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EDITORIAL

BIGGEST THREAT

Prominent Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone has called a spade a spade by terming religious extremists as the biggest threat to peace process in Jammu & Kashmir. During his interview to Washington Post he has done some plain speaking. Although whatever he said is his own opinion but the fact remains he has said all this while still on Pak soil where he went to solemnise his son's marriage. He has used this opportunity for interacting not only with Pak ruling clan but also various shades of opinion vis-a-vis Kashmir which includes visit to Pak Occupied Kashmir. It is thus safe to surmise that what he stated stems from what he has seen in Pakistan......more

POSTAL STRIKE

Postal services have remained paralysed for a number of days without any signs of employees calling off the strike. True, these days courier service is handy but that is no substitute to the large network of post offices and services being rendered by them. Irrespective of merits or demerits of the respective positions, it is certain that hapless citizens have to pay for the paralysation of the services. No money orders. No saving accounts and other dealings, No collection or delivery of mail. No availability of postal stationery or postal orders. In the process people.....more

MEN AND MATTERS
Moderate Vajpayee encourages Hindu hardliners

From B L Kak
The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has done it, tak
ing many by surprise. A task which one expected from the hardliners such .....more

Cricket is big business now
Men, Matters, Memories

By M L Kotru
Sport is best left to sportsmen. Or should it be? Not when you look at way the Board of Control for Cricket in India has handled the match-.....more

India : Business booms as health awareness spreads

By Satya Mira
A public meeting on menopause. And that too in a large meeting hall in the centre of conservative Pune in Maharashtra. Surprised? Wait, there is more.....more

Is Pak 'restraint' worth celebrating ?....
Yours Randomly

By Dr. R. L. Bhat
For that matter what does Vajpayee mean by 'ceasefire'? Certainly, India is not at war-cannot be at war- within its own territory. Yet, out goes the Prime ....more

EDITORIAL

BIGGEST THREAT

Prominent Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone has called a spade a spade by terming religious extremists as the biggest threat to peace process in Jammu & Kashmir. During his interview to Washington Post he has done some plain speaking. Although whatever he said is his own opinion but the fact remains he has said all this while still on Pak soil where he went to solemnise his son's marriage. He has used this opportunity for interacting not only with Pak ruling clan but also various shades of opinion vis-a-vis Kashmir which includes visit to Pak Occupied Kashmir. It is thus safe to surmise that what he stated stems from what he has seen in Pakistan and PoK.

First, he considers it unwise on the part of Pakistan to let Pak based militants (extremists and fundamentalists) set a religious agenda for the J&K problem. The favourite theme and motivation is that Kashmir being Muslim majority State is naturally part of Pakistan and to that extent it should come to it by means fair or foul. Lone tends to consider it as political agenda rather than religious agenda in as much as Kashmiris hate to subjugate to any extremism. They have been ziarat pasand and it is in their blood to be thinking more maturedly than Pakistan would like them to think or behave. Seen in broader context it is condemnation of the nasty role being played by the Pak-sponsored fundamentalists let loose on the State as jehadis. Although Lone does not say it in as many words but he makes it amply clear that the greatest bottleneck in the ongoing peace process stemming out of unilateral ceasefire comes from these very elements. It also implies that their activities, hostile acts and stay in the troubled State is unwelcome. If only Kashmiris are left alone, peace could dawn much earlier than prophets of doom would ever anticipate. So the greatest villain which poses biggest threat is none other than the mercenary outfits engaging in indiscriminate blood spillage. Pakistan thus cannot escape the charge of being privy to their terrorist acts in the name of jehad.

