Most Indians try to think Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is a pompous buffoon. He keeps making appearances in front of Media and utter hollow words. Well my response is.
1) He is a military general of the highest order. Using just a couple of hundred soldiers he humiliated India. We did regain our territory back, but at the loss of 1000 of soldiers and few hundred crore of expenses.
2) He is a statesman of the highest order. Overthrowing a popular Prime Minister and managing to head Pakistan for years is no trivial task.
3) India accuses him of being an exporter of terrorism (which he probably does) but still he manages to earn the title of an “Ally in the War against Terrorism”
So it will be wise for India not to dismiss his words without giving them a second thought.
Kashmir has been a disaster from day one. selling the sinking boat
1) Now we have reached to a situation where 1/3 of our armed forces are being constantly deployed in the tiny hill state. This is no small thing for a country that has the second largest army in the world.
2) We lose more soldiers in fighting terrorism than Americans killed in Iraq. Remember Iraq is temporary, but Kashmir has been bleeding for 50 years.
3) People of Kashmir hate us. We have an imperialistic Armed Forces Governance which denies Indian citizens of their basic human rights.
4) The war in Kashmir will probably never reach a solution. Even if we cover the valleys with a layer of lead sprayed from the guns, we still might never to able to win the hearts back.
So what is the solution? Well Musharraf has been trying to tell India (since Nov 2005 Aaj Tak interview) about phased demilitarization of J&K. And in return he will guarantee peace. We dismissed him then, and now that he wrote his ideas in a book… we are cursing him. Remember President is a dictator and does not have the liberty of time with him. If he does not take steps soon, or at least lay a foundation all his work, his ideas will be lost for ever.
India on the other hand has been constantly bleeding due to the Kashmir fiasco. Nations due to their pride (Nationalism) have problems in acknowledging their misjudgments. Hence Musharaff is providing us with an honorable exit. I think we should take it.
11 replies on “In the Line of Fire”
So you mean to say that any dictator who follows in his same footsteps is a great statesman.
What do u mean by he humiliated India? the Indian army gave him a bloody a*** that will never be forgotten. This has been acknowledged by the pakistan media and politicians itself.
the tit-for-tat nuclear test made them so poor that they had to a*** lick americans for their daily bread.
over throwing a decmocracy is very easy. an army obeys its commander. whats great about it ?
what happened to all of America’s erstwhile supporters ? .rememeber afghanisthan ? they bombed it so throughly that it will take years to come back to normal. same is the case with Iran. It is just a matter of time before America sees a need to leadership change in Pakistan too.
disrupting peace in any country is not india’s cup of tea. the day india decides to take the evening sip, it will be a disaster. all it needs to do is encourage the shia-sunni riots and encourage the north-west frontier province unrest. just because india is silent does not mean that it is weak.
He is talking of phased demilitarization of Kashmir. it was because of him militarization was started in the fisrt place.
how do u know people of kashmir hate us ? the support of pakistan to terrorist ensured the mass exdous of kashmiri pandits from the valley.
India should give him an exit not we take an exit. he is the visitor not india. the false confidence that india will not attack back was the reason for three wars fought. the next one might as well decide the boundray. the lack of foresight of indian politicians ensure pakistan its place today else they would be fighting for lahore till today
Here for Click and Comment Monday. Your president was on The Daily Show with John Stewart (a fake-news show that is more real than network news). He came across as being educated, level headed and with a great sense of humor. He appeared to have a better grip on reality than our president.
Let us hope all the leaders will make the right decisions for the sake of our children.
Peace.
phased demilitarization cannnot take place. For all its words it depends upon trust upon a very intresting person called musharraf. and it also depends upon how much control he really has. The problem is not just Kashmir. assuming that the Kashmir issue is ever resloved what do you think will happen next?
remember it takes nothing more that a war to bring a country together. and kashmir has been a battlefield for the past half century.
I know phased demilitirization is not going to be easy.. but then what other alternative can we have…. you cannot be on battle for eternity… peace is required to develop and grow.
Musharraf is an interesting person, agreed…. but if you allow him to take the credit of bringing peace and controlling terrorism… i think you can motivate him enough so that he does not deviate.
this deadlock is helping nobody…
India needs seriously good folks in our Foreign Policy. We have a confused foreign policy. Every Politician comes up with his/her own version….
i liked Vajpayee’s foreign policy… ( he was a foreign minister before he became a prime minister)
even Manmohan Singh’s foreign policy regarding FTA and and opening civilian reactors are appreciation worthy.
what exactly do you have in mind?
I like Musharraf, but trusting him is a serios no-no.
GreatBong has come up with a great nick for him though. President ‘Pinochio’ Musharraf. That states my feelings exactly why India cannot trust him.
Musharraf is very diplomatic in a chalu way – anyway this is what politics is all about – getting money, fame and power and making yourself out to be a hero !
Iam a PAKISTANI citizen and i dislike Musharraf for being another militaray dictator and because of his idiotic policies, he think himself of a big hotshot but the truth is he is another Saddam on the face of the earth. People of Pakistan like People of India want peaceful solution of Kashmir.
Personally i dn give a crap about Kashmir we have enuff probs in existing Pakistan that are needed tobe taken care off. On the other hand India will go on falsely accusing Pakistan and Pakistanis for evrything that goes wrong in thier backyard. The other day some Indian accused Shoaib Akhter for beating a shit out of Woolmer than doin smthng stoopid @ sm night club and thn smthng really idiotic with Chappels n his wife.Thank God he didn accuse him for Bombay blasts or 9/11 😛
well very few people love the dictator… why? to stay in power he has to curb the free speech/opposition and modern people hate any opposition of any kind.
luckily the pak press is enlighten enough that he cannot escape from the atrocities he created.
This piece was cogent, wen-lwrittel, and pithy.