Ex-IAF veteran flays govt’s ‘muscular’ approach on Kashmir

BENGALURU: Four years after the Kargil conflict, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in one his speeches said that he wanted to extend the hand of friendship to people across the border and was ready for a dialogue with the Kashmiris.

Retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak called it a golden period. “Even National Security Advisor did not know that the PM was going to make such a speech. That is called leadership and his successor, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, rose and endorsed the words of Vajpayee,” he said at a joint seminar on Dynamics of Pursuing Peace with Pakistan, organised by Department of International Studies and History, Christ University and India Pakistan Soldiers' Initiative (IPSI) for Peace.

Kak called Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama as three disruptions towards peace efforts which were initiated by NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Elaborating on Pulwama attack, he commented that how could a convoy carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel be allowed to move across South Kashmir.

“Peace comes through preparedness. The demolition experts are there to derail the peace efforts. Unfortunately, the atmosphere in India has become pervasively communal. The lynching of Pehlu Khan and Akhlaq indicates that our own house should be put in order,” the former Air Vice Marshal commented.

Nailing both India and Pakistan on their intent towards peace, Kak said that anti-Pakistan rhetoric was the centre point of the general election and Pakistan does not realise that their terror policy has a cost.

“The population in South Kashmir has emotionally seceded from India and this government has made up its mind that it will not have a dialogue with Pakistan on Kashmir,” Kak added.

Tearing apart the muscular policy adopted by the current dispensation, Kak said that between 2014 and 2019 there has been a 36% increase in the casualties of civilians and 92% increase in the casualty of our security forces.

“Between 2004 and 14 we used to have a ratio of 4:1 (for every four terrorist killed we used to have one security personal killed) and this now has turned to 1:5 where for every one  terrorist we have five security personnel getting killed,” Kak explained.

Despite 1.7 billion population in the South Asian region, poor people to people contact and poverty keep the progress of the region in shackles.

Former media advisor to Vajpayee, Sudheendra Kulkarni said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is in coma and the present regime's insistence on having the summit without Pakistan is unthinkable, as India cannot change the geography.

“China's closeness with Pakistan is looked with suspicion by India and it hinders the relation between the two countries. It is my belief that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should be renamed and India should become a part of it. India-China rivalry will not help South Asia. The innovative India-China-Pakistan cooperative under Belt and Road can help resolve the Kashmir issue,” Kulkarni said.

Renowned theatre artiste, M.K. Raina said that artistes across borders are the ice-breakers. "Leave it to the civil society and things will melt down easily. Friendship is the answer and we have to put pressure on the government
to negotiate."

Consistent dialogue a must: Ex-general

Maj Gen (Retd) T.K. Kaul, who is the executive president of India Pakistan Soldiers' Initiative (IPSI), shared his wisdom on the issue of trust-deficit on both the sides of the border, and reiterated the indispensability of consistent dialogue for Indo-Pak peace process. He reiterated and advised the commanders and men in uniform to remember three cardinal points – firstly that while dealing in Kashmir all of us, especially those in uniform, need to keep in mind that all our interaction and conversation with locals is from one Indian to other Indian fellow, secondly our neighbours are permanent and we can’t change that and thirdly our own demographic presence is a reality that we all are Indians and Indians alone.