[sacw] On the War in Kashmir (India-Pakistan)

[aiindex@mnet.fr]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch
July 2, 1999

[Please visit the Citizens Against War in Kargil Webiste:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/Kargil/kargilindex.html]

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Contents:
# 1. In the Wake of Kargil: " Patriotics "
# 2. Kargilonomics: Let's make peace, not war
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#1.
IN THE WAKE OF KARGIL : " PATRIOTICS "

I.K.Shukla

In the surge of revenant patriotism reverberating through the length and
breadth of the nation it would be pertinent to take stock, however
hurriedly, and decidedly against the plea for censorship, of some disturbing
trends emerging in an orchestrated manner, whose long-term impact on the
polity can be deadly. These are blurring the lines between genuine
patriotism and "patriotics", the former a passion; the latter a craft, a
skill, a tool to exploit, for profit and aggrandizement.When the fires of
Kargil will have been put out, and the day of reckoning will dawn, we may
find, to our surprise, the nation bereft of some very valuable assets in the
despoliation of which the "enemy" had no hand.

Kargil threatens to be a historic watershed in matters germane to our
polity. Things that were unthinkable, behaviour that was unpardonable,
donned sacerdotal mantles of virtue, ostensibly under the pressure of
circumstances, viz. a border aggression by an implacable enemy. The exigency
seemed to sanction expediency trashing the niceties that even a formal and
feckless democracy swears by and tries its very best to appear living by.

A caretaker government brazenly exceeded its role. Despite many a call from
various political parties, the latest being that by Mr. I.K.Gujral, that the
stop-gap coalition in New Delhi must consult across the national political
spectrum, and eschew secrecy and truculent assertion of singular wisdom, in
the nation's hour of peril, the Vajpeyi government tenaciously persisted
in its rejection of any such "concession". This was among the peers. How
about the President? His feelers and polite suggestions in the matter,
peremptorily branded as activist and indecorously rejected offhand as
interference in the administration, were not condemned soon enough and aloud
by the press and the intelligentsia. The feeble voices of protest were few
and far between. That Vajpeyi agreed so belatedly to convene the Rajya Sabha
is no compliance, but a grudging and inane attempt at reasonableness. It was
shorn of all grace.

Questions of constitutional propriety are involved here. Is the President a
mere figurehead, like the British queen? Even if he is not vested with the
powers of the US President, in times of crisis like the current one, is he
expected to play dumb like a decorative statue in the affairs of state? Is
he not the helmsman? Is he not the supreme source of authority in whose
name the quotidian administration is to be carried on? If it is true of the
day to day mill of governance , isn't it more imperative in the case of
extraordinary situations like the present one? And, ironically, he being
flouted by those who clamor day in and day out for a presidential form of
government? Does not a care-taker government, on this showing, pose a
national threat? Shouldn't the constraints within which such a government
must function be constitutionally codified and made unimugnable,
untransgressible?

Closely related to this is the press note "Post-Mortems Can Wait" issued by
ex brass hats. What it amounts to is a none too clever muffling of free
speech or dissent, quashing of the right to know and analyze, and gagging
the demand for transparency and accountability. That the signatories are
mostly military men of high rank in the past camouflages the implications
and the intent underlying this seemingly patriotic appeal. This "advice" may
be welcome to the BJP which is widely seen to have encouraged such a
development. But this can well be the first stirring or intimation of
regimentation which supplants democracy and instals jackboot supermen as
rulers. Let it remain only an ill omen, a far fetched theory, an unfounded
fear. But fears and theories have a provenance, a point of origin, a moment
of emergence. Is that moment Kargil?

Then, more momentous than the above, is the internationalization of the
Kashmir issue. BJP has earned laurels for being the loudest against third
party intervention, and dubiously, as having vigorously pursued and
aggressively sought it too. Our envoys will visit all the major capitals of
the world to garner support for our version of the dispute. Isn't it
internationalization? Isn't this what Pakistan has been urging ? Will the
G-8 hereafter desist from going beyond counseling caution to both parties?
Why have they felt concerned? Will this concern not be transferred one day
to NATO, or the European army now in the offing? All geo-politics is
sustained by military muscle. And, European powers have read "justice" in
their geo-political and commercial interests.

There is frothy euphoria about the US having tilted towards India, seen the
"justice" of our position, and aligned itself with us, the party of the
good. This is a dangerous illusion. First, it is conceding the US a role
that India never in the past agreed to, and with good reason. It dilutes
Indian sovereignty, and unwittingly pushes Kashmir( as a protectorate on the
anvil) into the hegemonic orbit of an expansionist and aggressive super
power. It sows the seeds of unending suzerainty of the US, incessant
bloodbath (as in Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine etc.), and reduces India and
Pakistan both to perpetual supplicants to Washington for a dose of Pax
Americana. The geo-political interests of a super power may not be identical
with those of a Third World nation, however large or democratic. And, the
foreign policy of the US has been notoriously free from ethics or notions of
justice and humanity. To presume otherwise is to be blind to history.