Second, his visit to PoK has been quite revealing. Interaction with people there brings out certain facts, the first one being that, Kashmiris in PoK are not happy with Pakistan for various reasons. They have hardly any voice or rights other than religious freedom. Politically, they are indeed second raters even as comparative development activity on either side is quite contrasting. But mere freedom to worship is not enough to satisfy enlightened and broad-minded people. They need much more than that. They need political freedom, freedom of speech, equal rights and above all opportunities to grow. Although Lone does not deal with it exhaustively certain facts cannot be ignored. Kashmiris are not masters of their free will in PoK. In fact, Lone describes it as much an Indian myth as that of Pakistan that Kashmir belongs to them, albeit for different reasons. The fact is neither of the two sub-continental nations have addressed to the problems of Kashmiris. It is also recorded that Pakistan has not included northern areas in PoK and incorporated by its Constitutional amendment as territory of Pakistan unlike PoK. People are unhappy about such divide when legitimately northern areas (Gilgit, Baltistan etc) have been very much part of the composite State of J&K as it existed in 1947. Futher, out of these northern areas annexed by Pakistan 5180 sq. km. has been ceded to China. It is as well on record that Pak Government has settled many Afghan families in PoK thereby robbing the locals of employment opportunities. This is construed as changing the demographic character of PoK with ulterior motives. To that extent Pak rulers are suspect in the esteem of people of PoK. Sans political rights and any say in Pak affairs, Kashmiris in PoK are not a happy lot as is sought to be made out. In fact, during Benazir's stewardship as Prime Minister of Pakistan, she had promised raising of 100 bed hospital in Muzzafrabad. It is still elusive. Contrarily, this side of J&K has not only many hospitals but also several medical, dental and professional colleges besides super-speciality Institute of Medical Sciences. Not that all is bed of roses for everyone this side of LoC. Here too many problems are faced by the people. But by far the greatest problem is the presence of mercenaries who have wrought havoc in every Kashmiri home in one way or the other. Once Pak stops exporting them to the State, it would be easier to settle all outstanding problems and meet the expectations of the people to a very great extent.

Other leaders like Hurriyat Chairman Mr Bhat also want peace to be given a chance and he seeks extension of the unilateral ceasefire beyond December 28. Former Prime Minister of PoK Sardar Abdul Qayoom Khan feels that tripartite talks are not necessary at the present stage and want to promote intra-Kashmir dialogue instead, whatever it means. This means Pakistan need not be involved at this stage. In the same vein another local leader Shabir Shah advocates talks within and then only go about talking to Pakistan. You can't involve everyone at the infancy stage. After all it is a vexed problem full of emotions and odds. But he does want Prime Minister's initiative to be fully utilised and peace process given a fair chance.

One expects Pakistan to stop export of terrorists (call them religious extremists if you so desire or jehadis if it meets their ego). Unless that happens those prone to fish in troubled waters of Jhelum and turbulent waters of Chenab (call them vested interests both at national and international levels) will continue to sabotage all peace initiatives. Lone has given the lead in calling a spade a spade. He should now follow it up vigorously.

POSTAL STRIKE

Postal services have remained paralysed for a number of days without any signs of employees calling off the strike. True, these days courier service is handy but that is no substitute to the large network of post offices and services being rendered by them. Irrespective of merits or demerits of the respective positions, it is certain that hapless citizens have to pay for the paralysation of the services. No money orders. No saving accounts and other dealings, No collection or delivery of mail. No availability of postal stationery or postal orders. In the process people continue to suffer. If you can't withdraw money from your post office account when needed most it can lead to very awkward situation. The money may be required for medicare, an urgent surgery. It may be needed for marriage of a daughter. Business community likewise suffer because many things in the pipeline have not reached them. Telecom sector is affected in as much as most of the post offices also collect telephone bills, including delivery of bills. All this is enough to seek an early end to the strike. As on now, stands are rigid.Paswan claims having agreed to three major demands out of five. The remaining demands have bearing on other ministries. If conceded for postal employees, the same cannot be denied to other employees for any category. It obviously makes mockery of the Pay Commission whose report was implemented in full. Some anomalies were also removed subsequently by the Government. Yet there are demands that are not beyond solution. The need of the hour is goodwill on either side based on the theme of give-n-take. Both sides should show maturity and courage in the larger national interests as also interests of the people. There is enough of meeting ground when employees seek intervention of Prime Minister.

