Road to peace: UPA Govt falling into potholes

These developments generated a euphoria amongst the so-called secularists and English media journalists, who felt that lasting peace between India and Pakistan was just around the corner. I am an ardent follower of Atal-Advani so I will never doubt their sincerity and efficiency. I also trust Manmohan Singh. And peace is not achievable unless we believe Musharraf. Everyone on both sides of the LoC needs peace, there is no doubt about that. But we need to read between the lines. It is necessary to decipher the real meanings of the words, or else the just-around-the-corner peace will elude us forever.

There is no reason to object to the efforts aimed at bringing about peace between the people of India and Pakistan. Such efforts, at the non-formal level, are always welcome. The Vajpayee government too launched many such initiatives. The bus service, re-starting the cricket matches between the two countries were just two such projects that the Vajpayee government undertook, and they were welcomed by all concerned. We will support any such initiatives by the Manmohan government too.

However, I wish to sound a note of caution. We must take into account the long-term effects such initiatives might have on India, lest the haste results in future problems. Sadly, this government has not given serious thought to the much celebrated Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service.

In fact, the idea of such a bus service was proposed, and finalised to a great extent, by the Vajpayee government. The immediate objective was to open an avenue for people from both sides of the LoC to visit each other and rejuvenate their relations. The long-term objective was to allow the Kashmiris from India to see and study for themselves the second-class treatment meted out by Pakistan to Kashmiris from the other side of the LoC.

Having said that, it should be clear that there is no reason why we would object to something that was our idea in the first place. What one should ask is, why wasn’t the bus service flagged off during Vajpayee’s time? The answer is simple: we did not want this facility to be used for forwarding any anti-India agenda. While discussing this idea with Pakistan, we decided that there would not be any compromise on two points. First, there should be a visa system for this bus link. Second, since the bus service was aimed at helping the common people of Kashmir, political personalities should not use it. No leader should be allowed to use the bus service to enter India and then propagate a pro-Pakistan agenda in other parts of India.

Pakistan objected to both these points, wanting a permit system instead of a visa. It also declined to give any undertaking that Pakistani nationals who used this bus service would restrict their journey to Kashmir only. As Pakistan remained adamant, the Vajpayee administration put off the plans.

But in their haste to show that they are more pro-peace than the Vajpayee government, the Manmohan government decided to dump these pre-conditions. So Pakistanis entering India via this bus link do not need to carry a passport or visa. They just need a permit. On the other hand, there is no system to track where the Indians go once they reach Muzaffarabad.

The results are obvious to all. The visit to Pakistan by Hurriyat leaders, as also the issue of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed visiting Kashmir, are direct fallouts. And as usual, Pakistan, with its practiced cunning, has drawn maximum political mileage out of this bus link.

National Conference president Omar Abdullah wanted to visit PoK, but Pakistan did not allow it. It also denied entry to PDP chairperson Mehbooba Mufti. The reasons are clear. Both Omar and Mehbooba are known to be pro-India Kashmiris, they have declared their faith in the Indian Constitution and have won many elections that prove them to be people’s representatives. Pakistan cannot afford these two leaders meeting Kashmiris from PoK, where there is not a shred of democracy. However, when Hurriyat leaders asked for permission to visit Kashmir, Pakistan rolled out the red carpet.

So, the Manmohan regime has accelerated what the Vajpayee government tried to put the brakes on. The Hurriyat Conference, with active help from Pakistan, has once again tried to portray itself as the true leaders of Kashmir. The Hurriyat leaders, who have not even contested any election in Kashmir, were not only projected as true Kashmiri leaders in PoK, but also in other parts of Pakistan. From the PoK Assembly to the office of Musharraf, they were treated as Kashmir’s official representatives. So much for the peace process.

The blame for this blunder must go directly to the Manmohan government, that, in its haste for popularity, opened another avenue for Hurriyat and Pakistan to generate disinformation against India. The Hurriyat Conference has never been a true representative of Kashmir. Since its leaders have never participated in any elections in Kashmir, how can they claim to enjoy the people’s mandate. But Pakistan has now successfully projected to the world that the Hurriyat is the official representative leadership of Kashmir.

