The writer is a senior sub-editor on the editorial pages of The Express Tribune
ayesha.azhar@tribune.com.pk
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address to the nation has once again stressed the need for peaceful relations with India. Indeed, even a cursory analysis of relations between the two countries at this point in time reveals a restrained approach by Pakistan despite instigation to the contrary as the Indian media goes viral over allegations of ceasefire violations and killings of soldiers. Pakistan consistently refers to the recent election of Sharif and his desire for peace with India, citing both, his current overtures, as well as his good intentions on the matter during his last tenure before it was pulled out of his hands with the Kargil fiasco.
It is no secret then that Pakistan’s civilian government wants peace, but there are clearly other variables to consider, such as the impending US withdrawal from Afghanistan and what this could mean for the regional balance vis-a-vis India and Pakistan. That the Pakistan military will increasingly be on its own along the country’s western border is expected, but with India’s extended influence in Afghanistan and its flexing of muscles along its eastern border, a decline of the threat perception and refocusing of the military away from this border remains unlikely, notwithstanding Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s observation that the real threat Pakistan faces is internal.
While we may now have a ‘democratically-elected’ leader with a desire for peace and much of the population pushing for better relations with India, the other side of the coin is what India wants. The signs from that end, despite Manmohan Singh’s relatively controlled approach, seem ominous. Democratic India seems lost, and all the fervour constantly generated against Pakistan, and the fact that Narendra Modi is being seriously touted as one of the BJP’s main prime ministerial candidates, is worrying. As some of the voters who claim to favour Modi do so in what appears to be a response to the massive corruption now associated with the Congress, it seems as if the direction vacuum in India may deliberately or inadvertently be filled by anti-Pakistan sentiments, seen increasingly as Indians asks for ‘fitting retorts’ on alleged violations across the Line of Control (LoC). Modi is no Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as was apparent in his attacking Manmohan Singh for being too soft on Pakistan in his Independence Day speech. Indeed, when it comes to his stance on Muslims, the Gujarat massacres immediately spring to mind. If he is eventually chosen as the BJP’s candidate and comes to power, what will matter to Pakistan will not be how effective his governance style is, but what this will mean for relations between the two countries.
If Modi does indeed become India’s prime minister, one can, of course, hope that he will bring to the fore, the best of himself, as he takes the office of prime minister of the largest democracy in the world, and that despite his lack of an apology, the Gujarat riots and all they symbolised are left behind. But Modi’s stance on Muslims appears to be an integral part of how he’s perceived. While some pundits predict that he will have the mandate to reciprocate Sharif’s advances and may do so, it is difficult to disassociate Modi with the past. BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy just recently said that “a situation is now evolving in which the nation has no alternative but to have Modi as PM to teach Pakistan a lesson”. Rudy’s statement made clear just what Modi stands for in the minds of the people when it comes to relations between the two countries.
What is most worrying, perhaps, is what the Indian media and voters’ — so far — apparent consideration of Modi as prime minister means. For what Hindu extremism can do to India, it need only look across the border and witness the havoc wrought by religious extremism. Is India priming itself for a stronger communal, anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan stance, even as Islamabad looks for a lasting peace to settle things on its eastern border?
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.
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COMMENTS (51)
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Stop comparing a theocracy with a democracy. It is ABSURD!!!
@gp65: You should also state how many muslims were jailed and convicted for the death of 60 karsevaks
@RK: Manmohan Singh has apologised for the 1984 riots
@Gaga Lee:
"You mean in a manner as honorable and noble as the successive horde of muslim invders behaved............."
And now you (India) claim to be their friend. Don't you? Or, do you still consider Afghans, Arabs, and Turks as your enemies?
Indians never stop amazing, and amusing, us with their intelligence. Here when some Pakistani speaks for Muslims, you immediately take refuge in saying that Pakistanis don't represent all the Muslims of the world, and further that India has more Muslims than Pakistan does -- ET's pages are full of such statements made by Indian commentators. However, when it is time for you Hindus to honk your deeply ingrained hatred for Muslims, you conveniently blame Pakistan and Pakistani Muslims for all the acts of the Muslims of every nationality dating back to medieval ages, totally ignoring the fact that most of the Pakistani Muslims, over 95%, are the descendants of local Hindus whose ancestors had accepted Islam, just like the other Indian Hindus who became Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, and Christians, and have nothing to do with those invaders or warriors. Looks like your previous visit to the specialized place didn't help you either. No wonder then, whatever you write is the true reflection of your name.
