Indo-Pak: Moving on isn’t easy, change the route

If we do not make real efforts to move on from here, not only are we likely to find ourselves on the brink of nuclear war again sometime soon, but it is entirely possible that 50 years from now, Indian and Pakistani leaders will still be making the same speeches on Independence Day.

Having said this, let me add that moving on is not going to be easy. For our part the Prime Minister has a right to believe that every time he has attempted to make a move on the chessboard of peace he has had the board kicked in the face by Pakistan’s General. He made a sincere effort in 1999 with his bus to Lahore—and what an incredible chance that was—only to find that the General was already plotting the infiltration in Kargil.

His second genuine effort was in Agra and again from an Indian perspective, the General flounced off in a huff after having made it abundantly clear at his breakfast meeting with editors that he had only Kashmir on his mind.

Terrorism was no issue then because September 11 had not happened so he went to the extent of saying that if innocent people were killed in the crossfire of a freedom struggle then that was just bad luck.

From an Indian viewpoint he has gone on to prove that he believes terrorism to be a valid tool when there is a ‘‘freedom struggle’’ underway by condoning the acts of terrorism in Kashmir.

India’s image of itself as the aggrieved party has become stronger since September 11 on account of American doublespeak when it comes to terrorism on the subcontinent.

It hurts deeply that General Musharraf is seen not as the villain we believe him to be but as a hero by the Americans and so we have retired from the global war to fight our own war against terrorism with leaders like Advani frequently pronouncing that we will have to fight alone. So, in sulky ekla chalo mode we refuse to withdraw our troops from the border, refuse to talk to Pakistan and hope desperately that the election in Kashmir will bring peace.

It cannot, though, and it is time we recognised this and time we tried to understand that just as no Indian leader can give away the Kashmir Valley, no Pakistani leader can survive if he renounces his claim to it. Kashmir is an international problem now and just as we cannot go back to talk of plebiscite and ‘‘the unfinished business’’ of Partition, we cannot either go back to those happy days when Kashmir was something we associated mainly with holidays and Hindi movies.

Even if we cannot see things from a Pakistani viewpoint—and most Indians cannot—we need to reflect a little on our own mistakes. The latest of these, in the view of this columnist, is the refusal to allow international observers to monitor the election. When it comes to elections in Kashmir even those with only a passing knowledge of the situation know that in the past 50 years there have hardly been two elections that have not been openly rigged.

And, if the 1996 election was not rigged its credibility is in serious doubt since less than 15% voted in the Kashmir Valley despite reports of people being coerced to do so. So, India’s street credibility is low and if international observers will help restore it then let us have them.

The other mistake we are making is in refusing to acknowledge that the Kashmir situation has changed completely since we decided to go nuclear. Whether we like it or not the threat of a nuclear war concerns the whole world and not just India and Pakistan, so the international community cannot ignore Kashmir any more. Instead of cussedly refusing to listen to any talk of international mediation we need to find ways to make it happen to our advantage.

Our refusal to do anything other than bang on about cross border terrorism has ended up making us look almost worse—if this were possible—than Pakistan. Terrorism is an issue of grave importance but let us stop pretending that we can convince the world that it is the only problem in Kashmir. The Kashmiris have genuine grievances and so far, except for the odd, cursory attempt at talks, the Vajpayee government has failed abysmally to address them.

Write to Tavleen Singh at tavleensingh@expressindia.com