Sunday, May 09, 2010

Get Pakistan to set a timetable

Get Pakistan to set a timetable
By M J Akbar

The drip-dry India-Pakistan peace process has recovered a table, ironically, in the month of mass murderer Ajmal Kasab's conviction. But does it have a timetable?

There is more than one table set out. The menu at Thimphu was similar to the repast at Sharm el-Sheikh; in essence, for four years India has cooked what Pakistan wanted to eat. In the September 2006 talks with Musharraf, Manmohan Singh downgraded terrorism from core issue to common concern. On July 16 last year at Sharm el-Sheikh, he released Pakistan from the consequences of terrorism; the joint statement said: "Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed." After Thimphu, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi took terrorism off the bilateral map, noting pithily that it was a global concern that was best addressed collectively.

The next time a Kasab turns up, then, Delhi can telephone the United Nations.

Compare this to the alacrity with which Islamabad acted when Washington cracked the whip. Faisal Shahzad was arrested in New York on May 8 for terrorism. Within hours, police picked up suspects in Lahore and the FBI must be interrogating them by now. When Washington talks, Islamabad listens. When Delhi talks, Islamabad talks back. Pakistan has fudged even on Kasab, noting that its experts will "study" the Mumbai special court judgment since they forgot to watch television in November 2008.

Terrorism, in fact, has been reduced to a pro forma presence at the high table, an unwelcome distant cousin shunted to the corner, neither banished nor discussed. One does not know whether Dr Singh forgives, but he certainly has the negotiator's critical need for amnesia. Pak foreign secretary Salman Bashir's sneer that P Chidambaram's dossiers on the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Kasab's handlers in Pakistan were mere literature has already been deleted from the hard disc as Delhi revs up the pace of talks.

If hearts were melting in Islamabad like the Chenab in spring flood, there might have been some justification. But each gesture has been answered by belligerence. Accusations that India helps Baloch secessionists have become a staple of Pakistani commentary after Sharm el-Sheikh. Success at Thimphu persuaded Pakistan to reverse its position on Kashmir. Last Tuesday, Qureshi sneered at Musharraf's "wavering" in a speech to the Pakistani National Assembly and insisted there was no change in the country's "historical" stance. Square one has not looked so square in a long while.

Delhi, in the meanwhile, has been funding long discussions on the virtues of wavering. Sombre experts rub lamps furiously in the hope of arousing a genie who can grant three wishes, or even one. All they manage is a glimpse of the occasional ghost of American ambassadors past. Galbraith, Kennedy's envoy to Nehru, has been resurrected, not for his inimitable wit and wisdom, but for the condominium he constructed for Kashmir, offering India and Pakistan a flat each, with America presumably in charge of watch and ward. The concept is so naively Sixties, it is almost heartwarming.

Every option is on the table except the only one that will work: conversion of the status quo into the basis for a solution. Musharraf called for soft borders and perhaps Dr Singh now regrets he let that moment pass. But before a border can be soft or hard, there has to be a border, and India and Pakistan need therefore to agree on one. The Line of Control, created after the first war, has stood the test of three more. Why mend something that has not been broken?

America has rarely been as ambidextrous as it is at the India-Pak table, officially absent and unofficially omnipresent. The Pakistani media, ever delighted to turn implicit into explicit, made it a point to mention that Robert Blake, former deputy head of mission in Delhi, was at Thimphu; and on May 4, the present ambassador to Delhi Timothy Roemer met Asif Zardari in Islamabad. American foreign policy is uncomplicated: what is good for America is good for the world; therefore the world, out of self-interest, must adjust its calculus to fit in with American requirements. Obama's highest priority is victory in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has been the obedient ally, with one condition — get the Indian army off our back in Kashmir and give us "soft strategic space" in Kabul.

India is loath to be left out of Washington's affections. Convinced of the urgency of American need, Islamabad has nudged up the ante. A clever Delhi response would be to offer the shell of dialogue on Kashmir and let inherent contradictions destroy the substance.

India has set the table. It must now deal with Pakistan's timetable.

( Times of India Column : 9th May 2010)

2 comments:

R.Alamsha Karnan said...

How to convert Brahmin vs Muslim into Brahmin + Muslim ?