During the NDA’s rule, we never rejected offers of discussion with Hurriyat leaders. Vajpayee always said, ‘‘Don’t be afraid to talk, but don’t be a coward in your talks.’’ But we never accorded to the Hurriyat the status of official Kashmiri representatives. During the Vajpayee regime, Hurriyat leaders visited Delhi quite a few times and also had discussions with visiting Pakistani officials. We did not object to that. But at the same time we did not accord it an official status. Neither did we ever acknowledge or allow any opportunity for Pakistan to acknowledge that Kashmiris could be a party to talks between India and Pakistan.

Sadly, Pakistan has now achieved this goal through the Hurriyat leaders’ visit across the border. And Musharraf, as expected, played a key role. While speaking about the Hurriyat leaders’ trip, Musharraf proclaimed: ‘‘This visit has proved that Kashmir is a disputed territory and Hurriyat is the real representative of the people from this disputed area.’’

None of the Hurriyat leaders felt it necessary to meet the Indian Prime Minister or Home Minister before embarking on their journey to Pakistan. They did not even inform the government about the possible topics for discussions with Pakistani leaders. In Pakistan, they publicly supported Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, while adding that they were now ready to talk to the Indian leadership. This suggests that Pakistan has the primary role while India will be playing second fiddle.

The saddest thing is that negotiations between India and Pakistan have now reached a stage where the prime issue will be Kashmir. And this is exactly what the Vajpayee government was trying to avoid. Pakistan has always wanted to discuss ‘‘only Kashmir’’, while we have always rejected that offer. Musharraf is now reaping the benefits of the Manmohan Government’s lack of caution.

Pakistan wants Kashmir to be a single-point agenda for Indo-Pak talks, but India cannot afford that. The seemingly simple focus on ‘‘only Kashmir’’ will trigger many unwanted and unwarranted issues like Hurriyat being the true representatives of Kashmir; an international guarantee for settlememt of the Kashmir issue; the concept of a United States of Kashmir, independent Kashmir, self-rule in Kashmir and so on. It may even go to the extent of separating Kashmir from India by violence.

While the Hurriyat leaders must be blamed for what they did in Pakistan, the bigger blame should go to the Manmohan Government that has decided to be a mute spectator even as New Delhi’s diplomatic efforts of the last few years go waste. But for a lame condemnation by a Congress spokesman, the government has not uttered a single word on the issue. This is a sad situation.

At this juncture, let us also take a look at a few other events that have a bearing on the issue at hand. The Vajpayee Government kept constant pressure on the American administration to not deliver F-16 planes to Pakistan. But the Manmohan Government failed to sustain the pressure. The result: Pakistan is now equipped with F-16s.

Manmohan has become the first Prime Minister to visit Siachen, and we congratulate him. But I am tempted to point out that Siachen had become second home to the NDA’s Defence Minister who visited the area every two months. Manmohan declared his dream of making Siachen a mountain of peace. No objections there. But that triggered a remark from Pakistan: ‘‘India should withdraw its aggression of Siachen’’. We should not fall for this gambit. However expensive and difficult it may be, India should never pull out of Siachen unilaterally.

We witnessed the death of 16 innocent school-children in the Pulwama blast. Even more shameful than the incident was Musharraf’s reaction. ‘‘I do not have a button which I can press to stop the terrorism,’’ he said. We are not saying that this incident should halt the peace process. But we should not be lamefooted either.

DURING his Pakistan visit, Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik made an interesting revelation. ‘‘During the ’90s, when we came here (in Pakistan, as Kashmiri separatist fighters) a leader helped us a lot. This leader, who gave shelter to about 3,000 of us, provided all possible help. His name will go down in the history of Kashmir. This leader is Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.’’ This declaration has nailed Pakistan’s lie, as its leaders have always denied extending support to Kashmiri terrorists.

So who is Sheikh Rashid Ahmed? He is the present Pakistani Minister for Information and Broadcasting. He was also present when Malik made this statement. Now that the cat is out of the bag, both these leaders are trying to undo the damage. But they are only implicating themselves further. Malik later claimed that by saying that Rashid had ‘‘helped’’ them, he meant that he had only provided lodging and boarding, not weapons. Rashid, on his part, claimed that he was not the Rashid that Mallik had referred to. But former Pakistani Army Chief General Aslam Beg refuted this, saying that the present I&B Minister was the same Rashid Beg who had extened all help to Kashmiri terrorists. This underlines what is already well known — that the Pakistani leadership is hand-in-glove with the Kashmiri terrorists and has always been helping them.

