US gives pinpricks to India: Pak bleeds it

[Guest guest]

US gives pinpricks to India: Pak bleeds it

By J N Raina

Source: Free Press Journal

August 12, 2002

 

 

US Secretary of State Colin Powell must have had a boisterous laugh

when Pa kistan-backed terrorists, owing allegiance to Hizbul

Mujahideen, made a grenade attack on the Pradesh Congress

Headquarters in Srinagar, as if to 'hail' the Election Commission's

announcement on August 2, fixing dates for holding Assembly

elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Gen Powell, while on a hopping spree in the subcontinent had

showered " generosity" on India by remarking altruistically that

Pakistan " should take every effort to avoid disturbing these

elections".

 

The grenade attack just on the heels of the announcement, was not a

solitary incident. There were series of sporadic violent incidents

on the eventful day across the state, killing eleven foreign

mercenaries in encounters, besides several security personnel and

ruling National Conference leaders. Latest is the attack on Amarnath

pilgrims, killing nine persons.

 

However, there were scenes of jubilation almost all over the state.

The separatist Hurriyat Conference (HC) leaders, who wanted

initiation of a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir problem prior to the

holding of the elections, were sulking, reiterating that their stand

vis-a-vis elections remained unchanged. The party chairman Abdul

Gani Butt put it thus: " It does not matter when and how sham

elections are held".

 

Some other parties, including the Congress, were however, not

confident if the elections will be fair. They wanted the elections

to be held under the purview of the Governor's rule, if they are

seen to be "free and fair". May be, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah

himself asks for it. It hardly matters.

 

Whether elections, to be held under the leadership of Dr Abdullah,

will be " free and fair " is a matter of conjecture, given the

present scenario. But Gen Powell's advice to Pakistan ( to avoid

disturbing these elections) will have hardly any salutary effect on

the militants, who have gone haywire. Pakistan renewed artillery

fire all along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international

border the moment elections were announced.

 

Terrorist violence escalated despite the fact that Gen Powell has

laced his remarks with a rider that " elections alone could not

solve the problems between India and Pakistan.... and erase the

scars of so many years of strife". Although these pungent remarks

were irksome to India, it should have given solace to the

separatists to welcome the election process.

 

The HC, of which Jamait-e-Islami is a major constituent, knows it

very well they will be defeated at the hustings, as on earlier

occasions. The HC is a divided house. The then Muslim United Front

(MUF), now defunct, which was formed in the absence of a viable

opposition ( when the Congress and the NC had formed a coalition)

had failed to garner more than seven seats in the state assembly in

1987 elections. It is MUF's lame excuse they could have got two-

third majority if the elections were not rigged. But rigging and

other electoral malpractices were committed by both the NC and MUF .

The latter had sought votes in the name of Quran. In the " bargain "

the NC being mass-based, eventually proved more `powerful', having

better infrastructure; and formed the coalition Government. The

Jamait-e-Islami has always been defeated like their counterparts in

Pakistan.

 

The US is playing a dubious role. Gen Powell's statement has not

only made bold the Kashmiri separatists, but also the military

dictator, Gen Pervez Musharraf .The HC had realized the necessity of

contesting the elections, to prove its representative character. But

certainly they were divided on the issue. From their instant

reaction, the separatists now believe more in what Colin Powell has

to say rather than act on the advice of the Chief Election

Commissioner James Lyngdoh. The HC, a conglomerate of some two dozen

political outfits and religious organizations, wait for direction

from Pakistan. Even for sighting the Idd moon, they remain glued to

PTV.

 

In the first place, what is the locus standi of Gen Powell in

Kashmir? Asking India to free political prisoners and allow

independent international observers to travel to Jammu and Kashmir

to oversee elections and certify the final results is sheer

dishonesty and interference.

 

Although India has rejected the dictate for posting " designated"

observers and disagreed with the comments of Gen Powell on political

prisoners ( who want Kashmir's total merger with Pakistan), our

External Affairs Ministry is not doing enough at the diplomatic

level to nail down Gen Musharraf for his skulduggery.

 

While the US-the mother of Democracy- does not hesitate from giving

pinpricks to India- the largest democracy in the world- Pakistan

continues to bleed India more brazenly. Instead of keeping Pakistan

on the international agenda (if not declare it as a terrorist

State ), Gen Powell has sought to malign and traduce India by

asserting that the U S has kept Kashmir " on the international

agenda ".

