Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

Pak Exposed

Recasting Defence Priorities

Pak disastrous
misadventure in Kargil
Men, Matters, Memories

By : M L Kotru

It has, much to their dismay, not turned out to ....more

No! Pak army, alone,
is not in it!!.....
Yours Randomly

By Dr. R. L. Bhat

Kargil is fast becoming a metaphor for a lot in the Indo-Pak affairs. For one it establishes..more

Nation in the crucible of war

By Prof. K.N. Pandita

The plan, strategy, logistics, deployment of personnel and arms, and the ultimate..more

EDITORIAL

Pak Exposed

America has been quick to rebuff Pakistan for its attempts to misinterpret Nawaz-Clinton declaration in Washington. In fact, it has been so elaborately misquoted and misinterpreted by Pak rulers, Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz in particular, that US found it necessary to correct him. The first point clarified is that the entire scope of talks was Kargil-specific and other things stated in the joint statement had to follow and not precede it. Further, the declaration has no scope for any ambiguity as regards the tone and tenor of the declaration in which there is specific commitment by Pakistan Prime Minister that Pak forces and mujahideens will be withdrawan and LoC would be respected. Pakistan now wants to wriggle out of it by linking it up with so many conditionalities like they would request Mujahideens (holy warriors) to withdraw and it is upto them to accede to request or not. Sartaj also says that no Pak regular troops are present in Kargil and none of them has crossed LoC. He goes unto elaborate that these are the ‘freedom fighters’ active in Kargil and they have every right to be there for achieving their goal of liberating Kashmir from India. Worst still he likes to link up withdrawal from Kargil with Indian withdrawal from Siachin Glacier. According to Sartaj Aziz the joint statement issued in Washington refers to withdrawal of both India and Pakistan to their respective side of LoC in true spirit of Shimla accord which framed the LoC. It may be mentioned that LoC was fully demarcated by military experts and maps signed by either side were exchanged. This LoC has been the result of several meetings and the documents with maps were signed at Suchetgar finally by Lt. Gen. Bhagat from our side and Lt. Gen. Khan from Pak army. These maps incidentally draw no line across Siachin because there was no fighting there in 1971 war or during earlier wars. To that extent logically and otherwise Siachin forms part and parcel of the two-third of J&K which is under Indian control. Where then is the question of equating Siachin with Kargil withdrawals. That is why United States reject this linkage which was never referred, mentioned or talked between Nawaz and Clinton during their talks in Washington.

The second misinterpretion relates to Pak Foreign Minister disowning any control over ‘mujahideens’ who are fighting a holy war in Kargil. This claim is refuted by USA by mentioning specifically that no mujahideen or soldier can remain at strategic heights or occupy the same except with the total support by Pak Army in terms of supplies, weapons and logistics. In fact joint statement refers to withdrawal by Pak forces and mujahideens from this side of LoC. Washington therefore makes it amply clear that Pakistan has facilitated infiltration and it is upto them to undo it. According to US spokesman, if Pak Army orders them to vacate Kargil and withdraw to Pak side of LoC, they would just do it. The spokesman Mr James Foley reminds Pakistan that she is committed to an early resolution of Kargil crisis by taking concrete steps to rapidly restore the LoC and then return to Lahore process. America supports this course because there are all the ingredients for its escalation with devastating impact on peace in South Asia that would not be in the interest of Pakistan. America is fully informed about the latest position on ground and spokesman says that there is no change on ground meaning no sign of withdrawal by Pakistan so far and Indian Prime Minister making it amply clear that military operations shall go on relentlessly until last of the Pak intruder has been evicted from Kargil to the other side of LoC. Bringing in frivolous and unrelated issues exposes Pakistan to the charge of being dishonest, insincere and unreliable. Since Washington declaration had the tacit support of Pak Army and the fundamentalist protest call has evoked only mild response, political leadership must assert itself to honour not only Washington commitment but also all the other commitments like Shimla Accord and Lahore declaration. Fundamentalism and terrorism is the creation of Pakistan and it is upto Pak rulers to contain the same before they cause more damage to Pakistan itself rather than to India or other countries. That is the message from G-8, P-5, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Paris and London. The super powers are in no mood to let fundamentalism grow any further.

