Author: IANS
Publication: The Hindu
Date: August 2, 2009
URL: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/099200908021551.htm
For the past half a century, naturopath Raj
Merchant has pursued two goals in life - nurturing Mumbai's only nursery of
herbal plants and chasing away the avaricious land mafia eager to grab his
1.5 acre property in a prime suburban neighbourhood.
While the land mafia is more or less kept
at bay now, Mr. Merchant's 50-year labour of love has seen the nursery bloom
with over 500 common and exotic plants, bushes, herbs, creepers, flowers and
fruits, each with unique medicinal properties.
Tucked away amidst three multi-storied buildings,
a stone's throw away from Malad station in north-west Mumbai, the 'Mr. Merchantwadi'
is next to an army depot.
"The military presence around makes me
feel very secure. Plus, to keep intruders away, I have five dogs on the property,"
Mr. Merchant, 65, told IANS in an interview.
Not without reason - the 65,000 sq feet (or
1.5 acre) property is worth a whopping Rs.1.3 billion (Rs.130 crores) at current
recessionary rates in Mumbai.
At first sight, Mr. Merchantwadi appears a
rather unkempt, thick, overgrown green jungle, a rarity in itself for Mumbaikars.
At one corner is a large cottage in which the entire Mr. Merchant joint family
lives, a small shed makes up his clinic.
The property is seAuthor: MJ Akbar
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 2, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/193029/He-may-have-the-will-but-does-he-have-a-way.html
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is juggling
with a hydra-headed question that is both philosophical and practical. Worse,
it is also immediate.
How much benefit should one give to doubt?
Doubt is theoretically equidistant from right
and wrong, but in real life, there is evidence, evidence creates weightage,
and the weight of evidence demands judgement. Doubt is the classic weapon
of both spies and diplomats. They might as effectively sow it with violence,
or plant it with a smile. Doubt is the one fully certain component of the
Indo-Pak equation. Call this the first of many a paradox.
On his part, Mr Singh is committed to finding
peace with Pakistan during his second term. He also knows that if he cannot
find it soon, it will elude him later. That is yet another paradox. He was
ready with a formula for such an excruciating dilemma in his speech in the
Lok Sabha on July 29, bravely defending the joint statement with Pakistan's
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He recalled Ronald Reagan's useful corrective:
Trust, but verify. An American President, alas for the rest of us, has options
that others cannot claim. Reagan would not trust Col Muammar Gaddafi with
a toy duck in a bathtub. When American intelligence satisfied the President
with verification of Libya's role in a terrorist incident, Reagan ordered
up the Air Force, roused the ever-willing Mrs Margaret Thatcher, and bombed
the capital of Libya back to the sand dunes. Col Gaddafi, living in a tent
(a practice he has not given up), escaped but lost a daughter in that aerial
bombardment. Reagan's trust-verify relationship had a third dimension: Act.
This is not readily available to Mr Singh.
A more relevant analogy may be Reagan's arms
talks with Leonid Brezhnev, where trust could be fused with verification.
But here too we enter unique territory defined by a unique moment in history.
The objective situation had changed. The USA and the USSR were no longer military
equals. The Soviets might have had the nuclear capability to destroy the world,
but nuclear arms are a deterrent, not a means of offence. The Vietnam syndrome
had already been overtaken by the Afghanistan syndrome. One empire was cranking
up. The other empire was winding down.
There are few practical means of verifying
good or bad intentions on our jinxed subcontinent. There are so many wheels
behind wheels in the terror juggernaut - we saw only the front end in Mumbai
last November. Mr Singh might be generous enough to give Islamabad benefit
of the doubt on the evidence of a dossier presented to him two days before
he left for Egypt, but this dossier does not explain the non-arguments by
the Government lawyer in the Lahore High Court that permitted Hafiz Saeed,
leader of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa'h (the new name, a thin camouflage, which the
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba has acquired upon being placed on the list of terrorist
organisations by the United Nations). The Lahore High Court released Saeed
because, while the official accusation linked him to Al Qaeda, "The security
laws and anti-terrorism laws of Pakistan are silent on Al Qaeda being a terrorist
organisation." The dossier does list the few who have been arrested,
but hundreds and thousands remain at liberty to plan and implement the next
Mumbai. The India-baiters in Islamabad now have a tool as well - the Baluchistan
clause in the joint statement.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa'h tells any visiting journalist
that there has been no change in its objective: To 'liberate' the Kashmir
Valley from 'Hindu rule'. They have not promised any concessions to a Sikh
Prime Minister. To what extent is this still the policy of the Pakistan Government
and its key military-intelligence wing? A clear and written answer to this
question is the only thing that will eliminate doubts.
Are we likely to get an answer from Islamabad?
First, we must ask the question:
Are there are any options in-between?
There is one option, which no one seems to
have investigated, possibly because it sounds too boring. But it can re-energise
the impetus towards a visit by Mr Singh to Pakistan next year and a possible
agreement. There are two distinct advantages to this option. It is relatively
painless. And it can be done under a sort of cover since Islamabad might be
reluctant to move into the limelight, carrying a perceived concession behind
its back. Since the Indian reaction to the joint statement has created some
strains upon the process of bilateral dialogue, this could be a useful methodology
for India as well.
India and Pakistan should seek to solve some
of their intermediary bilateral problems under the disguise of multilateral
negotiations. This does not mean that Kashmir can be sorted out through a
multilateral mechanism. There will be only two nations at the table when Kashmir
is discussed. Nor is this an invitation to America to join the discussion
party: The multilateral forum available to both is SAARC.
Pakistan has been holding up implementation
of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement on one pretext or the other. Mr Singh's
first verification of trust could be Pakistani concurrence to SAFTA at the
next SAARC summit, which he should hasten. In fact, he could even make it
a priority, or even a precondition. Trade is a vital ingredient of peace-construction,
because it creates masons on either side who are propelled into partnership
by the common need for profit. Profit is a solid vested interest in conflict-resolution.
SAARC could also be a convenient medium for
taking a few quantum leaps on terrorism protocol. When Gen Pervez Musharraf
suggested that India and Pakistan should think out of the box he meant jumping
out of the Kashmir box. SAARC creates an entirely new box completely. Mr Gilani
can take cover from any local flak by explaining that the pressure of SAARC
nations made it impossible for him to leave Pakistan in isolation. The public
opinion created by SAARC decisions will reinforce the momentum that has been
injected into the peace process by Mr Singh.
Mr Singh has made it clear to Parliament that
he has the will. But without a way, his will will flounder.
- MJ Akbar is Chairman and Director of Publica-
tions of the fortnightly newsmagazine
