Not CommittingAnother Mistake
YousufRazaGilani, thePrimeMinisterofPakistan,madea statement
in Islamabad on February 6, 2012, to the effect that ‘Kashmir can no
longer afford any other war with India for Pakistan. He said that he
had fought four wars with India for Kashmir (1948, 1965, 1971, 1999)
but that had yielded no gain, and that the issue of Kashmir can be
settled only through negotiation.
This statement made by PrimeMinister of Pakistan, reported by
both the print and electronicmedia is adding onemistake to another.
Going to war was Pakistan’s first mistake. The second mistake is that
of offering to enter into negotiations after vitiating the relationship
of mutual trust to the ultimate extent. War is not a simple event.
War is a step of the utmost negativity, almost always resulting in an
increase in feelings of hatred and a widening of the distance between
the two sides. Furthermore, a region which had earlier been of purely
geographical significance, now becomes a prestige issue. And when
the result of war takes the form of unilateral defeat, it only adds
greater conviction to the stand adopted by the victor.
The results of these futile wars of the past have now become
a stark reality: the normal atmosphere that prevailed between the
two countries prior to the wars has now been totally destroyed.
In such a situation there is no further possibility of negotiations
bringing about any fruitful result. Anormal atmosphere is a must for
negotiation; but such an environment no longer exists.
The truth is that, owing to the unwise policies adopted by
Pakistan, the path of negotiation is no longer an option. Now what
Pakistan must do is to cast the issue of Kashmir into oblivion. It
should plan the building of Pakistan without Kashmir. It should
erect the edifice of Pakistan’s progress on what it already has in its
possession. This is the only wise course for Pakistan to follow.
Peace and Progress
A religious scholar of repute who lives in Islamabad (Pakistan) came
to India inFebruary 2012, at which time he visitedmany Indian cities.
In the course of his travels, he had the opportunity to observe Indian
Muslims from close quarters.When he met me on February 7, 2012,
