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Musharraf's Jihad

© Dr. Anand Deep

The summit took place in the background of the Kargil war of 1999. During these 26 months, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Shareef was removed from office in a military coup lead by General Pervez Musharraf. He was tried, jailed and exiled. Then, the general anointed himself from a Chief Executive Officer to a full-fledged President. The summit gave Vajpayee his first opportunity to talk one to one with the General. Vajpayee's invitation to Musharraf was received well in both countries. Though there are hardliners on both sides of the border who think we should not make peace. Indians could not forget the mutilated bodies of their soldiers and Pakistanis could not forget their defeat. Anyway, the overriding truth of international relations is that peace must be made after every war. If Japan and United States can improve their relations and Britain can see eye to eye with Germany, then why can't we overlook our enmity and try to live in peace?

It is a fact that there are hawks on both sides of the border but it is also true that the desire for peace is common in both countries. The problem arises when we operationalise the peace process. This is exactly what happened during the Agra summit. We failed to structure the agenda in advance. Musharraf and his foreign minister continuously issued statements that they are coming to India to talk only Kashmir and nothing else. Their only concern was the aspirations of the Kashmiri people who are engaged in a freedom struggle against the Indian armed forces. Pakistanis are saviours and they will leave no stone unturned to free Kashmir from Indian oppression. The Indian side, though lacking in an equal level of communication, kept asserting that Kashmir is an integral part of India and there is little that we can talk about its territorial status. We should instead focus on Pakistani aided cross border terrorism and aim at halting it first. Simultaneously, we must initiate confidence-building measures such as opening borders, easing visa availability and increasing trade between the two countries.

General Musharraf came to India with only one objective. Emphasise that Kashmir was a disputed territory. His pet phrase during the summit being 'resolution of Kashmir is the core issue for us." None asked him what he meant by the phrase 'resolution". Will resolution take place if we simply hand him the Kashmir valley? Or will resolution take place when he accepts the original position of October 1947 when the whole of Kashmir was in India and not in Pakistan? Or will the dispute be resolved when both countries withdraw and accord independent nationhood to a unified Kashmir? Will Pakistan give back the part of Kashmir it merged with its northern territory? Will it take Asai Chin, which was Kashmir territory fro, China too? These questions remain unanswered. It is clear that the general like all Pakistani rulers has only one agenda. Divide India on communal lines once more so that it disintegrates.