So what will the latest peace icon, President Musharraf, do about Rashid? More importantly, what does the Indian administration plan to do about this issue? Especially since the same Sheikh Rashid, who originally hails from Srinagar, now wants to take the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus to visit India. While a Congress spokesman has said that Rashid should not be allowed into India, the government has not come clean on the issue. While it is important to deny entry to Rashid, what is really important is the larger issue of peace. What we must understand is that there are many such venomous serpents waiting to uncoil in the Pakistani government. While dealing with Pakistan, we must never forget this.

But the UPA government does not seem to be paying attention to this looming threat. The government has often said that it wants to accord greater autonomy to Kashmir. In the Indian federal structure, every State enjoys autonomy in its own jurisdiction. What then does the UPA mean by greater autonomy? Such ambiguous references to autonomy provide an opportunity to many self-proclaimed international peaceniks to air their views on Kashmir. It also fuels other separatists groups, especially in the North East.

Meanwhile, nobody is really sure what this so-called autonomy is all about. It is like the story of the elephant and six blind men, each drawing his own conclusions about the animal. So it’s no wonder then that a Congress minister of the J&K government decided to interpret autonomy as suited him. In a BBC radio interview, he said: ‘‘Kashmir is not an integral part of India. Kashmir needs autonomy. Barring defense and foreign relations, Kashmir should be independent in all other matters. The defence and foreign affairs policy should be chalked out jointly by India and Pakistan.’’ He later tried to make amends by explaining that this was his personal opinion. The Congress spokesman too parroted that line. ‘‘This is his personal opinion and we, as a party, do not stand by it,’’ he said. Actually, what any person thinks and says about Kashmir is not important. The important thing is that this person is a minister in the Congress-supported government. He should have been kicked out of the government immediately. But no action has been taken yet. And unless the government clarifies what it means by autonomy, there are many more such people waiting to give their own interpretation, creating further confusion on such a sensitive issue.

There are many such potholes that the government should be aware of while walking the path of peace. The Baglihar power project in South Kashmir is another unresolved issue between India and Pakistan. Musharraf has even gone so far as to say that ‘‘if we cannot solve this issue, how are we going to settle the Kashmir issue?’’

All the rivers in Pakistan flow from India. There were heated debates at the time of Partition on sharing of river water. The issue was settled with the following formula: Sindhu, Jhelum and Chenab would go to Pakistan while Ravi, Beas and Sutlej would be India’s. However, India reserved its right to use the running water of all the rivers for hydel power.

The Valley faces a severe power crunch, with many areas having to go without electricity for many days. Due to the geographical adversities, it is impossible to transfer power to Kashmir from other parts of India. Kashmir itself has a potential of generating 20,000 MW.

The NDA Government initiated many power projects for Kashmir, and Baglihar on the Chenab river is one of them. But Pakistan is objecting to this project on the false argument that India is storing their water. New Delhi has tried to convince Islamabad that the project is not causing any water shortage, it is just increasing the height of water so that hydel power can be generated. When Musharraf visited India, he was even shown the re-drawn plans. But all in vain.

Pakistan has demanded a separate study by French engineers, and the UPA Government has acceded to this. The French consultations are surely going to be a major debating point in the future. If Pakistan is really concerned about the people of Kashmir, why is it creating obstacles in the way of power generation for them? The root of their protest lies in the agricultural areas of Punjab province in Pakistan — the Musharraf Government cannot afford to risk the ire of these farmers. So much for Pakistan’s so-called Kashmir cause.

The Indo-Pak peace process was initiated by the NDA Government. And we want it to reach its logical end. In the January 6, 2004 declaration for peace, we defined a clear frame for this peace process. Pakistan should desist from terrorism. That is imperative for any peace process. We also made it clear that the peace talks have to be bilateral, between India and Pakistan, with no scope for a third party intervention. This framework must be the basis of any comprehensive dialogue. The NDA government drew these guidelies based on the experience of all previous governments. However, during the last one year, this framework has slowly been sidelined. Look at how the Hurriyat has occupied centrestage and the gory violence at Pulwama.

The objective of this article is not to dampen the enthusiasm for peace. Rather, it’s an effort to bring it back on the track, and list the obstacles on the path to peace. Manmohan should remember the advice of Saint Ramdas of Maharashtra: ‘‘Sarvatra sawadhpan angi aso dyawe’’ (Be cautious, always and everywhere).

This article appeared in the Loksatta on June 26.