| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Mutually destructive rhetoric |
| 2015-06-11 |
| [DAWN] THE escalating war of words between India and Pakistain will do good to neither side; on the contrary it could cause incalculable harm to people of both countries. File under Pakistani Truculence. Pakistain was too easily provoked by the disclosures/confessions of the Modi sarkar. Each time New Delhi has recalled an episode from the history of confrontation between the two closest neighbours the hawks on this side have welcomed the opportunity to revive their confrontational narrative. A better response could have been a dispassionate analysis of the Indian strategy. Take Mr Parrikar's statement regarding meeting terrorism with terrorism. The Indian defence minister did not disclose anything that was not known to the world. Instead of getting hysterical over what was considered as confirmation of India's incurable perfidy, Pakistain's leaders and the media managers should have dismissed the affair as part of BJP's drive to broaden its popular backing by unfurling its ultra-nationalist standard. New Delhi's reported decision to celebrate the 1965 war also should have been taken as part of a design to play up its military power and its capacity to defend nationalist ideals. Now Mr Modi has provided grist to the confrontationists' mill in both countries by recalling his country's role in the making of Bangladesh. Again he has not revealed any secret. The story of India's part in raising the Mukti Bahini and the use of regular troops inside East Bengal much before their open involvement and the 1971 conflict has been told in numerous books. Again instead of issuing statements that can only whip up anti-India sentiment Pakistain's political and other leaders as well as the media should have pondered the thinking behind the Indian premier's obviously calculated oratory. It is obvious that the Modi government has adopted a revanchist agenda. The populist slogan-mongering is designed to convince the Indian people that their country is a great power and that it has the means to change the geography of the region. A second and a more important plank of this strategy is wooing the neighbours except Pakistain. |
| Posted by:Fred |