Recasting Defence Priorities

There are many lessons our armed forces and the ruling clan besides those devising strategies and deciding priorities get from the almost two month long war in Kargil sector. Many deficiencies in terms of intelligence, equipment, weapon systems, surveillance and adequacy of existing strength of the armed forces have manifested abundantly. The ability of our jawans to take on even the most ruggadised, battle-hardened, well equipped and well-entrenched forces is fully established as they have accomplished what even Russians could not do in Afghanistan nor the Americans in Vietnam (both these super powers had committed upto five lakh armed forces each besides hundreds of aircrafts). To that extent gallantry of our jawans remain unquestionable and one can rightly take pride in terming that not one amongst the best but the very best. The ponderables stem from the fact that Indian forces remain disproportionate to take on the enemies around and utility of certain equipments and obsolescence and futility of other weapons is quite discernible. There have been the orders to prune the Indian Army substantially and pruning exercise is half way through. There was that statement from the Corp Commander that some army units were being withdrawn from Kashmir as normalcy had fast returned. But now one finds Indian forces being rushed to the State as manifested by cancellation of no less than 8 regular pair of trains for indefinite period. Second poser is the need for more Mountain Divisions since it is already indicated that Indian forces won't withdraw from strategic heights in Kargil even during winter months. This calls for treating Kargil at par with Siachin Glacier in terms of inputs and various perks for the jawans. Third point relates to more or less equal capabilities as regards conventional warfare between India and Pakistan. That explains why Pakistan has not been able to win any war but yet continues for the 11th year sustaining proxy war in J&K at high pitch. It is low cost as far as Pakistan is concerned but high-cost for India to tackle it effectively. And if more Kargils manifest their ugliness, one really wonders what would be the consequences as regards pressure on our forces. The fourth one relates to widespread tentacles of ISI of Pakistan not only in J&K but also all over India that can add to the problems during any war. Correspondingly our intelligence agencies need to be revamped to have authentic and timely inputs so essential in permanent hostile environs. One has to go by the adage, "Forewarned is forearmed". The nation cannot allow Pakistan or any other country to challenge it every now and then. The fifth is the correct interpretation and efficacy of ‘air superiority’. The western forces go by the theme that whosoever controls the skies also controls the ground. It calls for discarding cheap and redundant aircrafts that have outlived their utility long back (Mig-21 was inducted in 1962). Mirage-2000 howsoever costly has proved the point beyond doubt that one sophisticated aircraft can outperform even 100 obsolete and inferior ones. The entire defence priorities need to be recast in the wake of lessons from Kargil, Iraq and Serbia.

Pak disastrous misadventure in Kargil
Men, Matters, Memories

By : M L Kotru

It has, much to their dismay, not turned out to be the win-win situation the Pakistanis had thought it would be; their disastrous misadventure in Kargil. Even with all that gloss of jihad and of faith-driven mujahideen, they tried to put on it, the Pakistani endeavour stands exposed as nothing more than a foredoomed adventurist exercise. No matter how hard they try, if only to save face, no one believes that the Pakistani misadventure was the handiwork of Kashmiri ''freedom fighters''. The Kashmiri Muslim, on the other hand, must be wondering about the fuss Islamabad has made over Kargil. After ten tiring years of Pak-sponsored terrorism in the valley, the Kashmiris, even those who originally thought that Azadi was at hand, are bone tired and exhausted.

The Kargil misadventure- of dubious parentage it has been all along has backfired on Pakistan and its fondest hopes of severing the National Highway No.1, linking Srinagar with Leh and from there on to the supply route to Siachin, lie in a heap of rubble. The price paid by India to defend its territory may have been very heavy in terms of lives of officers and men lost, but it was extremely naive for Islamabad and its military top brass to imagine that the challenge would go unmet. Forget the battering they got on the battlefield, the Pakistanis, for the first time, discovered that they stood completely isolated in the world. Not because the international community had suddenly fallen in love with India but only because Pakistan had acted so brazenly and ina manner that would put even a nitwith to shame. Their fondest hopes of being able to, at the very least, to internationalise the Kashmir issue have also come a cropper.