MEN AND MATTERS
Moderate Vajpayee encourages Hindu hardliners

From B L Kak

The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has done it, tak
ing many by surprise. A task which one expected from the hardliners such as Mr LK Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati, was performed by Mr Vajpayee himself.

And, in the process, Mr Vajpayee triggered a bitter controversy with his observation that the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya was an unfinished agenda. Mr Vajpayee, who has come to be known as a ‘moderate’, has, for reasons best known to him, chosen to speak the language of Hindu hardliners on the emotive mandir-masjid issue.

Mr Vajpayee has sent a strong signal to the advocates of the Ram temple movement. He has, in clear terms, pointed out that the construction of a Ram temple was an expression of national sentiment yet to be realised. Hence, all the more reason for the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to raise a hue and cry and prevent the Government from transacting business in the two Houses for the two consecutive days.

The Prime Minister’s pro-Ram mandir statement came on the 8th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. And the statement, it is generally felt, can contribute, in a big way, in raising the hopes of the Sangh Parivar hardliners that their dream of building a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will finally become a reality.

The Sangh Parivar cannot be faulted for their massive support to the Prime Minister’s statement. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leadership had this to say: "Obviously it is a signal for us to go ahead with the temple construction programme". The Prime Minister’s statement surfaced at a time when the VHP had attracted attention of various political and religious groups after it had announced that the temple construction programme would be finalised at a ‘dharma sansad’ during the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad in January next.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid took place on December 6, 1992. Interestingly, eight years after the demolition, the case has made little headway. The issue continues to be entangled in a web of court cases. And there has not even been a single conviction at any level.

The BJP, no doubt, has hailed the Prime Minister’s statement. But the statement has the allies of the NDA Government at the Centre crying foul. In fact, they have warned the Vajpayee Government against any deviation from the NDA’s national agenda for governance. The strongest reaction has come from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which supports the Government from outside.

The Trinamul Congress of the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, has also made it clear that no deviation from the NDA’s secular agenda would be allowed by them. The Trinamul Leader in the Lok Sabha placed himself on record by saying: "Babri Masjid’s demolition was a disaster. We observe the day as communal harmony day in West Bengal. The demolition was a blow to secular people in the country. The temple issue is pending in the court and we are of the opinion that everyone should await the court verdict instead of making such utterances which might create unnecessary controversy".

Mr Vajpayee is accusing the Congress for politicising the issue. But the Congress party leadership has given an account of how Mr LK Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati (all of them are the Ministerial colleagues of Mr Vajpayee) made inflammatory speeches before demolition of the Babri Masjid across the country. Congress, which is the main Opposition party in Parliament, has condemned the Prime Minister for bringing the Ram temple issue back to the fore and exonerating Mr Advani, Dr Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

According to insiders, Government sleuths had, days before Mr Vajpayee’s unexpected statement, informed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that the VHP activists in Bihar have sworn to complete the construction of the marriage and prayer halls over a temple in the premises of the tomb of 16th century emperor Sher Shah Suri. The tomb is in Sasaram in Bihar.

It is worth mentioning here that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has succeeded in getting the construction stopped. But the BJP’s stormy petrel from Sasaram, Mr Jawahar Prasad, is determined to start construction. If intelligence reports are any guide, as many as 2,500 virgin girls are awaiting Mr Prasad’s signal to start the kar seva.

The Archaelogical Survey of India has filed cases against Mr Prasad and the prist, Baba Doman Ram, in connection with the illegal construction. Bihar’s Agriculture Minister, Mr Chedi Paswan, who hails from Sasaram, has been quoted as saying: "Though the construction of the temple inside the premises of the tomb is wrong, the town would face communal riots if its is removed".

According to one report, Mr Prasad enjoys the blessings of BJP leader, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi. Obviously, Mr Prasad and his company are encouraged by the fact that no political leader would dare demolish the illegally-built temple.

