Puerile Pervez
-Editorial-
Pervez merits the cold shoulder. An ironical applause
is due to the President of Pakistan for his childish
suggestions to solve the Kashmir issue. A portion of
the electronic media should also share the blame for
providing him with the undue publicity. Ministry of
External Affairs deserves praise for calling a
spade a
spade and for condemning his infantile, if not utterly
mischievous brainwaves.
The General’s call to demilitarize Srinagar, Kupwara
and Baramulla smacks of a sinister design to force
India to dismantle her counter insurgency network; these
centres being either the hotbeds or targets of Pakistan
sponsored militancy. The demand has been heeded to some
extent partially as much of Srinagar is now under the
control of J & K Police and the like.
The logic is nothing but sinister as it tries to propagate
an idea that it is the presence of the army that encourages
militancy. It is utter mischievous to place Kashmir and
Iraq on the same plank. The General has found some takers
of his theory in the USA and UK as regards Iraq. He expects
the same in Kashmir also though he
failed earlier to
convince the world community that Kashmir was similar to
Palestine. Persistent efforts by Pervez to
draw parallels show that he wants to return his gratitude
to the militants for fomenting trouble that helped him to
remain firmly in the saddle of power in Pakistan. It leaves
no one in doubt that the
militancy against India serves him
well.
His invitation to the Indian PM to watch cricket in
Pakistan is another example of the inadequacy of his mind
to handle such a complex
situation as Kashmir. Short-
term strategies cannot achieve wonders. They failed in the
past. India would do well to stick to its path of
pragmatism and walk the extra mile when required. It should
also view the situation in a much wider perspective of
reality.
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