Peace With Pakistan: Is it possible?

I was quite amused watching a live telecast of a debate in the Pierre Hotel , New York on September 26th night arranged by an Indian Weekly to coincide with Prime Minister Modi’s US visit. The galaxy on the dais were former minister Shashi Tharoor, noted TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai in his new avatar as an Advisor of a TV group, former Pakistan ambassador Husain Haqqani and Nehchal Sandhu, former top intelligence official. Haqqani is the new favourite of the New Delhi seminar circuit after his July 2014 statement against Hafiz Saeed. The subject of their debate, instead of discussing our relations with USA, naturally slid into relations with Pakistan, proving the much repeated French adage: “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose”. It is September and it has to be mutual bashing at the UN. Haqqani gave advice on how India should take the help of Gulf rulers to pressurize Pakistan’s military lobby for helping normalize bilateral relations.

Haqqani is a colourful personality. I had a dispute with him in 2007 when he was attacking India during a think tank seminar in Washington DC. Surprisingly a Pakistani scholar supported me. She also irritated him highlighting his fluctuating past political loyalties. Pakistan commentator Dr. Awab Alvi’s blog’s “Teeth Maestro” (April 23, 2008) traces his political trajectory originating from the Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba (Jamaat’s student wing), responsible for much of the campus violence at Karachi University. Later as a journalist he gravitated towards General Zia ul Haq, joined the Army-Jamaat axis, then to Nawaz Sharif, when he tried to besmear the reputation of his future boss Benazir Bhutto during the 1988 elections. My friend, the late B.Raman had confirmed this in his column on March 8, 2007 that this was to expose Benazir’s so called “Indian connections”. Raman also said that ISI had sent Haqqani to India at that time with a dossier on our alleged interference in Sindh to be published in an Indian weekly, which refused to oblige him.

From Nawaz Sharif he shifted to Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, again to Nawaz Sharif, then to President Ghulam Ishaq Khan after Nawaz’s dismissal, later to caretaker Prime Minister Sher Mazari and finally to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as her spokesman with a Minister of State rank. In 2008 President Zardari appointed him as Pakistan’s ambassador to United States. He had to resign in 2011 being involved in the “Memo gate” wherein he was supposed to have been the conduit of an appeal from President Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, US Joint Chiefs of Staff to advise the Pakistan Army not to disturb the civilian regime. In 2012 their judicial commission found that Haqqani was the “Originator and architect” of the memo. “Foreign Policy” (December 16, 2011) gave a startling scoop that former US National Security Advisor Jim Jones had submitted a confidential affidavit that he had no reason to believe that Haqqani had any role in the “Memo gate”. This was meant to help his defence. As far as I know the case against him is still pending. The Pakistan Supreme Court had directed the government in June 2013 to bring him back to Pakistan. In his book “Magnificent Delusions” he has done a Sanjay Baru on Benazir alleging that she did not keep her 1989 promise to US that Pakistan would not produce a nuclear bomb.

During discussions, Nehchal Sandhu rightly pointed out that only people-to-people relations can ease Indo-Pakistan tensions. A lot of work has been done on this subject in the past. For example Prof.P.M.Kamath of Mumbai, who is always in advance of our bureaucracy or politicians in thinking ahead, had organized a 3 day seminar in Mumbai in April 2004 “India-Pakistan relations: In pursuit of Peace”. This was to continue the process established by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s epoch making Lahore bus yatra which was unfortunately marred by the Kargil War. The proceedings of this seminar were published as a book “India-Pakistan Relations: Courting peace from the corridors of War”. (Promilla & Co--Bibiophile-2005).

My paper was “A twenty year Calendar for Indo-Pak relations” wherein I had recommended policy options to break new ground and avoiding past mistakes. Ten years have passed. Still we keep repeating the same policy errors. I had said that Delhi’s policy must be based on the fact that Pakistan’s “power brokers” like the army and bureaucracy do not stand to gain by peace: “It is the majority middle class, intelligentsia and divided families who suffer the maximum by strained relations”. In particular I had called for the creation of a “peace constituency” by encouraging trade and people-to-people contact, especially journalists, sportspersons, artists, writers, lawyers, human rights activists, film stars and traders. We need to cultivate this segment by unilateral concessions, if necessary by way of visas. “The best way to marginalize a repressive regime is by opening the doors of escape as Western Europe did during the Cold War”. The ritualistic spat with Pakistan during every September UN session has given no particular advantage to India except ridicule. I had also recommended that any unilateral measure against Pakistan civilians would only hurt the segment of peace-loving Pakistani population, which would only encourage Jehadis.

Excerpts of this article were published in the Hindu (January 27, 2010) and Dawn (11 February 2010). The Dawn piece was written by noted human rights activist I.A.Rehman. Some NGOs like Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, New Delhi had done outstanding work. In my paper for their May 2010 round table I had said that in the “Aman Ki Asha” poll, 66% of Indians and 72% in Pakistan desired peaceful relationship between both countries. Only a tiny minority 17% in India and 8% in Pakistan were opposed to the idea of “consigning hostility to the dust bin of history.” Even 50% of Mumbai, which suffered horrendous loss of lives and property damage during 26/11 voted for peace.

Papers on policy options for peace with Pakistan are there in bundles. Only the initiative to put this in practice is lacking. (end)