India is experiencing difficult times. It has just emerged from a holocaust of a kind it has never experienced since 1947. It is now standing at the brink of a nuclear war, with the harsh rhetoric of the leaders creating tremendous tension and fear in the peace-loving people.
The macho sounds of revenge might be music for some ears, but for the ordinary man these are a sign of destruction, of loss, of sorrow.
There are not many on either side of the line of control who will support their respective governments threatening to use the nuclear option as if it was just a toy gun created for the amusement of nations.
There are not many, unless they enjoy the bliss of complete ignorance, who will applaud the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) functionaries for threatening to “nuke” Pakistan, or the Pakistani minister who spoke of “nuke-ing” India with the same passion.
The trouble began that happy summer when the newly-installed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government exercised the nuclear option. The RSS, sections of the bureaucracy and the media were all jumping with joy.
One remembers an official, now a high-profile ambassador, saying, “Let us keep our fingers crossed, just hope that Pakistan follows suit.” He was worried that unless Islamabad reciprocated the international pressure on India would be tremendous.
Never one to be left behind, Pakistan responded with an explosion and both countries then began the exercise of being recognized and accepted as a nuclear power.
No one in the Indian government then was willing to answer any questions on the subject. Will not both India and Pakistan use these bombs against each other? Isn’t this going to make the region more volatile? Has not the exercising of the nuclear option internationalized Kashmir?
These and more questions were raised in sections of the media at the time, but were dismissed as anti-national by the Indian government. Both India and Pakistan have been recognized as nuclear states but not accepted, not even by their common friend the United States, as such.
The respect and dignity that the government of India promised at the time is still not evident. Probably somebody along the way forgot that respect does not come from nuclear bombs and war talk, but from the ability of a nation to feed its people, to move toward justice and true equality, and to work out the contours of policy in a manner where the people remain the true yardstick of progress and development.
The Atal Behari Vajpayee government went to work to push through its accepted creed of divisiveness. Guided by the RSS and controlled by the hard-liners, the Indian government pushed through an insidious agenda that sought to link the Indian Muslim with Pakistan and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
BJP-ruled states in particular used the security forces not to track down criminals, but to flush out ISI agents who appeared to be hiding in every Muslim household. Proof was never given with the newspapers happily flashing police versions about people reportedly arrested for supporting Pakistan.
The media, and in particular the television channels, completely forgot that convictions are required under the Indian law to pronounce a person guilty. Hence the impression that Muslims, Pakistan, jihad, ISI, terror all went together has continued to gain ground.
Kashmir became a playing field for the government of India. As it was always for earlier governments.
Everybody peace-loving Indian knew that Pakistan could be counted upon to extend the BJP government all help by mounting terrorist attacks on innocent targets in the state. Each attack in the name of “jihad” helped the Indian government to reinforce the stereotypes and strengthen its anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan (both by now had become identified with each other) constituency.
Pakistan, unable to get out of its Kashmir mold, continued with the policy that had become a part of governance over the decades. Terror strikes in India were an integral weapon used by successive governments to convince the people that they were that much closer to acceding Kashmir. Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf continued to play the same game.
The policy of distrust, anger, revenge, hatred was targeted very specifically in India by the communal forces against the Muslims. The US war against terror, the images of the Muslim terrorist, the media blitz on madarassas, on Islam all helped the right-wing forces in India to consolidate their widening constituency. The larger-than-life projections were lapped up and converted into a simmering anger against the local minorities.
Gujarat was the laboratory for the ideology that had fed off distorted perceptions and hate for decades. Ever since Veer Savarkar apologized to the British. Ever since Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi. The international climate was finally right.
The Muslim had been recognized as the terrorist by the US. The RSS gave the green signal. And the years of hard work translated into a pogrom that has left thousands dead and thousands more homeless. However, the Indian media did not play along. And the European Union could not be made to see reason.
The national and international outcry was an irritant. Of course this did not make the BJP ministers or the prime minister indulge in even a shadow of remorse with all continuing to justify the horrific violence till date.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who presided over the genocide, is a hero. Vajpayee, despite his sensitivity to the international world, was compelled to justify the violence at the party national executive at Goa. And the RSS and the BJP made it clear that the die had been cast.
But the Indian government was embarrassed. And was looking for a reprieve. The External Affairs Ministry statements were becoming more and more juvenile and senseless. It was at this time that help came from unexpected quarters. The terrorists struck in Kashmir. And in the process of killing 34 innocent people gave the BJP the time window it was looking for. War bellies began to rumble. And are still rumbling despite renewed international pressure to make both India and Pakistan back off.
But war talk has its own advantages. It has shifted the focus from the thousands of refugees lying under the scorching sun in Gujarat. It has reined in the Congress party which has stopped the attack on the BJP-led government to promise it all support.
It has stifled the criticism in the press and pushed the reports on Gujarat to the back pages. It has renewed nationalistic fervor and inspired vigorous support for the government. In short, from being unacceptable the BJP is now once again acceptable as the only party with the wherewithal of handling and taking on Pakistan.
Vajpayee made a three-day visit to Kashmir last week. The gestures all suggest war. He addressed the troops, he presided over a meeting of the unified command, and as he said, the very fact that he was in the border state should serve as an indication to Pakistan that India meant business.
The rhetoric was traditional Vajpayee jugglery. He spoke of war and yet did not speak of war. If he spoke of unexpected bolts of lightning, he also said that this was not going to happen. If he asked the troops to prepare for victory, he also spoke of elections in Kashmir. In other words, Vajpayee effectively ensured that the nation remains on tenterhooks.
But war will not eradicate terrorism, it will only destabilize the region. The price India is paying for this is heavy. The economic costs, the political uncertainty, rising prices, inflation, communalism, are the ingredients that will then churn together to bring in a fresh wave of instability and unrest. And violence.
What then can the Indian government do? It can do what it does not want to do. That is to evolve a strong Kashmir policy. And use diplomacy and its moral superiority on the issue of terrorism to ensure a crackdown on Pakistan by the international community.
Pakistan has been told to crack down on terrorism, but the immediate pressure is on India to de-escalate. Kashmir has been totally internationalized, and it appears to be a matter of time before the UN stepped in to post a presence in the Valley. Is this what India wanted? (The Asian Age)