SPEAKEASY
 On June 3 last
week when Defence Minister George Fernandes turned 70, there was no time for celebrations.
Between briefings and flying visits to the front, he was battling controversy at home in
Delhi. Fernandes has revelled in keeping up with the toughest by visiting the Siachen and
Kargil areas not once but several times in the past year. Last week in the company of Army
chief General V.P. Malik he was there again, dressed in uncharacteristic combat fatigues.
But there is another side to Fernandes that has generated
enough controversy. Even as the government propaganda machine cranked out enemy images of
Pakistan, its defence minister swum against the tide, first by absolving Nawaz Sharif and
the ISI of responsibility for the Kargil intrusion and then by suggesting that a
"safe passage" be considered for the intruders.
The larger issue posed by Fernandes has been drowned out by a
barrage of criticism. In the past few years, India has adopted a two-track policy towards
Islamabad: avoid cross-border response in combating Pakistani-backed terrorism and
continue engaging Pakistan in normal diplomatic relations. Last year's nuclear tests and
Fernandes' statements, including his gratuitous clean chit to the ISI, are a logical
extension of this policy.
That safe passage, another word for a negotiated retreat, of
the entrenched Islamic fundamentalist militants from Kargil would help avoid needless loss
of the lives of Indian soldiers seems to have been lost to the retired generals and air
marshals who only want retribution. Asking Pakistan to pay the price is one thing, but
getting Indian Army jawans to extract it in a terrain of the adversary's choosing is rank
folly. It underscores the point someone once made that war is too important a matter to be
left to the generals. For now the controversy has died down. The official spokesman now
says he was "quoted out of context". But there is little doubt that Fernandes
should have avoided comment on the issue. A defence minister is expected to lead his
forces, but perhaps not from the front.
-Manoj
Joshi |