"And who decides, exactly how old these accounts ought to be, for them to be considered? In a long chain of history of this ancient land ’47 is just one tiny link, nothing more."
Very vividly explains the reasons of the Muslim's pogroms in India.
@Lala Gee: says:
"@Anand:
“@Lala Gee and @Gaga Lee make a good pair. They should get married.”
No thanks. I don’t accept females as bribes."
Will you accept male as bribes? Assuming Gaga Lee is a male.
It could be other way round as well.
Just trying to find the truth.
@Razi:
Well done Razi. The thing is, proving wrong as wrong, and lies as lies is not difficult at all, rather the easiest part, but the most difficult part is getting through the moderator's arbitrary style of moderation. You are very lucky that you were able to get your comment published, however, I am repeatedly trying since yesterday to get my 3 rebuttals published, but it looks like the moderator has perhaps sworn not to publish them, despite the fact that I am a regular commentator on ET since more than a year now, and thoroughly know the this forums norms and Comments Guidelines. At one hand, the moderator has no problem allowing Indian's totally irrelevant comments of purely personal attacks, and on the other hand our rebuttals are not allowed despite being 100% in accordance with the guidelines.
@gp65 & Raj-USA
If you guys really want to see what hatred means, try going through the comments sections of Hindustan Times. The manner in which indoctrinated Hindus speak of Muslims and Pakistanis is as shameful as it gets. If you want to see what hatred means, try going through the recent remarks of your demigod NaMo, whose puppy remark is enough to show the fascist that he is. He will never come clean on Muslims, no matter what. After all, he is part of the rabid Hindus who know nothing except hating Muslims and Pakistanis. But you will still stoop to any level to defend this "Hindu Nationalist". Also try going through the recent expose' by Tehelka on the Ishrat Jahan case. If this is the level they go to in order to defend murderer police officers, they can go to any extent to defend Modi. Yes, you can convict 33 Hindus, including a minister, and save the real big fish. This is the stuff that Bollywood movies is frequently made of. Only you guys can make it a reality. As for people being killed in Karachi, I will never shy away from admitting that the three so-called secular parties in Karachi have held that city hostage for the last two decades. It is their political, economic and ethnic interests that have resulted in the misfortune of Karachi. I am not like you who would go to Indian newspaper sites to spread hate and engage in viscous propaganda, or would not accept the serious problems in my society.
gp65, I have debunked a lot of your propaganda before. Much of the lies you perpetrated about Hindu population being wiped out of present-day Pakistan was shown to be what it was. But why bother responding or admitting your mistake when the only purpose of coming here is to gloat and find faults in others. The ultra-nationalist that you are, you can never understand or accept anything other than what suits your pre-conceived ideas about India. I suggested this earlier, try spending some time with works on Nations and Nationalism and do some soul-searching.
And Mr. Raj, with the kind of killings, rapes (the photo-journalist in Mumbai is not an exception), "insurgencies" and countless other things tearing apart your own society, why do you take out the time to come here and shower upon us your wisdom, something that you have been doing for the last 2 years? Try looking in the mirror. This is precisely what your countrymen suggest to us when we point to the serious injustices meted out to people we care about in the world. So I suggest you do the same.
@Anand:
"@Lala Gee and @Gaga Lee make a good pair. They should get married."
No thanks. I don't accept females as bribes.
@Nero: It was not Shahid Afridi but Inzamam Haq who apologized "to all muslims of the world" for loosing the match to India and ironically, in the same podium, India was awarding "Man of the Match" award to their muslim player Ifran Pathan for his wonderful performance against Pakistan in the same match.
Does anyone else find it amusing how calmly and blithely the author has presented Pakistan = Muslim and appropriated the right to speak on behalf of all Muslims, including those from India, e.g., presenting "anti-Pakistan" and "anti-muslim" as the same thing. Reminds me of Shahid Afridi apologizing to "all the muslims" for Pakistan's defeat in the cricket world cup semi-final against, while standing in a country with almost equal Muslim population, if not more, than Pakistan.
@Razi: "The Indians here are so indoctrinated by the RSS ideology that they know nothing except hate. Thank God for Pakistan."
There is a write-up by Nusrat Javed in today's ET. Unfortunately, it has gone totally unnoticed as only 2 readers have commented there.
