Border turmoil

De-escalation of tensions may be a misnomer for what has transpired at the demarcation line between Pakistan and India. Tensions have transformed from openly manic to quietly manic; reports inform that residents of the Kashmir territory continue to experience war-like circumstances. Shelling by Indian troops took place in Azad Jammu and Kashmir in which one casualty, Mohammad Sudhir, and three injured youngsters were reported just hours prior to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s promised release by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The violent lashing out continued on March 2 with responses from both sides, resulting in two civilian deaths. Many edifices have been evacuated but there needs to be more effort to first protect then rehabilitate civilians and the obvious path to choose is also the more noble and judicious route: meaningful dialogue.

The release of Abhinandan could have been the start of changed attitudes, regardless of what oaccurred at both ends before that point. However, the Indian response has been less than grateful. The Indian media has hinted that Pakistan released the pilot because it was weak or otherwise required to release him as per the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war. The counterargument is Pakistan and India had not declared active war, so Abhinandan was not a POW. As for offerings of tea by way of humane treatment of the pilot, it is confusing for many on both sides that while the two nuclear countries threaten war and claim offences in the name of defence pointing to the other as the instigator, much of the focus was on the treatment of one captured man from the other side.

Nevertheless, while humane dealing was meted out to Abhinandan, the treatment of affected civilians remains the opposite. There needs to be a conscious effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian army to come clean and steer the region out of conflict. Admittedly, dialogue in the past has been unfruitful. However, a different approach is required with mediators as buffers to facilitate both sides in stating what they want and recognising that both countries mutually have a desire for their own safety and doing away with terrorists.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2019.

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