Author: V.R. Krishna Iyer
Publication: The Hindu
Date: May 17, 2002
`Murder most foul' daily mars lovely
Jammu and Kashmir and dastardly terrorism `red in tooth and claw' claims
countless innocent Indian lives with Pakistan militarily and morally getting
away with it, describing these lethal operations as liberation and self-determination.
The Bush doctrine of war-on-terror leaves Pakistan untouched and undeterred.
For several sinister years, this ghastly killer game has been going on
and no prospect of this bloody process is in sight save `words, words,
mere words'. But the terrorist blitz the other day by a suicide squad infiltrating
with ease into Indian terrain is horror upon horror and aggravated terror.This
is a national shock and international shame, the audacious Pakistan President,
Pervez Musharaff shrugging off the recurrent homicides nonchalantly as
serving his invasive purpose, sure, as it were, that India may bark officially
but will not bite militarily. We have too long taken heavy casualties with
mere noises that our credibility is at an ebb. War is not the only answer
to this unabating inhumanity.
When Gujarat was on fire Parliament
went hysterical but when Indians in Jammu and Kashmir, with barbaric frequency,
are villainously wounded or wiped out by the open abetment of the hostile
neighbour, why are not parliamentarians rocking the Houses with rage and
reason demanding an end to this perennial bleeding and butchery of our
J and K brethren? Are not the Executive and Legislative branches accountable
for the due defence of the right to life of every J & K brother and
sister? Why not Parliament demand a comprehensive policy statement on the
Kashmir question and not leave it to the Defence Minister or even Prime
Minister to spell out the national stand (in the U.S (?) or elsewhere)?
Our Houses have failed to debate with full information or deep concern
on the grave cross-border situation and the serious implications, national
and international, of our military and diplomatic manoeuvre. Do deliberate
the J&K crisis and its portents? Is India to take cadaverous casualties,
atrociously inflicted, obviously with active Pakistan connivance, lying
down, punctuated by platitudinous noises, boast of preparedness, idle threats
of counter-action and whispers to the U.S. Under-Secretary or other minion?
People all over the country must awake. We must remind ourselves of Abraham
Lincoln's words:
Public opinion is everything. With
public sentiments nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently,
he who moulds public opinion goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or
pronounces decisions.Why is there no massive campaign in the country, no
ubiquitous protest, no pressure tactic except waiting for an American diplomat
to arrive? Why are Indian, including those in J&K, Muslim organisations
not voicing militant secular repudiation of Pakistan's Islamic anti-democratic
threat to Kashmir? How about the guts of the Hindutva hordes? Every J&K
life is Indian life. Why are not human rights activists at home or abroad
not urged to condemn Pakistan-inspired malignant mischief and brutal terrorism.
Why not a move to bring pro-Pakistan aggressors before the International
Criminal Court? But, alas, neither country, not even the powerful U.S.
has ratified the instrument, which is a pity. But human rights bodies under
the U.N can be moved and thereby world opinion could be moulded. International
law is not the vanishing point of jurisprudence.
Have we done enough homework on
the various constitutional provisions and constructive proposals to tackle
this inglorious impasse and militaristic imbroglio? Have we educated the
people on the juristic claim and sovereign right of India over J &
K? Why has the Government not mobilised, with a sense of enlightened militancy,
people all over the country about this juristic dimension that J &
K is an integral part of Bharat. The Bar in India must popularise the jurisprudence
of India's claim instead of vaguely leaving it on the dubious ground that
we have held elections there. An excellent case for which Krishna Menon
fought in the United Nations (and Dr. Anand (former CJI) wrote a thesis)
has to be brought burningly alive before the people.
Moreover, various alternatives to
the solution of the dispute between India and Pakistan must be thought
through and brought up (beyond Lahore bus trip) in the sunshine of national
politics and not be hidden in the Defence Ministry or PMO. Far-reaching
understanding of the problem as well as creative statesmanship in the current
context are the need of the hour.We have wasted decades of valuable time,
countless resources and goodwill. Is there any alternative like making
the L O C the international boundary or other serendipitous stroke short
of war or surrender of territory? Is federalism feasible? Is there any
daring formula of federal autonomy for the entire Kashmiri people within
a loosely framed Indian sovereignty? Let us not be fanatics.
The finest hour is when India's
united billion-human power will tower over the belligerent antics of an
unaccountable ruler. War mongering and revenge must be abjured but national
resolution and firmness in retaliation must guide us. Excess is not success.
Let us to the task with faith in our unity and conviction in our cause.
Patriotism is no bluff, bluster and bravado but nationalist realism and
sensitive ratiocination.
(The writer is a former Supreme
Court judge)