Read this: http://tribune.com.pk/story/593597/things-revealed-in-assembly-makes-one-shudder/
To understand fully what he says, watch Bolta Pakistan, Aug. 21. No need to watch the full discussion but watch the 5 minutes from 25 - 30 minutes of the discussion. It will make you realize the extent of hatred, particularly for the Shias that is prevalent in most of Pakistan. Importantly, it is all home-schooling, taught in homes and not madrassas or by mullas, that has made most of Pakistan what it is today. With so much hate already spread is there any hope for Pakistan even in the future? In many of my comments for the last two years I have been saying that it is not just the mullas and madrassas but it is actually the home schooling that is to be blamed more. Yet Pakistanis, even educated as this author, feels it more important to think of Indian Muslims. Pakistanis do not care for the muslims in their own country in the first place and most sunnis want to wipe out Shias and Hazaras, not to speak of hindus & christians.
Here is the link for the TV discussion: http://www.awaztoday.co/News-Talk-Shows/42615/Bolta-Pakistan-21st-August-2013-Imran-Khan-Mehiz-Ehtejaj-Ya-Ehtejaji-Tehreek.aspx
The Indians here are so indoctrinated by the RSS ideology that they know nothing except hate. Thank God for Pakistan.
I think the last sentence of the article says a lot. Remember, we have a track record of not being able to live peacefully with our neighbors or amongst ourselves. We simply cannot build the trust that is essential for long lasting peace.
Pakistan will be viewed as a whole and not by its parts. We cannot say Nawaz Sharif said this or that in the past and extended an olive branch to India, etc. What happens thereafter, such as Kargil, speaks the loudest. Our actions have to speak louder than our words.
The author is focusing on words that are spoken for mass consumption, however the actions will what show who truly believes in having a peaceful relationship. We have to show that we intend to punish the terrorists and not let them roam around freely when Interpol is looking for them or when there is a bounty on their head.
I think the author should have been more concerned about physical acts and not pre or post election speech.
@Anand: I think you are insulting Gaga.
But you certainly had me ROLF or is it ROFL.
Whatever. Thanks for the Laugh.
@Lala Gee and @Gaga Lee make a good pair. They should get married.
Author: "For what Hindu extremism can do to India, it need only look across the border and witness the havoc wrought by religious extremism."
You call it Hindu extremism when it comes to India but why shy away from calling it Islamic extremism when it comes to Pakistan? After all Pakistan is "Islamic Republic of Pakistan".
Dear Author ... You seem to be soo naive ...and young ... You are definately born after the Kargil war ... and you must have heard the stories from your parents of all wars with India and how Pakistani Soldiers Valor and How all the Politicians tricked India to submit herself on her knees and how India lost all the wars to Pakistan .. and is now begging for peace with Pakistan.
Modi is not a man of words but a man of action. He has already said that India's interests will come first before individual interests --- not much wrong with that as that should be the goal of every PM. What is good is that he has no baggage and no family to weigh him down, in an era of dynasty Politics. India like many Developing countries is in dire need of better governance and his record there is good. India can do without the loot and scoot politics of the Congress which has also retained Power for decades by creating insecurities in the minds of minorities and profiting politically from it. I doubt there is any ground for fear in any section of the population except in the minds of certified trouble makers. However if any terror incident sponsored from anywhere in the World is executed in India, he will go to any corner of the World to destroy that force. Nothing for peace loving people to worry about.
When Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister of India in 2014 and all polls and his massive popularity indicates that, then the border will shift to Lahore.
Looking at the recent flurry of articles on Modi by the Pakistani media including this one, I wonder: . Do the Pakistanis know something we Indians don't? Is it a slam-dunk that Modi will become PM? . If the mere thought of Modi becoming PM is causing so much trepidation in the Pakistani media, would it be such a bad thing if he in fact becomes PM?
@Omer siddiqi
You got it right.
@Lala Gee
"....., and more importantly India changes herself and start behaving in an honourable noble manner."
You mean in a manner as honorable and noble as the successive horde of muslim invders behaved.
"Peace cannot exist between the two until, of course, the old accounts are settled." And who decides, exactly how old these accounts ought to be, for them to be considered? In a long chain of history of this ancient land '47 is just one tiny link, nothing more. An apologist of the usurpers in the first place, you have the gall to talk about old accounts. Learn to accept the reality on the ground, even if it hurts your ego, just as many of your ancestors did hundreds of years ago.