Cricket is big business now
Men, Matters, Memories

By M L Kotru

Sport is best left to sportsmen. Or should it be? Not when you look at way the Board of Control for Cricket in India has handled the match-fixing scandal. If it has not exactly covered itself with glory in the matter, neither the Government nor the International Council for Cricket can claim to have handled the whole affair cleanly. And cricket is big business now. No longer the "gentleman's" game that it was reputed to be. In the sub-continent, at least, it arouses passions which only matters of faith do otherwise.

After Hansie Cronje opened the can, worms started to crawl out. Some had Indian labels. The BCCI had watched the entire proceedings with an aloofness all along. Something which would have done proud to a seer seeking 'Nirwvana, practicing detachment. But when the much landed at its doorstep and the stench became unbearable the Board had to apply its mind, albeit unwillingly. The Government's intervention by way of a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry gave it some reprieve but only temporarily. It preferred to wait for the CBI report.

The CBI, after a painstaking inquiry, tarred a few players and many bookies. But it did make the point that its evidence was based on Azharuddin's admission of guilt with corraborative evidence by self-confessed bookies. The ball was now in BCCI's court. Being an autonomous body, the matter was left to the Board to decide on the action to be taken against the players named in the report Jadeja, Ajay Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar, and Nikhil Chopra, besides Azhar.

All this while, a whole range of people, from Government spokesman to cricketers, former Board functionaries, politicians, well-known personalities in diverse fields and busybodies, had mouthed their opinion publicized by the media devouring all that was said with the hunger of a wild beast starved for days. Many reputations were muddied. Cricket as a sport took a hard beating. Sponsors hastily (only briefly, as it transpires now) tried to pull out advertisements with cricket-models. And cricketers themselves preferred to walk with bowed heads. Most believed that the sport would no longer attract the almost hysterical multitude, that one was used to, to throng the match venues or crowned around the television sets.

The BCCI, true to type, has been clearly reluctant to act. Confronted with the CBI report it referred the findings to a former senior CBI functionary hoping, perhaps, Mr. Madhavan, like the former Chief Justice Chandrachud, might help it to put the lid on the muck. Madhavan failed to oblige although he somehow seems to have been non-committal on CBI's view that the conduct of the Board also needed to be investigated. After all the houses of several top Board officials also were raided by investigators alongwith those of the cricketers. And there is that stink surrounding the sale of telecast rights in which several top Board members figures.

While BCCI's reluctance to act with alacrity (unlike the South African Board which acted promptly against guilty cricketers including Captain Hansie Cronje) the Government's on-and-off stance to the muddle is in explicable. Politicians have got into the act pleading for leniency for one player or the other in the fixers' list. The argument for winking at the scamsters was that, after all, they had brought much glory to the nation in the past. Never mind their having, along the way, lined up their pockets through most unfair and unsporting means. The head of one of the constituents of the NDA Government went even to the extent of giving a clean chit to a player who, on evidence, seems deeply involved in betting and match-fixing. This because the tainted cricketer is likely to wed her daughter.

The final word is yet to be written on it, with at least one of the players named threatening to go to court if any action is taken against him. Add the Board has for the present indicated that it is inclined to take a not-so-strong an action. Who knows strong action against tainted players may open other cans of worms, the one involving the Board. That may be why the Board officials were speaking in different voices even on the morn of the day "punishment" to the guilty was to be awarded.

It ought to be a matter of shame for a country that one of the most popular sports should be handled by a Board comprising men who have, by and large, neither the professional competence to run it nor the whole-hearted love for the game which would inspire objectivity and impartiality in all their actions. Whether it is the question of deciding on match venues or selection of team members, the Board and its offshoots have shown crass adhocism and favouritism of the worst kind. Quota and quid pro quos, rather than sheer talent, have marked most of the selections. One could expect nothing better considering whispers of huge expenses incurred in the so-called elections to the various offices of the Board. The suspicion is inevitable that such zest to get on to the Board has less to do with a passion to serve the game than the huge mound of money that the Board has at its command.