The flagrant dereliction of duty that BJP government stands accused of, must
not be rewarded. It deserves punishment. No belated howls of super
patriotism on its part should be given credence or succeed in hoodwinking
the people. The build-up by Pakistan army and its crossing the LOC took
months to accomplish. It was the same period when the saffron brigade was
busy burning, killing, raping Christians to render India Hindu, pure and
pristine. But those dying in the chilly terrain in Kargil are all Indians
first and Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Hindus next. It is not the
saffron ideology of exclusivist purge of all "others", a replica of
Pakistani regimen, that India is secured by or stands for, either in terms
of its polity or in its affiliation with Kashmir. It is something holistic,
more generous, more magnificent, more abiding and anciently holy that India
signifies, far beyond the barbaric tribalism characterizing the saffronites.

And, the Pak trespass went "unnoticed" not only by the BJP, but also by the
Congress and UF governments all through the 1990s when the strategy began
becoming operational at the behest of Islamabad. To differentiate between
the civil and military constituents in the ruling class of Pakistan is to
ignore its history - beset with bloody stirrings and terror-trashed
fumblings towards
an anemic and repeatedly aborted democracy.

Let Kargil be no fixture of our polity. Let not jingoism and hatred be our
staples of state, a la Pakistan, that has desperately sought over 50 years
a credible and viable raison d'etre.

26 June 1999
======================
# 2.

The Asian Age, Jul. 2, 1999
OP-ED

Kargilonomics: Let's make peace, not war

By Ashim Chatterjee

Are we on the threshold of another
India-Pakistan war? With the Kargil conflict
spreading to Siachen, it is no longer a
hypothetical question. The disastrous result of
such a suicidal war is quite well known to all in
the subcontinent. Yet war has its own logic of
becoming a fait accompli even when the
resulting disaster is known. Keeping in mind the
diplomatic success which the South Block says
it has achieved, the hawks in the ruling
combination are clamouring to declare an all-out
India Pakistan war. Conservatives on the other
hand, are for a protracted war. With jingoism let
loose over the nation, none is willing to give
peace a chance.
Meanwhile, both India and Pakistan are paying a
heavy price economically, politically, materially
and in terms of human sacrifice. Though our
Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha claims
that the financial cost of Kargil is well within
manageable levels, the uncertainty that stalks
the economy is quite ominous. Sharp
fluctuations in the stock market and the erratic
behaviour of the nervous rupee in the aftermath
of Kargil are facts that cannot be wished away.
The direct cost of the military operation has been
estimated in the range of Rs 30,00,00 a day, by
the directorate of military operations. With each
Bofors shell costing between Rs 15,000 and Rs
51,000, and ammunition for the small 130 mm
guns priced at Rs 12,000 per round, one cannot
help but take this estimate with a pinch of salt. It
has been reported that 20,000 rounds of
ammunition were fired in six hours at the battle of
Tololing only. If this and other costs are taken
into account, the daily expenditure assumes an
astronomical proportion ranging between Rs 3
crores and Rs 2.5 crores. Unfavourable market
sentiments make the burden heavier.
Undoubtedly, the burden of this diversion will
be much heavier on the Pakistani economy. But
that is of little consolation to us. This will have a
lasting effect on our budget with a large
proportion of the funds allocated for education,
health and other welfare programmes, diverted.
War is a costly affair! And it is suicidal when
developing countries like India and Pakistan
indulge in it.
It becomes costlier when one counts the number
of men lost. Coffins bearing the dead who
sacrificed their today for our better tomorrow, are
arriving in large numbers. These coffins are too
handy, to stoke the fire of chauvinism. But an
increasing number of them will speak a different
language.
All these make peace mandatory. And that is the
dilemma that Vajpayeeji faces now. The Kargil
adventure has outlived its utility after satisfying
the electoral needs of the ruling combine. It must
end in a victorious note when an outright victory
is not possible given the geo-political demands
of the super powers. A protracted war may
become counter productive with time. Mr
Vajpayee has made the folly of riding a tiger!
Our stated position is that we will not brook any
third party interference in Kashmir. The
hollowness of the stand is exposed with the
government welcoming the US emissaries. So, a
peaceful solution to the Kargil crisis as well as
Kashmir issue is the only realistic solution.
Hence Mr Vajpayee should climb down from his
high horse and start a meaningful negotiation for
peace.
Waging war needs courage. But making peace
needs more so.

(Ashim Chatterjee is the general-secretary of
the Communist Revolutionary League of India,
and a former leader of the Naxalite movement)

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