 

India immediately acted on the U S suggestion and refrained from

what could have been a military action in POK (to destroy terrorist

camps) and believed on the verbal assurances that Gen Musharraf had

pledged to stop cross-border terrorism. India even took series of

steps to deescalate the situation on the borders in the belief the

military dictator would act upon his pledge to permanently end

terrorism. After India was pacified, Gen Musharraf not only denied

that he had ever pledged to stop terrorism permanently, but said

shamefacedly that what is happening in POK (alluding to camps) is of

Pakistan's concern. The self-willed dictator is not sincere. He has

gently slapped the US and its allies. Pakistan has let loose blood-

sucking animals in Jammu and Kashmir. Encouraged by Gen Powell's

comments, Musharraf has renewed his vigour to internationalize the

Kashmir issue and is now hobnobbing with India's neighbours.

 

What do the Americans mean by making a hullabaloo on Kashmir? Why

are they obsessed with Kashmir when they should have indulged in

self-flagellation for failing to combat global terrorism? The US is

dragging its feet on the universal pledge to combat

terrorism "wherever it is and in whatever form".

 

The so-called Kashmir imbroglio continues because of Pakistan's

involvement in terrorist activities since 1947, when Pakistan-aided

armed tribals invaded Kashmir and resorted to loot, rape and arson.

If Kashmiris under the leadership of late Kashmir leader Sheikh

Abdullah did not oblige Pakistan ( rather they had garlanded late

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, with a garland of shoes ),

why are they ( Kashmiris) being repeatedly provoked and instigated

in the name of Islam?

 

How much of democracy is visible in POK or even in Pakistan? We

should not ignore one thing that there has been a quantum jump from

abysmal democracy to dictatorship in our neighbouring country;

leading to anarchy - thanks to Talibanization of Pakistan and ever-

spreading madarasa culture.

 

Let "independent observers" be allowed from POK and Pakistan to

watch the elections in Jammu and Kashmir so that they get inspired

as how to dismantle authoritarian rule in Pakistan. Did US bother

when sham referendum was held in Pakistan, putting presidential

crown permanently on Musharraf's head. Instead of helping democracy

to gain roots in our neighbourhood, the US is constantly attempting

to checkmate India. It is a natural law: like polls repel; unlike

polls attract.

 

Gen Musharraf is resorting to verbal "calisthenics" and reneges on

his pledge to end terrorism permanently. India has been stressing

the need for Pakistan to deliver on its pledges, but the US attitude

is different : " we are used to our friendskeeping their pledge".

 

Gen Powell is blind to the happenings in POK , perhaps taking it for

granted that it is part of Pakistan, which is not a fact. Neither he

refers to the decades of strife in Gilgit, forming part of undivided

Jammu and Kashmir, grabbed by Pakistan illegally. Why this on-again

off-again shift in the US stand towards India, it considers

a "natural ally"? Should a natural ally be ditched to placate

Pakistan, which has contributed hugely in destroying Muslims in

Bangladesh ( where thirty lakh Muslims were killed before they

separated from Pakistan ) and producing Talibans, the main support

base for Al Qaida. Knowing fully well that Pakistan is bluffing the

US, Gen Musharraf is being considered an important ally in their

fight against global terrorism.

 

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage believes that Al Qaida

has shifted its base from Afghanistan to Kashmir, on the directions

from ISI, to boost terrorist activities during elections.

 

" The international terrorist network Al Qaida would like nothing

better than an splendid war between India and Pakistan over

Kashmir", Armitage has said in an interview. During his last visit

to Islamabad, he had extracted a pledge from Musharraf to put

a "permanent" end to cross-border terrorism. But is Gen Musharraf

trustworthy? Is the US satisfied with his promises? Can India start

a dialogue with Pakistan before a congenial atmosphere is created?

 

Pakistan is using State terrorism as a weapon in Kashmir and has

been brainwashing Kashmiris in the name of Islam. But this policy is

at variance with the policy of other Islamic nations like the Gulf

countries, which disavow Islamic fundamentalism as an instrument of

their foreign policy. Importantly, they do not consider India to

be "less sensitive" to the plight of Muslims than Pakistan.