The apex body, the International Cricket council, ought to share the blame for letting the game come to such a pass. If it had not decided to sweep under the carpet instances of individual players dalliance with bookies or rank unsporting behaviour deserving of severe action, things could have been checked in time. And the way it has given permission for countries like India to play as many one-day matches as it has done, at the cost of test cricket, has largely contibuted to offers of all kinds of legitimate and illegitimate prize monies. It is widely known that astronomical sums are being waged on the sides at some centres. If the ICC chose not to pay heed to such belief, it was because it preferred to let sleeping dogs lie. Sadly, it has cost the game dear. But then it has left the Board and the IcC richer than ever before. You have Jagmohan Dalmiya's word for that.

In the midst of the storm created by the CBI report in India, came the scheduled tour of the Indian team to Pakistan from December to February. The "autonomous" BCCI asked the Government for permission which, was refused. Why? Because of "the political situation in Kashmir." The reasoning was: how could our players play cricket in Pakistan when that country was sending mercenaries and training militants to kill Indians in Kashmir?

You may or may not agree with the view but the truth is that a tour now would only add to the tension at the popular level. Given the fanatical zeal of Indians and Pakistanis for the game, a tour of Pakistan at this stage would inevitably arouse unhealthy passions. Imagine our men playing amidst sky-rending cries of "India Murdabad" "Allah-o-Akbar". Surely we could spare people on both sides of the border this kind of tension, at least for the time being. Yes, we shouldn't mix sports and politics but when a playground acquires the looks of a battlefield it's better to stop it for the present. The tour could be undertaken at a more propitious time. Both the Indian and Pakistani Boards are bound to be critical of the Indian Government's 'No' to the tour, for they stand to lose millions. We have seen the Moscow Olympics boycotted by more sports-minded, or sporting nations, if you will, because such participation was considered inappropriate by those nations then. In the Indo-Pak context the cancelled series can exacerbate the existing tensions. Then, with all the Mujahideen groups in Pakistan breathing anti-Indian venom one can't even be sure about the security of the Indian team. Yes, not even in a country currently governed by a military junta.

There are efforts nevertheless to persuade the Government to consider its decision. Besides some members of Parliament, the cricket boards of three Asian nations, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malaysia, are reported to be keen to pursue the matter with the Indian Government. The Indian Board of course is very keen to let the players go ahead with the tour, if only for the lure of lucre. For their part, the Pakistanis are crying foul. The spokesman of the Pakistani Board has been asked the International Cricket Council to compensate it for the impending losses as a result of the cancellation of the tour by way of deprivation of gate-money, sponsorships etc. The ICC is clearly annoyed. As the Indian Board President, has said: "I understand there is some reason for their (ICC's) irritation as tours or drawn up for ten years and decisions like this disturb tour arrangements." One can sympathise with Muthiah who after all, is a businessman first and a cricket administrator by accident.

I am sure that board will insist on India going to Sharjah early next year to play Pakistan there. And I know it from experience how terribly the Indian and Pakistani expectriate communities in the Gulf get divided whenever the Indian and Pakistani teams play there. It creates a war-like mind-set among these people who normally live in something close to harmony. For their sake alone such Indo-Pak confrontations should be suspended till such time as the relations between the two countries are not restored to near normalcy. Contests like the World Cup is a different kettle of fish. India and Pakistan are one among ten contestants there and the tension is that much less.

To conclude, never mind what the CBI says or even that the Whitewashman Madhavan has said, the BCCI is not going to budge from its money-making ways. If you don't trust me take this one from the not so eminent politician-turned - Ex- Minister - turned BCCI Vice- President Kamal Morarka. Says he: "There is more corruption in CBI than in Cricket." If you don't get him, God save you and Cricket.

