The writer is a journalist with Scroll.in in Delhi. He is a Multani from Lucknow, who finds himself trapped in the Republic of South Delhi. He tweets @DilliDurAst
Manmohan Singh is no longer a lame-duck prime minister. If there’s something beyond lame duck, he’s that. But Manmohan Singh is not a nobody either and certainly not a man who doesn’t deserve fairness from us.
For all his faults, he still represents the office of the prime minister of India, one that he has held without break for almost 10 years — longer than any prime minister has (without interruption) save Nehru. In these 10 years, he made many mistakes and his leadership was wanting on many fronts, but he handled India’s Pakistan policy with the maturity and sagacity that only reminds one of his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Even if India’s next prime minister is the despicable Narendra Modi, he will be India’s prime minister and he will do business with the rest of the world regardless of whether anyone likes him or not. (Incidentally, Mr Modi hasn’t made a single inflammatory statement against Pakistan in his election campaign so far, instead aiming his guns at Dr Singh for his inability to guard India’s borders when the Line of Control went out of control.)
One is arguing here for continuity in foreign policy and such continuity in India’s Pakistan policy has been ably helped by Dr Singh. He has not painted the town red to take credit for his back-channel talks with the then president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, in which the two came close to evolving a radically new paradigm to settle disputes between the two countries. He did his best to push for peace and dialogue until 26/11 happened and despite pressure from hawks and a belligerent Indian media, took no stupid decision after the Mumbai attacks — despite the fact that he had a general election to contest a few months later. Deja vu? Exactly. And remember that he won that election despite the Bharatiya Janata Party’s LK Advani making India’s ‘national security’ in the aftermath of 26/11 an election issue. Since then, he has pursued with Pakistan the possibility of peace with the frustrating patience that the job needs.
For these reasons, he deserves to visit Pakistan once during his tenure, to put his mark on one of the fronts where he performed better than others. To say thank you and goodbye to all those in Pakistan who tried to share and understand his vision, including the previous Pakistani president and the incumbent prime minister. Being cold is not going to even lead towards concrete achievements. After two Pakistani state visits and so many requests from Pakistan for Dr Singh to make a visit, he must make one.
But equally, he needs to make such a visit — a purely token visit of a prime minister in his last days in office — to remind the Pakistanis that his being lame duck is an excuse with limited potential. That waging peace needs a lot of commitment beyond sweet words from both sides. He had showed his willingness to talk Kashmir with former president General (retd) Musharraf, addressing the biggest Pakistani complaint that India doesn’t want to talk Kashmir. But Pakistan has been found wanting on many fronts, such as bringing the 26/11 perpetrators to justice and reciprocating India’s Most-Favoured Nation status to promote bilateral trade.
In these pages, I argued earlier that Manmohan Singh should visit Pakistan before leaving office in the same way that former president Asif Ali Zardari had visited India to go to Ajmer Sharif. Dr Singh could visit Nankana Sahib. In no way does a Sikh prime minister visiting Nankana Sahib undermine India’s commitment to secularism. It only strengthens it. He could visit Data Darbar too, but the greatest pilgrimage could be to his village Gah, in Chakwal district, where some of his classmates from pre-Partition days long to meet him. These are places that will remain in Pakistan just as Ajmer Sharif will remain in India and that’s all the more reason why we must wage peace, so that all our citizens can visit them freely across the border.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2014.
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COMMENTS (8)
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Shivam Vij is at it again. There is a reason no one takes him seriously.
ET mods - please allow response to someone who has written to me directly.
@A reader: The visit of Zardari which the author refers to happened in 2012 - certainly not before 26/11. In any case, I made no reference to its timing in my earlier post. All I said is that Zardari's pilgrimage on taxpayer expense maybe acceptable in an Islamic Republic but in no way wold a similar pilgrimage on taxpayer funds be acceptable in secular India. I was thus questioning the false equivalence the author was trying to establish.
Sometimes, it becomes hard to believe that such sane words can come from people on the other side of the border.
@Gp65,
clarification: the interview with Mr. Zardari occurred prior to the 26/11 attacks.
Looks like Congress will lose the election very badly in 2014. This visit will add to that. This proposed visit of MMS to Pakistan will alienate more voters than attract because the Mumbai mayhem killers and planners are not prosecuted in Pakistan still. This visit will give more ammo to Mr Modi. He does not have to paint the town red. Just hoist the headline, "MMS in Pakistan"
A disappointing article. There is absolutely no justification for Mr Singh to waste public funds on a visit that has no hope of bringing any positive development for Indian people. He is most welcome to visit any country after he retires, with his own funds, on his own time. He is unlikely to be on the exit control list of any government that comes in after he, much to our collective relief, retires and is thrown into the dustbin of history.
" Even if such a visit does not help improve India-Pakistan relations, how can it possibly hurt?"
Since you ask - the answer is simple. It would mean that as India's PM, he is going back on his words that he would not visit Pakistan until those responsible for planning 26/11 were convicted.
"In these pages, I argued earlier that Manmohan Singh should visit Pakistan before leaving office in the same way that former president Asif Ali Zardari had visited India to go to Ajmer Sharif. Dr Singh could visit Nankana Sahib"
There is no comparison. India is a secular country and Indian PM cannot in his official capacity make pilgrimages which also have an official agenda on the side. It is quite different from Pakistan which is an Islamic country and where even to be elected one has to be a good Muslim.
" He has not painted the town red to take credit for his back-channel talks with the then president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, in which the two came close to evolving a radically new paradigm to settle disputes between the two countries."
Musharraf was as sincere about these backchannel talks as he was about Vajpayee's peace talks in Lahore. Had he been sincere, Musharraf would not have supported the planning of 26/11 which happened under his (Musharaf's) watch. So the town (Mumbai) was painted red (with blood of Mumbaikars) and of course he (Manmohan) wants to take no credit for that. In fact he is trying his utmost to bury that epoisode.