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Oct 25, 1999
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| I thought it was one of the great ironies of the
subcontinent. A new Indian government taking office while across the border the army was
busy toppling a civilian government. Pakistan is experiencing its
fourth coup d'etat since Independence, a stunning reminder of its inherent
instability. But an unstable Pakistan is not in anyone's interest, least of all India's.
Instability and domestic uncertainty encourages its leaders to India-baiting, as Kargil
revealed in such deadly fashion. With its declared nuclear arsenal, an anarchic Pakistan
could be catastrophic to India. The coup is clearly a huge setback to the Lahore dialogue
and could take us back to the days of costly militant posturing at a time when both
countries urgently need to concentrate on setting right their ramshackle economies. Pakistan has always been a special interest with us. We have in-house
specialists who frequently visit that country, enabling us to provide incisive, analytical
coverage. We've run 14 cover stories on Pakistan over more than two decades and often
analysed Nawaz Sharif's problems. Since this is the first coup in the age of television,
everyone has already seen the army take control of Pakistan. We've gone beyond the obvious
in answering the larger questions: why did the coup happen in the first place? Who are
Pakistan's new rulers? What does the future hold for Pakistan and India? These are
questions answered by contributor Jason Burke based in Islamabad. But we had provided a
portent of things to come. Following Deputy Editor Raj Chengappa's post-Kargil visit to
Pakistan, we ran an article titled "Will Sharif Survive?" in a September issue.
Chengappa then wrote: "Sharif has to show tremendous mettle to survive." He
obviously didn't and we are all faced with the consequences.
(Aroon Purie) |
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