India : Business booms as health awareness spreads

By Satya Mira

A public meeting on menopause. And that too in a large meeting hall in the centre of conservative Pune in Maharashtra. Surprised? Wait, there is more. Not only was the meeting attended by a large number of women from middle and upper middle class families, they also openly asked doctors questions about menopause and shared their experiences about this silent health problem.

This meeting, pioneering as its sounds, is just the most recent example of how attitudes towards women's health are changing. For a long time, it was women from the lower socio-economic groups who were targeted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women's groups for health education activities.

Today, however, it is not only NGos and women's organisations who are targetting women from middle and upper middle class families. Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and even websites are increasingly getting into creating health awareness amongst this hitherto ignored section of society.

But is all this attention a good thing? Or does it need more scrutiny ?

For instance, take the case of the meeting on menopause. It started with a woman telling her personal story- of how she had been in a lot of pain without knowing what was causing it. Then on the advice of her doctor, she tried Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and, according to her, today she is extremely happy and content. For her, HRT was a 'miracle'. This was followed by another woman relating her pain and suffering during menopause and how she too benefited from HRT. There were more such experiences and then the doctors present during the conference explained the whys and hows of menopause.

But nowhere was there any mention about the precautions that need to be taken for HRT or its possible side effects.

The result of this discussion was that one came back feeling that menopause was a 'difficult' situation and a 'period of much stress' that every woman had to go through. And that women had to recognise that the symptoms being talked about were due to hormonal changes, and hence there was a need to take the HRT drug. In short, the conference led to the medicalisation of a natural, biological change.

This medicalisation of women's natural bodily changes has already happened in the West and women's health has become an important issue there. In India, this process is much more recent and is arguably a post-liberalisation phenomenon where drug companies, used to selling these techniques abroad, have started selling them in India as well.

The most telling example of this is the fact that the Menopause Education Session at the conference was sponsored by the drug company which manufactures a drug used in HRT in India. The women were all given a leaflet explaining the changes that occur in a woman's body during menopause with a strategically placed advertisement about the HRT drug.

Some may argue that this emphasis on women's health is a good thing because at least now women are beginning to not only identify the symptoms of menopause but are also getting relevant information on how to handle the situation.

But there is another side to this propaganda. Recently, a website, in association with a drug manufacturing company, started a women's health care division in Pune. One of the first things that this company did was to hold a session in a girl's college to educate the students about osteoporosis. The idea behind the educate the students about osteoporosis. The idea behind the session was to educate young girls about this problem so that they could get their mothers interested in knowing more about the changes caused due to ageing. But there was another subtle message behind the session-daughters would recommend the product made by that particular company if their mothers ever complained about osteoporosis.

The list of such activities ostensibly targeted at improving women's health goes on. In Pune, hospitals are giving lectures on breast cancer, where women are told that they have the option of getting a mammography test done. This test is expensive and yet many women, scared that they might be suffering from the disease, go in for it. The rationale being followed by the hospitals is that they are educating women and making them aware of the need for going in for early and regular tests for breast cancer. For the hospitals this also means that the mammography equipment, which was under-utilised earlier, is now being used actively. And the hospitals are also getting a 'good name' for spreading awareness about the disease.

Undoubtedly this is not a black and white issue, but the underlying motive is certainly not to improve women's health. It is to sell a product and so it can never really be objective. The key question now is whether this one-sided information is education or indoctrination?

Is Pak 'restraint' worth celebrating ?....
Yours Randomly

By Dr. R. L. Bhat

For that matter what does Vajpayee mean by 'ceasefire'? Certainly, India is not at war-cannot be at war- within its own territory. Yet, out goes the Prime Minister and declares a gratuitous 'ceasefire' when the proper word for him would have been 'restraint'. Indeed, it is restraint that the Indian government has ordered it forces to observe in view of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. The security forces have been restrained from launching any active campaigns against the holed up terrorists in order to give them a chance to eschew their violent ways. Laudable, all that. A good inducement to peace too, if peace be what anybody in there wants. But, ceasefire? No, no question, no need, no occasion for that for the simple reason that the forces out there are not at war. Has the poet Prime Minister been befuddled by his most favoured shastra, words!