In the end we have seen Nawaz Sharief running from pillar to post, from Bejing to Washington, even as his emissaries flew in and out of other world capitals, only to draw a blank everywhere. Violating a treaty was no way of obtaining justice, assuming that an injustice had been committed inthe first place. The writing had been on the wall all along. The Americans were among the first to warn Pakistan against the futility of its operations, urging it to call back the intruders to its side of the LoC. The Chinese, too, in the end, advised withdrawal of Pakistanis from the Indian side of the LoC. The British, French, Germans, Russians and even the Japanese followed the US lead. The Organisation of Islamic countries, predictably, passed a proforma resolution. And the OIC's resolutions, as the former UN Secretary General and the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Boutros Ghali told me some years ago, ''are never to be taken seriously''. That was soon after an IOC heads of State meeting which he had attended at Ankara had passed a pro-Pak resolution.

One feels sorry for Nawaz Sharief, the Pakistani Prime Minister. The poet probably had his situation in mind when he said ''Na khuda hi mila na wasal-e-sanam, na idhar ke rahe na udhar ke'' which loosely translated means ''I neither got to the God I sought nor the embrace of my darling (I am neither here nor there). Whatever solace he might have drawn from it, his three-hour meeting in Washington with President Clinton and a shorter one with Tony Blair in London did not get him any further than before: pull back your men and resume the dialogue with India in the spirit of the Lahore declaration. His advisers are to be forgiven when they try to read much more to the joint statement issued at the end of the Clinton-Nawaz talks. Tony Blair only endorsed the Clinton view. One pities Foreign Minister, Sartaj Aziz,who after the Washington talks, repeated that old one: Pakistan has no hold on the mujahideen operating in Kargil and elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir. He could have waited another 24 hours to hear Gen Parvez Musharraf, the Pakistan Army Chief, saying that there were still between 1500 to 2000 intruders in the Kargil area and a pull-out would be considered only after Nawaz Sharief's return. For good measure the General denied differences with Sharief. One doesn't have to repeat the futility of the arguments advanced by Sartaj Aziz about Pakistan Army's inability to order the mujahideen around. Or, is, it that Pakistanis are fearing how to rein in a Frankenstein of their own creation. What is the Lashkar-Tioba and its parent organisation doing in its vast land spread on the outskirts of Lahore which, as everyone knows, is turning out trained religious zealots in concert with Osama bin Laden. Or how would Sartaj Aziz explain to the Americans that the Harkatul mujahideen is nothing but the Harkatul Ansar known by another name and proclaimed by Washington as a terrorist outfit? Why can't he learn from a candid admission made on a TV show by a very senior Pakistani journalist as late as Wednesday that the de facto situation may be that it's the Pakistani Army that is leading the operations in Kargil but how do you expect us to admit it?

For Nawaz Sharief the next few days are going to be a virtual trial by fire. The Pakistani Opposition, like our own here, is accusing him of a sell-out. Again, very much like the leading lady of our Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, who smells a rat in anything the Vajpayee government does or doesn't do. Benazir Bhutto, who only last week was pleading for a soft border between the Indian and Pakistani halves of Kashmir, increased movement of people across the border and improved trade relations, has come out with the startling statement that Pakistan will face a war if any concessions are made in Kargil, Benazir, sitting pretty in London, is a different kettle of fish, in comparison to the rabble-rousing Jamaat-Islami, politically very insignificant but that much more vocal. The Jamaat promptly observed a black day within 24 hours of the Nawaz-Clinton talks. Not to be outdone the Lashkar and Harkat leaders, have been even more strident. Mind you, they can create awkward situations now and again but their real strength is very limited. It will be for Nawaz Sharief to call them to order provided of course, the Army continues to keep in step with him. If he fails there is nothing that can stop Talibisation of Pakistan. The ISI narco mafia-militant Islamist tie-up would make sure of that in such a situation. I am not oversimplifying things. There is a genuine danger of the Nawaz-Clinton joint statement generating tension and strain within the Pakistani power structure, particularly within the Army which indeed was the author of the win-win scenario and, therefore, the most embarassed by fiasco in Kargil.

