Time for a more sober approach

seema mustafa

The Statesman

10 Oct 2014

Perhaps journalists can be excused for having become a little cynical over the years about reports of Pakistan and India border skirmishes. Both sides have shown the tendency to report firing incidents from the border according to the larger messages they have decided to send out. So when there is talk of peace, the border falls silent; when there is talk of war, the border acquires a will of its own as troops on both sides reportedly indulge in irresponsible acts that can trigger off a conflict at any point in time.

So this writer who has been reporting on India-Pakistan relations for a while can be excused, along with many others of her tribe, for not getting overly excited about reports of border firing, deaths, anger and "we warn you" rhetoric. And it seems rightly so as in the midst of the war of words Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that “everything will be fine soon” and one presumes that this will not be achieved through war, but levels of dialogue that really remain the only option for civilised nations.

The Prime Minister of course did not say how it would be fine really, although there has been sufficient posturing from both sides over the past several days. Both have been speaking out against each other, reporting firing and acts of aggression by the other, with India now having served a demarche to Pakistan through the High Commission here, by lodging a protest at the increase in shelling and cross-border firing by Pakistani rangers. Twenty civilians have been killed on either side of the border.

While it is difficult to say how bad the situation is as reporters have no means of independent verification except army and government reports on both sides, it is clear that the political will is frayed, and some decision has been taken to keep the tensions alive. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India for the oath-taking ceremony of PM Modi was unable to bridge the gap, or decrease the wariness and inherent suspicion between the two governments. The Pakistan army made it clear it was not particularly supportive of the visit, and by supporting the large-scale protests by Imran Khan in Pakistan made it obvious that the Sharif-led government could not act on issues of strategy as a completely independent entity. A chastened Sharif has since shed the friendly neighbourhood look, and seems to be one with the Pakistan Army on India at least insofar as rhetoric is concerned.

Pakistan that used to express open worry till a few months ago about a confrontation with India, given the high voltage border it shares with Afghanistan, seems to have changed course again. That worry is no longer expressed by Islamabad, and there have been no statements by political leaders or the Army urging Washington to mediate, and ensure that India does not make its border with Pakistan hostile. In fact, Pakistan seems to have adopted a "we don’t give a damn" approach now, and while most of its army remains involved in tackling militancy in the northern areas and the border with Afghanistan, it has started needling and responding militarily on its eastern border as well.

To accept the reports being fed to the media by both governments, it is clear that the India-Pakistan border has turned hostile. And that both countries are firing at each other in a tit-for-tat approach. Islamabad has obviously had to increase its presence on this border, but this time around is not raising the issue at all. In fact both sides are matching each other in hostile rhetoric and if reports are to be believed, in military action against each other along the Line of Control.

Regardless of who started it, and who is continuing it, this must stop. The Pakistan Army might have a will of its own, but the Indian Army certainly does not and cannot continue the hostilities without political endorsement. There have been no reports of the use of hotlines between the Directors General of Military Operations, and no word as to whether the laid-down military protocol to reduce tensions is or has been followed at all. And if not, why not?

Surely it is the job of a mature government to temper military hostilities if these sharpen, and to ensure that the procedures laid down after the Kargil conflict are activated and put to good use. None of this seems to be happening, even as certain television channels become virtually hysterical in their language and the call to war. 

Hawkish experts are fielded on both sides to speak of war, and not peace, as the ruling establishments in both India and Pakistan cannot get rid of the notion that jingoism is the best way to consolidate constituencies and ensure support of their respective peoples.

Perhaps, but there is an equally potent perhaps not in play. The ruling establishments in India and Pakistan have always been so consumed by a desire for war, as warring school boys who still need to prove that they are more masterful and powerful than the other through choreographed war games, that they forget that there is an increasing constituency for peace in both nations. Except for the small minority of rah rah jingoists, there is a growing younger generation that does not carry the baggage of partition, is more confident of its own status, and certainly does not support war as an option. More than the older generation these young people seem to better understand the pitfalls of conflict in economies that are struggling, perhaps one more than the other, but struggling nevertheless.

The difference, thus, is striking, between the older and the ruling generation in both countries for whom the past has gone chasing conflict and hate, and who have little future left to be concerned about; and the under-35 generation that has a vested interest in making peace, as it has a future of equality and prosperity and growth to look forward to and does not want to jettison the opportunities with war.

Unfortunately, neither government that is still dominated by the seniors can see this generation, and dismisses them along with the disdain for peaceniks. And in so doing, does immeasurable harm to the new generations' coming of age and to the countries that find themselves vested in conflict instead of lasting peace.

It is astounding how governments leading impoverished masses can actually spend so much time, energy, resources on conflict and hate without realising the massive disservice they are doing to their countries. War is the easy option of irresponsible governments and militaries, peace is the truly difficult option that can be exercised only by mature, responsible and highly committed governments that the world lacks, except in some rare pockets. Both Delhi and Islamabad need to look at the pros and cons of even this current standoff as it too damages the social fabric, and retards progress and growth in more ways than one. And they need to realise that there is little to be gained, and a lot to be lost, through this political opportunism that looks at war as a tool of consolidation without understanding that it can never ever function in that form. It is a tool of divisiveness and destruction and prevents the world from progressing.

It is time therefore for the two Prime Ministers to immediately move towards de-escalating the situation, and giving up the sexier call to war for the more sober, reasoned and necessary call to peace. The armies should withdraw to the barracks, and the ceasefire that both had maintained for years until recently is restored along the LoC immediately. The PMs should pick up the lost threads of the aborted dialogue, although of course all this is far easier said than done. Currently there seem to be no sign of a political willingness to cement ties between the two countries.

An opportunity will present itself on the sidelines of the SAARC summit. It could have presented itself on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York but it was not taken advantage of. Even now if PMs Modi and Sharif meet it should not just be an event for the headlines, or a photo-op for international mileage as that complicates the situation further in the long run. Substance should be brought into the meeting, to take relations between the two countries forward.

But for all this there has to be intent and will. And both seem to be missing from the India-Pakistan platter.

The writer is Editor-in-Chief of The Citizen, a daily online newspaper.