Pakistan’s stuck record

Pakistan’s strenuous disclaimers of having crossed the “undemarcated” LoC will not deceive anybody. Its professions of valiantly defending its side of this same vague LoC to counter a vicious Indian offensive against brave Mujahideen desperately fighting Indian tyranny is old music. The needle got stuck in this particular groove 50 years ago.

Listen to the playback of deception. Pakistan entered into a Standstill Agreement with J&K in August 1947only to use this in a bid to strangulate it economically even while organising the tribal invasion that followed. That was denied. That was the first betrayal of trust; the first lie.

Then followed more denials and distortions, all of which were soon formally exposed. Disregard Indian sources. Pakistan’s aggressive designs are well documented in its own literature. That was the second deception.

The very first UN resolution of January 17, 1948, called on India and Pakistan to refrain from any acts “which might aggravate the situation” and “to inform the (Security) Council immediately of any material change in the situation”. Pakistan’s acceptance and violation of this solemn obligation went hand in hand with its regular forces entering the fray.

This third lie was exposed as soon as the UN Commission returned to the subcontinent at the end of May 1948. Its resolution of August 13, 1948 reads: “As the presence of troops of Pakistan in the territory of the state of J&K constitutes a material changein the situation since it was represented by the Government of Pakistan before the Security Council, the Government of Pakistan agrees to withdraw its troops from the state”.

Owen Dixon, a UN Representative, was more explicit in 1950: “When the frontier of the state of J&K was crossed on, I believe, October 20, 1947, by hostile elements, it was contrary to international law and… when, in May 1948, as I believe, units of the regular Pakistan forces moved into the territory of the state, that too was inconsistent with international law.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan continued to build up the so called Azad Kashmir forces after the ceasefire of January 1, 1949 though the UN resolution enjoined it “to refrain from taking any measures that might augment the military potential of the forces under (its) control in the state of J&K”. The UNCIP’s Military Adviser was, however, soon to report that the Azad Kashmir units, augmented to 32 battalions with “increased fighting strength”, was now a “formidable force”.The fourth deception was uncovered.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister asserted before the UNCIP in May 1949 that its regular armed forces had entered J&K to halt the Indian Army’s offensive along a north-south line running through Muzaffarabad in order to prevent the Pakistan border being overrun. But Pakistani forces swept forward to take control of a vast swathe of the Northern Areas and Baltistan between August 14, 1948, and the ceasefire of January 1, 1949. A fifth deception.

In 1965, Pakistan mounted Operation Gibraltar, a massive invasive infiltration across the ceasefire line. In his report to the Secretary-General, the UN Chief Military Observer, General Nimmo, stated that “the series of violations that began on August 5, were to a considerable extent in subsequent days in the form of armed men, generally not in uniform, crossing the CFL from the Pakistan side for the purpose of armed action on the Indian side”. Pakistani writers too have since admitted that misadventure which was earlier so angrilydenied. The sixth lie.

The Ceasefire Line (CFL) was carefully delineated and signed by Indian and Pakistani military commanders and representatives of UNCIP in Karachi on July 27, 1949. It was then demarcated after ground verification with the assistance of UN observers, eliminating any no-man’s land.

Beyond the last northern grid reference at NJ 9842, the Karachi Agreement unambiguously specified that the CFL would run “thence north to the glaciers”. This same Line was restored and reaffirmed after the 1965 war but was converted into the present LoC at Simla in 1972 with either side absorbing the military gains made by it in the 1971 war, a disposition that exclusively favoured India in the Kargil sector.

This adjusted LoC was mapped and signed by the respective military commanders. Yet Pakistan started showing the LoC as running northeast from NJ 9842 to the Karakoram Pass, which cartographic trespass compelled India in 1984 to preempt physical annexation of any territory by securing the Siachenglacier. Pakistan’s fudge over the LoC in Siachen notched up its seventh lie.

Pakistan’s denials of any hand in the post-1989 proxy war or sponsorship of Afghan and other foreign mercenaries across the LoC have long worn thin. Evidence to the contrary, even from authoritative Pakistani sources, is overwhelming. Eighth lie.

The exposure of the Kargil ploy tears away the ninth veil. Prime Minister Vajpayee has aptly termed this episode a betrayal of trust. This is no “infiltration” but a well-planned invasion aimed at redrawing the LoC as a springboard for further aggression.

The Kargil war has changed equations in Kashmir. The outcome is not in doubt. The intruding “freedom fighters” are fundamentalist mercenaries and Pakistan Army regulars. They will be rudely ejected. The world is beginning to recognise the LoC as an international border-in-becoming. India will no longer accept moving from one ceasefire to another, punctuated at will by Pakistani aggression. The bleak and punishing glacial heights,consecrated once more with Indian blood, will remain forever India’s.

The LoC must be respected by all and the Lahore process restored after the aggression is vacated. Islamabad cannot get at the negotiating table what it has repeatedly failed to win on the battlefield. Aggression must neither be rewarded nor condoned. The aspirations of the people of J&K can be met without bartering sovereignty. This is a task to be accomplished both at home and in discussion with Pakistan with which, despite its aberrant conduct, India must live in peace and friendship as a good neighbour.