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| July 31, 2000 | ||
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ANGLE Musharraf's Cat's Paw Pakistan doesn't merely covet Kashmir, it targets Indian unity By Swapan Dasgupta
It's a compelling theory that, apart from the editorial classes, is echoed by agonised non-proliferation activists across the Atlantic. The point, they emphasise, is to disengage two estranged brothers from a brawl that could go out of hand, reduce the dispute to the "core issue" of Kashmir and then facilitate a sensible dialogue. After all, once Kashmir is resolved both sides can become "normal" neighbours, happily feast on each other's kebabs and share memories of happier days in Lahore. The problem with this road map to bliss is that it assumes Pakistan is single-minded in accomplishing the "unfinished agenda of Partition". Of course, it is, but is that the only item on its agenda? Last week, the police in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh unearthed evidence of the involvement of the small Deendar Anjuman sect in more than a dozen explosions. The objectives of the sect, remote-controlled from Pakistan, were quite definite: trigger communal tension, make the Christian minority insecure and tarnish India's image in the West. The plan nearly worked. Had it not been for a chance accident in Bangalore, it is possible the stability of the NDA Government in Delhi would have been threatened. After all, conventional wisdom blamed the RSS and its affiliates for the attacks on Christians, feelings nurtured by loony utterances of some Parivar functionaries and the political posturings of a section of the Christian clergy. Assuming the Union Home Ministry and the chief ministers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh got it right, the question arises: what is Pakistan's interest in subverting south India? Why has it expended so much money and energy in building a network in West Bengal, a phenomenon acknowledged by Jyoti Basu's Government? Why is the ISI so active in Nepal? Why does it routinely plug into Indian criminal networks? Of course, there is a link between Islamabad's encouragement of terrorism in India and its claims on Kashmir. A weakened Indian state, devastated by civil unrest and communal conflict, will lack the resolve to fight back effectively in the state. For the cause of Kashmir, India must bleed. However, that is only half the story. More important is the conviction in Pakistan that the size and unity of India constitute a permanent threat. The Pakistani establishment firmly believes it was deprived of victory in last year's Kargil war because the West, enamoured with the sheer size of the Indian market, tilted the scales in favour of Delhi. In other words, the grand "recovery" of Kashmir is premised on the destruction of India as one nation. That's why Pakistan foments trouble in areas as distant from Srinagar as Hubli, Calcutta and Azamgarh. And that's why it sees the gullible liberal establishment of India as its natural ally. |
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Now
that General pervez Musharraf has quite successfully painted himself as
the last liberal hope of Pakistan and one who likes his Farida Khanun,
Iqbal Bano and evening tipple, it is hardly surprising that India's
liberal establishment has fallen for him hook, line and sinker. Pakistan,
we have been informed by those who experienced his generous hospitality
recently, is certainly a bit obsessed with the jehad in Kashmir. But isn't
that understandable for a small country unsure of its own nationhood?
However, barring this silly aberration, the rulers on the other side of
the Radcliffe Line aren't all that bad. No worse than our own dhotiwallas
who are being unreasonable in not engaging with the general.