So, if a member of the majority community in India, a secular democracy, becomes PM his reign will be communal! We Indians are more worried about internal governance, which has become almost nil, under MM Singh, who has been the worst PM India has ever had. As for the relations such a new govt will have with Pakistan, we are least bothered, because it will never improve under any dispensation either in India or in Pakistan.
@Lala Gee
"....., and more importantly India changes herself and start behaving in an honourable noble manner." You mean in a manner as honorable and noble as the successive horde of muslim invders behaved.
"Peace cannot exist between the two until, of course, the old accounts are settled." And who decides, exactly how old these accounts ought to be, for them to be considered? In a long chain of history of this ancient land '47 is just one tiny link, nothing more. An apologist of the usurpers in the first place, you have the gall to talk about old accounts. Learn to accept the reality on the ground, even if it hurts your ego, just as many of your ancestors did hundreds of years ago.
@Lala Gee: The whole world thinks otherwise.Not that Modi will be a disaster for India.
I think this article is poorly written and the author just want to ride the wave rather than being rational.
If we always consider past for future policy making of any candidate in particular then obviously trusting Mr Sharif or Pakistan is also not good idea considering Kargil or past incidents. We need to look at future & mutual benefits.
Also how many people have died in riots in India (excluding Gujrat) and Pakistan. Tell me a single instance from any of the country, a CM/PM or even a peon has apologized. Then compare development & riots in Gujrat after that one unfortunate incident. And I am not trying to defend Modi in any way.
Only request is to be rational. Country's foreign & future policies are not made on the basis on political jingoism during election time.
@All Indian Trolls:
You guys are absolutely correct in saying that Pakistan doesn't want peace with India, on your term, of course. How could you even expect peace and non-retaliation when you did hurt us so badly -- first by occupying Kashmir and enslaving millions of Kashmiri people in greed for their lands, and later by amputating Pakistan in 1971 -- and never stop hurting us, if not openly then through proxy terrorist outfits. Lets accept the fact that India is the most belligerent and hostile country in this region and leaves no opportunity to hurt us, or every other neighboring country for that matter, and Pakistan has no other option but to respond, which we do, though on a much smaller scale. Peace cannot exist between the two until, of course, the old accounts are settled, and Kashmiris get their freedom from India's brutal occupation and become owner of their lives and lands, and more importantly, India changes herself and start behaving in an honorable noble manner.
Yea, be careful !
@ author: " it seems as if the direction vacuum in India may deliberately or inadvertently be filled by anti-Pakistan sentiments," And what makes you believe that Pakistan is so important for Indian elections??? We have got real issues to deal with like economy and corruption and Pakistan at most is a non issue. Though terrorism is one of the issues in election where you can say that Pakistan has got some role .....
BJP has a different stance when are in opposition and they act different when they are in power vis-a-vis Pakistan.
“It is no secret then that Pakistan’s civilian government wants peace..”. It is also no secret that Pak Army has its own agenda and does not want peace with India. “As some of the voters who claim to favour Modi do so in what appears to be a response to the massive corruption now associated with the Congress” This is not the only reason. In fact Congress has ruined India’s economy and its Govt. is perceived to be very weak in dealing with its hostile neighbours totally ignoring safety, security and self-esteem of the country. “Modi is no Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as was apparent in his attacking Manmohan Singh for being too soft on Pakistan in his Independence Day speech.” Modi is not alone. The entire country believes that MMS is too soft on Pakistan. “For what Hindu extremism can do to India, it need only look across the border and witness the havoc wrought by religious extremism” Rest assured India will not go Pakistan’s way even with Modi as PM because Indian Society is different. We don’t teach to hate our neighbours and other religions in our schools. In fact, BJP is the best bet for better Indo-Pak relations. Congress has always encouraged Pakistan to bully India, whereas BJP/Modi will make Pakistan more realistic.
Instead of objecting to this objectionable piece, let me try to allay your fears.
BJP is most committed to solving Kashmir dispute than Congress. This is because BJP has no obligation to appease any minority group in India.
So, if Modi comes, he will be the best opportunity for Pakistan to resolve Kashmir once and for all.
