The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, January 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I L B A G

Not by handshake alone: Bush, Blair need to see India in new perspective

Apropos of Mr Hari Jaisingh's article "Not by handshake alone" (Jan 11), it is the leniency of the Indian leaders at the helm which has been solely responsible for the intermittent firing, cross-border terrorism and the proxy war by Pakistan.

US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are more inclined towards Pakistan than India due to their vested interests. That is why they speak in ambiguous terms. It is high time that the world powers understood the gravity of high tension between India & Pakistan and do their best to defuse it.

The USA should issue a stern warning to Pakistan to desist from all nefarious activities against India. There are no reasons to believe that Pakistan would defy such orders. The world powers should also initiate action to resolve the contentious issues between India & Pakistan. Wars don't settle issues, rather they create havoc. So dialogue is the best solution to solve the problem. The best recourse is the implementation of the Simla agreement. The world powers should pressurise for its implementation.

D. P. Jindal, Mandi Gobindgarh

USA must act: If the USA is really sincere it must act the way it did while dictating terms to Pakistan before waging war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It must order Pakistan to ban, disarm and freeze the funds of all jehadi outfits operating to hit their targets in J&K and elsewhere in India. Pakistan must also extradite all those wanted for trial in India for terrorist offences. Only then should India indicate that it is prepared to relent on the diplomatic, economic and military pressure that it has mounted on Pakistan.

K. M. Vashisht, Mansa

Colonial mindset: I fully agree with the writer that General Musharraf's policy of confrontation coupled with the cold war hangover of America and the colonial mindset of the British leadership are mainly responsible for the tension and mess in this subcontinent. For such a long time we continued to suffer silently cross-border terrorism & repercussions of Islamic fundamentalism. Our soft state image was taken as our weakness. That is why our PM now has changed his tone & tenor and without mincing words has ruled out any dialogue with General Musharraf till he stopped aiding and abetting terrorism.

K. L. Batra, Yamunagar

Soft no more: The article by Mr Hari Jaisingh is really thought provoking. The destardly attack on Parliament has made our leaders shed their softness. They no longer pose as mere ideologists behind the smoke-screen of big words. This has been made abundantly clear by the statement of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. Politicking is no longer the dirty cesspool into which they are found floundering. They know clearly that General Musharraf's handshake would not delude them. At the same time, they require Mr Bush & Mr Blair to see things in the right perspective.

Hans Raj Jain, Moga

US perception: Because of its short-term strategic interests, the USA has not realised that Pakistan has failed to denounce the Islamic fanatics indulging in cross-border terrorism against India.

After "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan, the question still remains whether the USA has discarded its double standards on the issue vis-a-vis India. Will it force Pakistan to renounce terrorism in all its manifestation. Going by Mr Richard Boucher's view that ".... any killing of innocent people for political ends is terrorism" and a little hardening stance of the American leadership, one may hope that Indian sensitivities may after all be treated to some extent with the care and honour they deserve.

Ved Guliani, Hisar

Half a step forward

This refers to Mr Hari Jaisingh's front-page editorial "Half a step forward" (Jan 14). “Dictation is not allowed. Suggestions are welcome" used to be India's foreign policy. But no longer now. It has to look & listen to the USA in the same way as Pakistan had to. Thanks to repeated master-strokes by General Musharraf, India & Pakistan now find themselves on the same side of the fence. As a matter of fact, Pakistan ranks higher in tackling terrorism today than India.

By abandoning its policy towards terrorism and adhering to its Kashmir policy, General Musharraf has buttered both sides of the toast, pleased the Americans and Pakistanis simultaneously. Believe it or not, now the heat is going to be on India — it would now be forced to settle the Kashmir issue once and for all. And the USA is now on the threshold of manifesting its dictation in the form of intervention or mediation. And the question arises: who asked for it? Surely, India by asking the USA to press Pakistan to mend itself for every evil act by it in India.

Now it’s going to recoil on India itself as the USA has bracketed the India-Pakistan conflict with the Israel-Palestine problem. Nothing would move in future without the USA's nod as regards the Kashmir issue. So India be better watchful for the USA is duty-bound to repay Pakistan for all that it has done for the USA in Afghanistan. And Pakistan has put all its eggs in the Kashmir basket. Maybe the things ultimately boil down to: a Security Council seat or Kashmir for India!

K.J.S. Ahluwalia, Amritsar

Not trustworthy yet: Mr Hari Jaisingh's signed editorial makes a treasure trove of advice for Gen Pervez Musharraf if what he said in his 60-minute televised speech on January 12 comes from his heart and not from the scheming head of a shrewd strategist and operator who fully knows the art of survival.

He has banned Lashkar and Jaish long after they had rechristened themselves. A few more from among their ranks have been rounded up. Other than that, there is little evidence yet to suggest that a dip in terrorist violence is imminent.

S. S. Jain, Chandigarh

A difficult task: General Musharraf has indeed a very difficult task to balance right now. On the one hand, he has to appear as he is not changing his stand on Kashmir and, on the other hand, he has to appear as he is not appeasing India in doing so. So all in all much is left for anybody's guess whether the said speech will remain on paper or will he really do something to materialise it on ground also?

Dr Gursimrat K. Sandhu, Amritsar

Costly bragging

The war hysteria leading both India and Pakistan to move their forces to the border must have cost hundreds of crores of rupees. Now our government says it will not attack Pakistan unless we are attacked. Where was then the need for making bellicose statements by the PM, the Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister?

The need of the hour is to activate our intelligence agencies to pinpoint the hideouts of terrorists and their associates in the country. Second, the border with Pakistan should be further sealed. Bangladeshis were shown on TV recently confessing that they had entered India after paying Rs 100 per head to BSF men.

Major Narinder Singh Jallo (Retd), Kapurthala