The rhetoric of India-Pakistan tensions
The poor Indian foreign office mandarins and their Pakistani counterparts are thrust into fire fighting mode yet again in the midst of a chilly January winter, thanks to an abrupt adrenaline rush experienced by soldiers manning the volatile border areas.
A column of Indian Army stationed in Kashmir’s sensitive Haji Pir sector allegedly launched a lethal attack on Pakistani posts unprovoked in the first week of January and the Pakistani military apparently retaliated with vengeance in Mendhar sector of Poonch, some 300 km away, killing and beheading Indian soldiers’ days later.
This gruesome act that evoked a sense of shock and outrage in India has almost put the structured and well entrenched bilateral peace process in the dock. Above all, the sudden and unusual off-season spurt in border skirmish effectively ensured a quiet burial for the most talked about rape case in recent times involving a 23-year-old physiotherapy student at the heart of India’s capital. Indian judiciary has already restrained the media from reporting accounts of the daily proceedings on the prodding of Delhi Police fearing a life threatening attack on the six accused in the courtroom itself.
The rabble-rousing over Pakistani violation of Geneva Convention framework has actually aided the Indian state to douse the inflamed passions prevailing within the society ever since the incidence of brutal gang rape in a moving bus came to the fore. After all, nothing could supplant an age-old Machiavellian technique of stirring up nationalistic fervor at a crucial juncture of history when a whole generation has started demolishing the altars and questioning the status quo’s orthodoxy. But the most unfortunate part of the entire drama is the armed forces’ active participation in an act designed to checkmate anybody — read the civil society — trying to upset the political applecart in the aftermath of Delhi gang rape.
Intriguing it is that the Indian defense establishment is harping on “the guerrilla raid being a cover up for infiltration bid” to pin down its adversary even though a record snowfall in 40 years has rendered the Poonch district virtually inaccessible.
Officials having ground experience of supervising the line of control in picturesque Kashmir admits that grueling winter months are unfavorable for cross border infiltration as it is easy to detect trails on snow clad terrains. In fact zero infiltration has officially been recorded in the hotbed of insurgency during the snowy months.
Furthermore, the chief of Kashmir police has termed the bygone year of 2012 as the most successful one in last 22 years with a 30 percent drop in overall terror strikes. In such a scenario and when the troubled province is witnessing a huge influx of tourists resulting in consolidation of GDP, it is indeed myopic of any responsible authority to entertain warped jingoistic values. More so because the advance sniper-scout platoons of both the armies masked and dressed in black fatigue are used to transgressing the boundary and making reckless forays deep inside each others territorial limits surreptitiously.
Islamabad has demonstrated great restraint and magnanimity in the past by repatriating the crew of an Indian military helicopter assigned to a low-grade reconnaissance mission over Pakistani airspace without creating a diplomatic ruckus. India too is not far behind in providing her western neighbor with a long rope by absorbing the negative impact of tying itself down after a horrendous terror attack in Mumbai despite domestic outrage.
The need of the hour is to retain the conciliatory spirit while moving away from aggressive rhetorical outburst. Demoting the non-pragmatic belief — spreading like wildfire — that negotiations will produce little of consequence in these trying times will help the subcontinent move another step forward in assuaging those grievances accumulated in layers on both sides of the fence. Attempting peacemaking in turbulent political atmosphere is an art that needs to be perfected by the leadership as the potential for peace ultimately comes down to their doorstep.
The timing of the innuendos targeted at Pakistan is worth noting from a strategic point of view. Islamabad has taken over the monthly Presidency at the United Nations Security Council just days ago. Pakistan People’s Party government of Raja Pervez Ashraf facilitated direct talks between the representatives of dreaded Taliban and Afghan administrative officials in Paris earlier last month.
At a time when the state of Pakistan is showing visible sign of distancing itself from fundamentally injurious ideologies, it would indeed be self defeating for the Indian political class to try and kill two birds with one stone — diverting the existing fury against domestic systemic deficiencies and tripping Pakistan by naming and shaming the country as a strategic ploy for retaining turf and influence in Afghan theater.
With warmongering dominating nationally televised debates and responsible Cabinet ministers uttering inflammatory words, hopefully the present dispensation in India struggling to cope with corruption charges tumbling out of the cupboard every now and then would not take the shortcut of riding piggyback on a deliberately created armed conflict to retain power.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government applied the same trick 14 years ago in Kargil. Indian Army’s “propaganda boy” of 1999 Kargil conflict is at the helm today and it would be extremely unfortunate if an obstinate section of the Pakistani military and political establishment ends up bolstering such mischievous plot.
