The symbolic opening at the Line of Control yesterday at Chakan da Bagh in the Poonch Sector, as part of Indo-Pak quake diplomacy, ended in security forces on the Pakistani side (Titrinote) firing tear gas shells on the large number of people who were desperate to cross the divide. The incident reveals the widening gulf between the controlled gestures on the LoC that India and Pakistan are willing to make, and surging popular expectations.Given the political baggage accumulated over the last six decades, the decision at the end of last month to open up five points on the LoC for quake relief did appear to be a historic one. But amidst the quake that has flattened much of POK and killed 73,000 people, the move seems merely grudging. Much of the blame for the failure to visualise more effective cooperation in quake relief must be laid at Pakistan’s door. It was only under popular pressure and growing criticism of its inept relief operations that the Pakistan army agreed to open up the LoC. But in the negotiations over the last few weeks, the Pakistani side insisted on parity. While much of the damage has been on the Pakistani side, Islamabad has insisted on reciprocity in the establishment of relief centres on both sides of the LoC. Its officials have been signaling that they need neither volunteers nor medical teams from the Indian side. “Hand over the relief material at the LoC and mind your own business” has been the Pakistan refrain.As for India, a low level of political imagination appears to have tied it down. Having boldly demanded that the LoC be made irrelevant, India seems to hold back at precisely the moment when the quake has made it possible and necessary. Clearly the concerns that terrorists might misuse it had a lot to do with Indian reluctance to allow free movement across the LoC. Yet, given the scale of the tragedy and the scope of the new opportunities in quake diplomacy, India must find ways to make it easier for ordinary people to go back and forth the dividing line. Otherwise the “historic” opening of the LoC might have little real meaning for the people of J&K.
