Opinion Loose cannon

Choosing your words before uttering them is advisable. But choosing them carefully while communicating with an adversary is imperative. The Indian army chief,General Deepak Kapoor has triggered a fusillade of criticism in Pakistan’s media with his “war on two fronts” brainwave.

Dawn,on January 5 quoted an angry foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying: “It was against India’s own interests and would damage the process of bringing all South Asian countries closer to each other for peace and economic prosperity of the region… ‘I would call it an absurd statement. It doesn’t befit a person holding such an important and responsible position.” The General even got the Opposition to agree with Qureshi,as The News reported on January 5: “ PML-Q Secretary General,Mushahid Hussain Sayed,has demanded the Indian government should sack General Deepak Kapoor,and immediately clarify whether his irresponsible war mongering was his own view or represents the official position of the Indian government… Mushahid also urged the government to take up the issue with the UN Security Council,so that the world should know who stood for peace and who the enemy of peace in the region.” On January 4,Shahzad Chaudhry in Daily Times drew a comparison Kapoor would hate to learn of. “ General Deepak Kapoor… is an interesting fellow. Most Indian chiefs of the army are… quiet as per tradition of the Indian military chiefs. General Kapoor is different. He is very much a Pakistani general… Pakistani generals have also tended to be vocal unlike their Indian colleagues… had he been a Pakistani army chief,he would have manipulated to foster himself as the head of the country a la General Musharraf… His first real test came after ‘Mumbai 26/11’ when contemplating punitive surgical strikes against Pakistan ,it got reported Kapoor had hedged his readiness to indulge in any such adventurism… Just a couple of weeks back,General Kapoor opined that a ‘limited’ war was possible under a nuclear overhang… In a recent statement,the general thought it appropriate to share the conclusions of an in-house Indian military seminar where reportedly a new,or is it a revised,doctrine is suggested.” Ayesha Siddiqa lambasted his idea in Dawn on January 7: “Both Pakistan’s army chief and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee rebutted such superfluous claims. The Indian army chief had spoken of a capability that India desires but does not possess at the moment. Taking on two neighbours militarily and ensuring a ceasefire on its conditions is New Delhi’s dream.”

Farther-in-law

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During his recent visit to Muzaffarabad,President Asif Zardari revisited his father-in-law’s infamous idea of the “1000 year war” with India over Kashmir. Only difference,he took it farther by attaching “peaceful”

overtones to it,rather than violent. Dawn reported on January 6: “ Referring to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s famous statement that we will fight for Kashmir for 1000 years,Zardari said he and Bilawal Bhutto would guarantee that. However,he repeatedly stated the war would be of thoughts,willpower and patience and avoided any mention of armed conflicts. ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto didn’t say he won’t fight with pen and mouth.” Daily Times added: “ Whenever dictators took over,they spoke of appeasement. We,from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to Benazir Bhutto to me… have talked to India on equal terms.”

Vibgyor zebras

Amidst all the news of war and gloom,Daily Times on January 4 broke the continuity with a burst of happy colours. “In what can best be described as a form of ‘guerrilla art’,a number of zebra crossings in central Lahore have been painted in the colours of the rainbow… The colour scheme caught many surprised passersby off guard,and many people could be seen staring in wonder at the road,which had been painted in bright colours… A large sticker pasted at the end of the zebra crossings bears the line ‘Small Steps – Big Change’. But it is still not clear who is behind these acts.”