension on the border. Any reliance on the Americans can
be very unreliable.
President Musharraf has proved to
be far too clever, both for the Americans and the present Government. His
January 12 speech was a complete sham and this writer has throughout said
that the Pakistani leader had no intention of stopping his terrorist campaign
in J&K. His survival continues to depend on a hate India campaign and
he will never give up support for Kashmir. Besides, he is fully aware that
the Americans need him for an attack on Iraq.
President Musharraf has astutely
manipulated the international media in his favour. He has projected an
image of a moderate - a modern day Ataturk - who wants to lead Pakistan
into a new and more enlightened age. As the world's greatest supporter
of terrorism, earlier of Al Qaeda and now the terrorist groups trained
in Pakistan, he has totally deceived the international community into believing
he is the only bulwark against Islamic terrorism emanating from Afghanistan
and Pakistan. You first create a Frankenstein, and then portray yourself
as the only one who can save the world from the monster. What the Americans
are either not willing to believe, or merely wish to turn a blind eye to,
is the fact that President Musharraf is feeding the monster to make himself
indispensable. They do not want to understand the nature of the beast.
To further enhance his credibility,
the General is now talking about "denuclearising" South Asia. He first
mooted the idea at Riyadh on June 12, and then reiterated it in an interview
with Newsweek magazine on July 1. He is trying to say possession of nuclear
weapons may not prevent the outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan.
He pretends to show a preference for "conventional deterrence". He told
Newsweek: "If you want a guarantee of peace in this region, there are three
ways - first, denuclearise South Asia, second, ensure a conventional deterrence
so that war never takes place in the subcontinent and third, find a solution
to the Kashmir problem."
He knows well that South Asia cannot
be denuclearised unless China too becomes a part of any such agreement.
India has to reckon with China. Our nuclear weapons programme is as much
of a deterrent against China as against Pakistan. A ruthless dictator,
who has extinguished democracy in Pakistan, masterminded Kargil and the
attack on the Indian Parliament, now wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize!
Mr Colin Powell and Mr Jack Straw
came and lectured us on human rights and how to conduct elections in Kashmir.
But they seem to have been totally taken in by the Pakistani dictator.
Well, so was Chamberlain by Hitler, and the world paid a very heavy price.
It should be clear to anyone, who is not wearing blinkers, that Pakistan
is willing to assist the US in its war against terrorism, but under no
circumstances will give up support for terrorism aimed at Kashmir.
We have put ourselves in a difficult
position. We are still fully mobilised on the border and have no exit policy
in case Pakistan continues to sponsor cross-border terrorism, which it
will. The best we can do now is to claim infiltration has decreased, even
if it may have increased. At least on three occasions we could have carried
out surgical air strikes on training camps in POK. We should have done
this within 48 hours of the terrorist strike on the Indian Parliament,
or after the attack on the J&K Legislative Assembly. The third opportunity
arose after the gruesome killing of women and children in Kaluchak.
We are always long on rhetoric and
short on action. The Home Minister has been making the right noises, but
there has been too much talk and no action. There are reports that China
has given tactical nuclear warheads to Pakistan, which prevented us from
ordering military strikes. Surely this could not have been done without
the US detecting such transfers. Any chance of tactical nuclear warheads
falling into the hands of terrorists is the ultimate nightmare for the
US. It is doubtful they would have stood by passively. It seems more like
an excuse for lack of will to take military action against Pakistan.
The other refrain we have had from
President Musharraf is that there should be dialogue, anywhere and anytime.
Again, a masterly deception to cover up terrorist operations. Here we can
respond, instead of totally ruling out talks. We can say that we will talk
only to an elected representative of Pakistan and not to a military dictator.
Or we can agree to talk to General Musharraf on Kashmir where cross border
terrorism will be the first (and not the only) item on the agenda. We should
simply throw the ball back in his court.
There is no bilateral solution to
Kashmir - it is a zero sum game - and unless the international community
unilaterally declares the LoC as the international border, the two countries
will remain on the brink of war. We must accept the US will continue its
balancing act and will continue to back the Pakistani President. We will
have to fight our own battles.
To an extent this Government has
succeeded in projecting violence in J&K as being directly related to
terrorism. The canard of a freedom struggle no longer carries much credence
with the international community. From this point on, either we resort
to military action or formulate an action plan for crippling the Pakistani
economy through a well-planned Arms Race - the same methodology which was
used by the US to break up the Soviet Union.
