Rajinder Puri
Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif has written to Prime Minister Mr.
Narendra Modi expressing satisfaction with his recent visit to India.
Mr. Modi has responded with the hope that bilateral ties will be
enhanced after an atmosphere free from violence and confrontation is
established. It is a futile hope. Terrorist violence will never be
eliminated unless the present approach and policies adopted by both
governments is drastically revised. The terrorists are smart. Apart from
petty personal rivalries among terrorist leaders and the Sunni-Shi'ite
enmity the Taliban terror outfits are united in the pursuit of their
main agenda. And that is to ensure that India and Pakistan remain
hostilely separated. Terrorists systematically strike to prevent any
move towards achievement of Indo-Pakistan peace. They have done so in
the past and will do it in the future. It is the political
establishments in India and Pakistan that stupidly allow manipulation by
the terrorists. The strategy
of the terrorists could not be more transparent.
On the eve of Mr. Modi's swearing-in ceremony and invitation to all
heads of South Asian nations, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, there
was a terror strike against India in Herat. After Mr. Sharif wrote his
friendly letter to Mr. Modi, there was a major terror strike against the
Karachi airport. Even as Mr. Modi's letter to Mr. Sharif, hoping for
end to an atmosphere of violence and confrontation was delivered, there
was ceasefire violation with mortar shelling in Kashmir. This could not
have been done without the direct participation or complicity of the
rogue element in Pakistan's security establishment. Like puppets on a
string the governments and ruling elites in India and Pakistan dance to
the tune set by the terrorists who display formidable unity and
cohesion.
In the Karachi airport strike the Tereeq-e-Taliban claimed
responsibility. The terrorists shot dead in that encounter were Uighurs.
Uighur leaders proudly claimed that they had participated in the attack
organised by the Punjabi Taliban.And yet some security analysts in
Pakistan continued to accuse India and Afghanistan of jointly launching
the attack. Could a response have been more pathetic? Both India and
Pakistan are being bled by terror attacks, Pakistan more so than India.
Yet both countries cannot make common cause to eliminate terrorism which
could be accomplished within a few months if both armies and security
agencies conducted joint operations. Can they not draw inspiration from
the unity displayed by the terrorists?
It may be recalled that early Chinese claims of Uighur terrorism may
have been spurious to appear victim while being a perpetrator. Some
years back Beijing sought information from Islamabad about certain
Uighurs being trained in Pakistani camps. This revealed Beijing's
official awareness of Uighur participation in terrorist activity.
Pakistan-trained Uighur terrorists, who were expected to go for action
in Chechnya, sent with blessing of the People's Liberation Army. The
situation changed after Beijing supplied arms to Iranian backed Shi'ite
jihaadis. China depended heavily on energy supplies from Iran. But that
miscalculation turned Sunni terror outfits against Beijing and led to
escalation of genuine Uighur terrorism in Xingjian. The cooperation
displayed now between Uighurs and the Punjabi Taliban in the Karachi
airport strike is worth noting.
The Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan are tragically wasting time
by refusing to recognise the simple truth. Confidence building measures
and goodwill exchanges will accomplish nothing. Terrorists can always
derail the peace process through calculated acts of terror. Mindsets
have to change before both nations build trust to eliminate the common
enemy. That trust will only come if both governments agree to jointly
eliminate terror. They will agree to joint efforts only if a serious
effort to settle the Kashmir dispute, whatever its final solution, is
first announced.
That serious effort can only be made when a settlement is reached with
the consent of Islamabad, New Delhi and the people of Kashmir. So first
things first! The steps towards genuine Indo-Pakistan peace are, first
an agreement to establish joint operations against terror, secondly to
simultaneously agree to sincerely address the Kashmir dispute, and third
to introduce the institutional changes required to stabilize the new
consequent arrangement in the region. Everything else is a waste of
time. Politicians should not delude themselves. They should learn to be
as smart as the terrorists who confront them.
The writer is a veteran journalist and cartoonist. He blogs at
www.rajinderpuri.wordpress.com
