Ride and prejudice

The history-seeking leader excels in the politics of grand gestures. His symbolism, his visionspeak, defy reality as well as gravity. Remember Francois Mitterrand throwing flowers into the Seine, as a memorial service to the murdered migrant? A million words against the rage of racism could not have matched that solemn, personal symbolism of a politician obsessed with immortality. Also, when the burning Bosnia was a no-man8217;s land for the world ruling class, the same Mitterrand paid a high-profile, camera-friendly visit to Sarajevo. In post-war Europe, he was the patron saint of gesture politics, though his personal politics was so magisterially remote from the home truths of socialist France. Certainly, Atal Behari Vajpayee doesn8217;t enjoy that kind of freedom of expression. His vision doesn8217;t travel beyond the boundaries defined by the party as well as the partners. And he comes from a party the grand gestures of which are not directed towards history but mythology. Still, when Vajpayee gestured 8220;Well, Nawaz,I8217;ll take the first bus to Lahore8221;, he was acknowledging the worth of the dramatic in an otherwise familiar text of Indo-Pak seesaw. And Vajpayee means business, nuclear and all; he has taken Nawaz Sharif8217;s invitation-cum-intention quite seriously. Atal Behari Vajpayee bussing towards a waystation of history?

Hang on a sec. The bus is in danger of being damaged by an overload of the spectacular. This DTC vehicle seems to have achieved a status without a context. The dramatic is fast turning into the spectacular. True, Sharif is not meant to be taken literally when he says that 8220;We8217;ll solve half our problems on the bus8221;. Reducing the whole problem to the size of a bus is quite silly. As the radical in Islamic Pakistan erupts to the invasion of the bus diplomacy, the managers of this millennial ride from both sides of the border continue to turn the ride into a festival without substance. For, look at the pre-ride riot of details: Delhi to Amritsar by air; crossing the Wagah border by the Bus; with Sharifon a chopper to Lahore; and an over-choreographed performance at Lahore. Who is there to remind the travel agent of the historical truth: the road map is more important than the mode of travel? This bus cannot afford to be a subcontinental tamasha.

The very important passengers should realise that the life span of an Indo-Pak spring should be longer than the 12 hours that takes the bus from Delhi to reach Lahore. Translation: the gesture should not be repudiated by its own grandeur. The historical distance between Delhi and Lahore can be reduced only by a grand political vision. From Ireland to the Balkans to the Middle East, the text of peace and co-existence was written by men who had the courage to disown the inheritance of hate. But vision has never been at display in this subcontinent of mutually shared mistrust. After all, India, being an evolved democracy, is well positioned to take advantage of a first-use peace policy. Vajpayee8217;s bus ride, rather the symbolism of it, should be the beginning of sucha policy, especially at a time when Sharif is daring in words. So, Mr Prime Minister, don8217;t get carried away by the bus. You8217;ve a long way to go. Are you ready? History is calling.