I wouldn't be surprised if Nawaz Sharief succumbs to the extremist pressure. It was he who with Prime Turkey, the Saudi Intelligence Minister, some years back, orchestrated the mujahideen intransigence during the peace talks in Afghanistan in which the then President of the country and others like Gulubddin Hekmatyar, Ahmed Shah Masoud and Gen Rashid Dostum were engaged. They virtually prepared the ground for the Taliban Mujahideen ascendancy with the ISI doing the rest.

Yet, there is the other fact that Nawaz Sharief cannot be unaware of the distaste which his Punjabi constituency, more so the feudal and the business component of it, have for things like Talibisation. The Islamic extremists will nevertheless be waiting for the slightest weakness Sharief shows in implementing the advice received by him from the US and more surprisingly from China. It's also true that Pakistan cannot afford further isolation internationally which can only mean that Sharief and Musharraf have to call their men back from the Indian side of the LoC even as the Army tries to stoke fresh fires elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indians, for their part, can only hope that Pakistan heeds the advice given to it by known friends. And even as one admits that the Clinton-Sharief talks have definitely led to an interim diffusion of the crisis, this country cannot let its guard down, as has rightly been stressed by the government. To think in terms of victory or defeat for either adversary inthe context of the US-Pak talks in Washington would be extremely shortsighted. What we have to see for ourselves is how we have been able to influence world opinion. To think in terms of victory or defeat for either adversary in the context of the US-Pak talks in Washington would be extremely shortsighted. What we have to see for ourselves is how we have been able to influence world opinion, To place too much reliance on the support that the Indian stand has been able to garner on the Kargil crisis would be shortsighted in the extreme. The support can in no manner be deemed to be international support for our stand on Kashmir. All the countries that have shown appreciation of our position in Kargil and the restraint shown by our forces, have also stressed the need for the two countries to resolve the outstanding Kashmir issue. This is something we should not shirk from. We have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of in relation to Kashmir and its ties with India.

Which would, in turn, mean that once Pakistan has rolled back its aggression in Kargil and given us reason to believe that such misadventures will not be repeated, no matter how protracted the negotiations, we should show our readiness to resume the bilateral dialogue. We should also remember ourselves and remind Pakistan as well that any solution of the problem has to be based on existing ground realities and practicalities. There is no point, really, in harping on positions taken a half century ago. But that can only happen in an atmosphere of trust. The Kargil episode has unfortunately once again brought home to us that Pakistan does not always mean what it says and does not always say what it means. This is once again illustrated by the timing by Pakistan of its Kargil misadventure, just when people on both sides of the border were beginning to see Atal Behari Vajpayee's bus journey as a harbinger of a new era in Indo-Pak relations.

No! Pak army, alone, is not in it!!.....
Yours Randomly

By Dr. R. L. Bhat

Kargil is fast becoming a metaphor for a lot in the Indo-Pak affairs. For one it establishes that an enemy is an enemy. From the "Tribals" of '47 to the "Mujahideen" of '99 it is same film, same reel unrolling itself. From Jinnah to Zulfiqar to Nawaz, from Ayub to Yahya to Zia, it is the same talk, same refrain, the same frame, same reference, repeating and re-asserting itself. Unless there is a substantial, persistent, deep shift in the Pakistani attitude, it'll be naive to believe that she has quit war-mongering. The sweet smiles at Lahore were a sham. The low bow with which Sharif moved in Washington is no guarantee that he has learnt any lessons from Kargil. Kargil, for another, re-proves the old adage that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. And, vigilance is as sound as its shadest nook. Kargil also proves that it is not a section of Pakistan, the Mullahs or the hawkish army alone, that is fuelling the conflict; it the whole of Pakistan.