For, he could be using words as a true shastra, 'Ceasefire' is a more thrust-full word and would impress upon the world that India here is 'very sincere', very determined to pursue peace. Now, ours is world that understands the sales pitch better than a sincerity of purpose. The things must be 'seen' in their sumptuous effects. Even if you are not at war cannot be at war, with yourself, upon your own territory- you announce a ceasefire and the world laps it up. A salesmanship selling nothing! In the interest of that old-world honesty one, however, needs ask if the affectations can take place of truth? More specifically, can sales pitches sovle Kashmir?

Whether it can resolve Kashmir or not, 'cease fire' has already won India the first round in the war of words. It has also forced Pakistan to make 'some kind of a response'. They have, though true to their arrogance, they have asked their forces to 'exercise maximum restraint'. And the peace hawks... yes, peace mongers have not only become strangely violent in their quest but also have turned so ruthless in this pursuit that even the considerations of truth and practically are meaningless there. These hawks have seized upon this 'restraint' as a 'major development'. They have invested so much in these dovely nests in the void, that one just would not like to break their hearts by telling them the truth. Perhaps, one can ask these angry beaks to pause and ponder a little.

Like, what exactly is Musharraf asking his forces to restrain from? If the Pak firing along the border is in retaliation to Indian attacks, as they have been maintaining it to be, the restraint simply, won't apply. Just like the Indian 'ceasefire' does not apply in the face of provocation. In absence of povocation, their arms. No army, for that matter, has any right to mount an attack upon another nation. The armies, unless they are on aggression, have always to remain in maximum.. no total restraint.

In a medieval setting, say, when Mahmud Gaznavi may have been thinking of his umpteenth invasion on India, a 'restraint' would have carried meaning. For, then, invasion of other territories was taken as a right of sorts for the armies. In the modern world where we claim to have banished all barbarous tendencies out of our system., restaint- total, not maximum - is the password for armies. So when Pakistan orders its army to 'exercise maximum restraint' it is not actually 'responding' to a peace initiative, but just implementing what the civilized living prescribes for every nation.

Taking that logical line further, here is a tacit acceptance that, Pak army has not been under restraint like its other civilized counterparts. That, they have been breaking all the norms of civil behaviour. If, in that, they have been plotting aggression upon their neighbours especially India, the 'restraint' can hardly be an adequate guarantee. The world, but more the nation of India, must act to put an end to such designs. Indeed, not so far in the recent history. Pakistan has done just that with a neighbouring country Afghanistan using its Talibaan tactics. Then, there is the case of Kargil: how Nawaz after seeing off Vajapyee on his bus-yatra, left to inspect the 'conquered Indian territories'. Accepting 'restraint' from such a country would only be dallying with the devil.

India has enough documented evidence that the border firing has also been used to divert the attention of Indian army while they pushed terrorists into Indian territory. Even if the war-like proclivities of Pak troops have been in furtherance of these ulterior motives alone, it is difficult to see how restraint would help. For, Pakistan has not declared any let up.. ah yes, 'restraint', in training terrorists (Mujahids), promoting jehad, or mobilizing support for these jehadis, within and outside their country. Would Pakistan keep these jehadis upon their land and let them play havoc there as they already are doing ? Or, would their army seek other ways of pushing those trained jehadis into India, if firings is to be 'restrained'?

When Pakistan was not a rogue state it was difficult to pin truth in border firings or interference in the internal affairs in the storms of allegations of counter-allegations that were cleverly raised. There is a former Pak foreign minister on record having said that it is difficult to tell who 'fires the first bullet'. And, he was talking of atom bombs not ordinary guns. Incidentally, that man too is a peace-hawk now! Today, when Pakistan is no longer amenable to world opinion, it is doubly difficult to get it to stick to something as ephemeral as 'restraint'. And peace? Its chance! One can only pray for the peace that rests on such imponderable!!
 



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