I can tell these lines anywhere any time:

Hinduism is the oldest faith and mother of all faiths.

More than 50% of world's Muslim population has it's roots in Hinduism. Their forefathers were Hindus before embracing Islam.

It's the duty of every Muslim to respect and protect the life and property of every Hindu.

Islam without Hindusim is NOT my Islam.

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Can Hindutva/RSS/VHP/Bajrang Dal tell these lines?:

Praying 5 times Namaz, fasting in the month of Ramadan and Hajj are duties of every Muslim.

Every Hindu must respect the Islamic dress code of Muslim women, Burqa and Hijab.

It's the duty of every Hindu to protect the lives and property of every Muslim.

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Today Islam/Muslim identity has become a big challenge worldwide. Brahmins can convert this challenge into a Brahma Astra overnight by declaring the above lines.

This declaration will end Jihad/terrorism in one master stroke. India will be declared a hero for the Muslim world of 55 Islamic nations and 1.7 billion people. Every Muslim will proudly say that Hindus are our brothers. America will bow and submit to Dharm. China will roll out red carpet welcome for India's friendship.

Quran says "Lakum Dinakum Waliaddin - You follow your way, we follow our way". Since 1400 years every Muslim says these lines in every Namaz, 5 times a day.

Muslims have declared it. Can Brahmins make this declaration?

Lord Krishna says in Gita:

"Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
Abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjam aham..."

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in Dharm
I shall manifest myself and reestablish the Dharm..."

Muslim vs Brahmin - Defeat of Brahmin

Muslim + Brahmin - Triumph of Brahmin

Defeat of Brahmin is defeat of Dharm.

Triumph of Brahmin is triumph of Dharm.

I have been blogging and debating non-stop for the past 2 years about my Hijrath appeal theory in order to drive a consensus towards Brahmin+Muslim.

It took me 20 years of thought process to reach this conclusion.

I have been challenging Brahmins to defeat my Hijrath appeal theory to push them discover this truth.

Any act of rejection of this proposition by any Brahmin shall be deemed as an unpardonable sin and transgression of Vedic Dharm.

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Well, if you can NOT declare, make me a Brahmin and appoint me as Kanchi Shankaracharya for one day. I shall make this declaration.

Come what may, a Brahmin will be a Brahmin and a Muslim will be a Muslim.

Nobody can do nothing.

Satyameva Jayate - Truth alone Triumphs.

R.Alamsha Karnan said...

Pak-Americans must launch return to Pakistan movement: Renounce US citizenship enmasse.

A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman and Scott Brown calls for suspected terrorists to be stripped of their U.S. citizenship.

Lieberman said the Terrorist Expatriation Act, which was unveiled Thursday, is a response to the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, who is accused in last weekend's car bombing attempt in New York's Times Square.

A native of Pakistan, Shahzad became a U.S. citizen last year.

The bill would allow the State Department to revoke the citizenship of a U.S. citizen who provides support to a terrorist organization, or who takes part in or aids in hostilities against the United States or its allies.

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/05/07/lieberman-bill-citizenship-terrorist.html

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A Pakistani-American girl, only 12, refused to go to school on Tuesday, saying she fears other students will ask her questions about the suspect held in New York for a failed attempt to bomb Times Square.

Another girl, 11, went to school when her mother persuaded her to but the mother had to go back to school during the lunch break to counsel her.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/international/fear-grips-pakistaniamericans-550

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My heart goes to those innocent children who have to hide their face for the fault of being born with Pakistani identity.

One can see the shame, disbelief, loss of hope and the wounds of betrayal in the eyes of every Pakistani.

Pakistani American/British Pakistani tag has become double insult. Not long ago, they abandoned their home country and took pride in their American and British identity.

This is NOT going to end. It will go on and on untill there is no more Pakistan and they would be declared stateless.

People are nation. No people, No nation.

What will happen if Pakistanis renounce US citizenship enmasse?:

The best way forward is mass renunciation of American/British identity and return back to Pakistan. Otherwise there won't be Pakistan to receive them.

Mass renunciation of US citizenship by Pakistanis will lead to total failure of Afghan war, collapse of economy, civil unrest and disintegration of US.

Pak and China will openly join hands and China will take over USA.