Yes, that truth must be accepted. It is the whole Pakistan, the military establishment, the politicians, sundry organisations, laymen, the media, social scientists and the scientific community, yes, everybody that charges the hate-India campaign. And, Kashmir is the symbol. Najam Sethi, when he delivered that fateful lecture in Delhi, was only giving the same objective a different argument, a different colour. He wanted India to give up Kashmir to save a 'devastated' Pakistan. Devasted how? Over Kashmir, of course. How often one is reminded of Atiyar Shamshad, that Pakistani novelist who wanted to offer herself to Vajpayee in marriage if he "settled Kashmir on Pakistan's terms." From there, it is but a short distance both mental and physical, to a 'Mujahideen' training camp, to Drass and Batalik hills. Pakistanis are, have been, walking this distance gaily, happily, jauntily.

Why Kashmir? You may ask. Indeed Indians have been asking it for all these fifty years. The answer too, has been given, at least fifty thousand times: it is Islam, stupid! Their Islam, at least. But the Indian intellect has stubbornly refused to accept this simple answer. And having rejected the plain truth, Indians have been inventing spurious theories and explanations. Of course, they there by deceive only themselves. For Pakistan there are no deceptions. No imaginery 'conflicts' between the army and the civilian Government, for them. They know that this is a 'legitimate' policy for their nation and not an attempt by any "exploitative ruling class" to keep them 'subjugated'. Nor an attempt by the dominant Punjabis to subdue other provinces. It certainly is not against the wishes of an average Pakistani whether a Mohajir or a Sindhi, a Pathan or a Punjabi, a soldier or a civilian. It is the goal of every citizen there to annex, or liberate to themselves if you like, Kashmir, though a few may be wise enough to guage the impossibility of the task. But thats does not make them 'opponents' of the 'cause'. If anything, they are more dangerous, more insiduously poisoned. Kashmir, a symbol of many 'jehads', remains a national objective there --- a lingering objective that has not seen fulfilment. Hence, a more wanted objective.

Here on this side of the borders, in a Dharma of tolerance, the people tend to look at things differently. They see the realities across the border, too, differently. They see a Sindh divided against itself, they see Mohajirs struggling against a dire fate, they see the PoK people living through inhuman travails, they see Balouchis crying against Punjabi domination, they see the Pak politicians fighting ruthlessly for power and pelf, they see people steeped in poverty, women wrenched of all rights, a society getting hopelessly violent. They see it all and conclude that it is a fraction-ridden country, there, in which the different forces are vying for an upper hand. They are generally correct. But only so far. The next 'logical' conclusion that India and Kashmir are being used as tools in this power game, used to dupe common people, is wildly incorrect. India and Kashmir as a concrete symbol of it, is a an issue, an object, a goal for all fractions, all regions, all readers, all people of Pakistan. The others, are their internal problems, but this one is a national end.

Yes, it is not helpful to confuse the state of Pakistani nation and its goal of Kashmir. One, is a problem within the nation, within the faith for they do not separate the two. The other, is an unsolved problems of the nation. On Kashmir and India they are all one, out there. That it does not make them one is a different matter. Islam did not make Ibrahim Lodi and Babar one, but the two were not divided on Islam. Islam does not make the Afgans and the Pakistanis one, but it will not do to confuse the issue. Pakistan looks on Kashmir as an Islamic goal and there, the whole Pakistan conquers. Apparently the Muslim world too conquers, or how else would the Organisation of Islamic Countries, all good friends of India, close its eyes to the blatant aggression by Pakistan. Even Iran, which was all set to go to war with Pakistan just months ago, has not found anything wrong in the Kargil intrusion.

How Pakistan came to be a guardian of Islam's honour is for the faith to sort out. And quite a vital task it is, for out there is Pakistan they are convinced of it. Neither the politician, nor the soldier, not at all does the 'poor Pakistani' have any doubts in this regard. They are all joined in this one cause. Equally, Heartily. Together with the Afghanis, Sudanese and all other 'mercenaries'. Oh no, they are not 'mercenaries'. They are not fighting for money. Nor out of boredom or habit. They are in it for it is a 'cause' to them. A 'cause that is regarded as an Islamic cause, a holy cause.

The sooner this truth is realised the better. For the truth alone can make free. India, and Indians, need to free themselves from their self-deceiving conceptions about Pakistan and her belligerency.