Talking Pakistan

• One should carefully read between the lines in the rather innocuous sounding gestures of Pervez Musharraf...

• One should carefully read between the lines in the rather innocuous sounding gestures of Pervez Musharraf of first calling up Sonia Gandhi and then, after a gap of a few days, A.B. Vajpayee. In this crucial gap of a few days, our external affairs minister reiterated the consistent stand of the Congress that the dialogue with Pakistan on all issues, including J&K, should be “on the basis of the historic Shimla Agreement of 1972” and the Sino-Indian model. Pakistan reacted rather violently because its present regime wants to distance itself from any policy that does not give primacy to J&K.
The BJP had stressed in its manifesto for a lasting resolution of all the outstanding issues with Pakistan, including J&K, based on the joint statement issued in Islamabad in February 2004. Against this background, Musharraf has signalled his preference for Sonia Gandhi, who doesn’t carry the historical load of Kashmir, to lead the Indian side, and not Natwar Singh who is of the “cold war” mentality and a proponent of a hard stand on Kashmir. This is confirmed by his call to Vajpayee showing his inclination towards the joint statement issued in Islamabad in February 2004. Sonia has the “people’s” mandate. She is the Congress party chief, chairperson of the Congress’s parliamentary wing and the chairperson of the UPA. She, thus, has the real consent of the majority of Indians.

— S.C.N. Jatar Pune

• Apropos of ‘Pak turns down Sino-India model’ (IE, May 31), whatever be the intentions of Natwar Singh, his message as read by even a common Pakistani is that India has become reluctant to settle Indo-Pak issues. To him the China model means exclusively a border dispute which is not so vis-a-vis Pakistan. The dispute began as a Muslim issue and the GOI therefore agreed to a plebiscite. It later occurred to the MEA that India was left with a large Muslim population; a fact which had two implications. A great deal of votes as well as their locus standi as Indian citizens if yet more parts of India are given up on communal lines. The answers were to appease at home and attack Pakistan abroad to placate the Hindus as well as to find an excuse for being unwillling to settle Kashmir.
The time has come for the new GOI to squarely face the dilemma. Give up the appeasement of Muslims as well as vicariously of Hindus. If necessary, publicly consult 1,500 or so Muslim leaders from all over India. Let them now tell the world their choice. The Hindus would accept it for the sake of a settlement.

— Prafull Goradia New Delhi

Think young

• L.K. Advani has just been made the leader of the Opposition. That is perhaps the only workable solution for the BJP. However, it would have been better to have projected younger MPs like SushmaSwaraj, Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley or Rajnath Singh. The time has come for the BJP to gracefully bid goodbye to both the senior leaders of the party. The command should be given to the new generation, since in the next election the party would need a youthful leader to lead it, especially since the Congress will most certainly project Rahul/Priyanka as its leader.

— Ashok Bahuguna On e-mail

‘Why weren’t TVK leaders told it wasn’t right day for a big event’: Cong MP Jothimani

Political Pulse4 hr ago

A stampede at TVK founder Vijay's rally in Karur led to the death of 40 people and injuries to many. Congress's Karur MP Jothimani identifies overcrowding, poor planning, and the timing of the event as possible causes. She recommends setting clear guidelines for political gatherings and consulting all parties to prevent similar tragedies.

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