The writers arguments are specious. It doesn't show any understanding of how the Indian mindset has changed post 26/11 vis-a-vis Pakistan. The live images have seared the Indian mind as much as 9/11 had the American mind. 26/11 was India's 9/11. Try telling any westerner, let alone an American, to go and negotiate with Al-Qaeda and see what happens. It's the same effect that happens on Indian mind when it comes to negotiating with the perpetrators of 26/11. Pakistan government, for all its denials, was complicit in that act -maybe not in the planning and execution (although that's not been conclusively proved), but by protecting the planners and instigators of that act from the arm of law. And it continues to this day. The world knows who protects those terrorists, so no point in coming up with excuses.
@G. Din: Pakistan only killed 3 million people in Bangladesh and over one million Afghans (directly and indirectly). I am just guessing, Pakistanis only attacked about 100 mosques in last 10-12 years. Pakistanis only destroyed over 500 hundred girls school.
Nothing compared to what Muslim invaders did. Comparing to what Muslim invaders did Pakistan is a very peaceful country. It is still a land of pure.
There are six Indians on this planet for one Pakistani. Some of us waste our time posting here. Border skirmishes are exciting for TV media especially there is nothing else going on. This gives you the delusion to pakistanis that Pakistan is what decides elections in India.
Also It was the BJP government in 1999 that foolishly extended the hand of friendship and Pakistan army stabbed with Kargil. Remember Lahore Bus Yatra?
What a mixed up article. First of all, Pakistan is a foreign policy issue not a "Muslim" issue. For some reason, Pakistanis tend to think of themselves as a representative of all South Asian Muslims regardless the example that is being set within Pakistan.
As the Chief Minister of a state, Modi's foreign policy credentials are unknown and untested. However, he is a very competent manager and by extrapolation I expect his response to cross-border adventurism will be equally competent. .
I do not think Modi is going to be PM of India as he faces opposition from senior leaders within Party(Advani,Jaswant Singh,Strughan Sinha, Shivraj Chauhan etc), allies like Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar snapped 17 year old ties with BJP on this very issue,BJP sliding popularity as it was dethroned from power recently in Karnataka and almost 310 constituency have significant presence of Muslim.History shows that BJP when in opposition opposes Indo-Pak relation but when in power has supporte there is any cause for wd the same.So I do not think worry.
it is difficult to disassociate Modi with the past The Same is true with PAKISTAN.. you can trust it.. by saying two word doesnot mean that Pakistan wanted peace ,, what you guys say and do action is opposit
'Ignorance is bliss'
from direct action day to loc killing pakistan never want peace we indians want a strong leader like sardar patel which we are seeing in Narendra Damodardas Modi ...... to keep pakistan concerned about their own matters not india matters like kashmir, srk and millions more
@author... when it comes to India, you guys talk about secularism blah blah.. But you guys don't bother about Hindu minorities and the atrocities meted out to them...
Modi will not become even a candidate, I bet, because Indian are not insane.
For understanding Modi or anticipating his policies in case he becomes the PM, you will have to understand the policies of BJP right from the days of Jana Sangh, which was at its peak during earl late 60's to 70's. You must also understand the fact that it is next to impossible that relations between India and Pakistan can be truly friendly. It was not Indira Gandhi, nor Rajiv Gandhi or even Sonia Gandhi who came all over by bus to Lahore and sincerely tried to bridge the gap, to remove misconceptions. BJP does what suits it most in India, which is boosting its image by boosting anti-Muslim sentiments. Remember the most fearful riot after partition happened in 1964, still remembered as 'chaunsath ka riot' by Muslims of India. There was no BJP that time nor it was done by Jana Sangh. This riot happened when Nehru was at the helm of affairs. BJP's national politics is quite different from its international policies. If Modi becomes the PM, he will tread the same path as Vajpayee. If he does not, well then our relations will be like they are for six decades, Kabhi dosti, kabhi dushmani.
" For what Hindu extremism can do to India, it need only look across the border and witness the havoc wrought by religious extremism. " Give a few examples. Compare those with those in your own country.
I don't know how do you see Islamabad wanting a ever lasting peace with India if there are constant attacks on Indian soldiers from across the border.If your government can't check your army who has absolutely no interest in any kind of peace with India, then how do you expect Indian government to proceed with olive branch? The situation is like this. Pakistan is like a neighborhood parent with a brat ( read army) , who constantly make mischief and trouble to other neighbors, and Pakistan still expect other neighbors to hold their peace. I am sorry it won't work that way.You need to discipline your brats if you want the peace with the neighbors.