I refer to Faraz’s & Peter’s responses to my
letter.
The last paragraph of my letter reflects my heartfelt
sentiments that Indians & Pakistanis are “natural brothers” & must bury
their hatchet & proceed on the path of prosperity. That is why I
appreciated speech of Nawaz Sharif appealing his countrymen not to consider
India as their enemy. The present Pakistani leadership wishes to improve
Indo-Pak relations but its Army, which poses as Pakistan’s defender, would
never allow it as their very existence depends on Pakistan’s enmity with India.
Zardari & Nawaz Sharif are real statesmen, but the
‘Rommels & Guderians’ of Pak Army (as my favourite Pakistani journalist Kamran
Shafi calls them) would never allow them to forge friendship between us. Zardari,
who has suffered most at the hands of Military (prolonged imprisonment) &
home-grown terrorism (Benazir’s assassination) is a good person. After Mumbai
Massacre of 2008, he ordered ISI chief to visit India to investigate &
punish the culprits of this mayhem, but he forgot that Pak Armed Forces don’t
obey his orders! Even in the infamous Memogate scandal, ISI chief preposterously
flew to London to determine whether his constitutional boss Zardari was guilty
of the infamous memo! Jai Ho!
While Pakistan’s COAS decides whether its civilian
government stays in power, the situation in India is quite the opposite.
The CIA did plant the sapling of militancy in
Pakistan’s Army to defeat Soviets, But Zia, then an outcast after hanging ZAB,
grabbed the opportunity to improve his personal stature. He is the one who
brought religion into Pakistani politics & planted the ‘sapling of
militancy’ to retain power which has grown into a tree that kills its own
creator, the ISI, as I wrote in my old letter “Export Surplus”! Their attacks
on ISI offices & Mehran Naval Base are two examples! Today, Zia is a hated
person in Pakistan.
After the Afghan War ended, it was Musharraf who let
loose these well-trained militants in Kashmir.
Hafiz Saeed is not just an ‘individual’ but a ‘mindset’
that must be lawfully destroyed before it destroys Pakistan! It is Pakistan who
should collect evidence against him. But with Pak Army’s support, how can the
Pakistani civil government even touch him?
Giving India MFN status is more in Pakistan’s interest
than India’s like US giving MFN status to China benefitted China!
As regards Peter’s comments, I can proudly say that
Kashmiris participate in all elections held there & percentage of voting is
higher than in India’s other states. Boycott calls by separatists like Geelani
are routinely dismissed by Kashmiris. What does it show?
If Pakistan’s ISI stopped meddling in Kashmir, there
will be peace on both sides, but will their army ever allow its own degradation? I recommend Faraz & Peter to read articles by
Kamran Shafi & Ayaz Amir and the book “Nuclear Deception”.
Indians never claim they run a perfect democracy, but we
are proud of being a democracy & hope that Pakistanis also join us with equal
pride. Our democracy is just 60 years old & we are still learning how to
run it smoothly. It would be wrong to compare it with seasoned democracies of
UK, USA, etc.
I hope Peter knows that our constitution gives our
Judiciary total independence, a matter of pride for us. Though we laud the
courage of Pakistan’s Chief Justice Chaudhry, we feel that memogate &
Gilani cases in Pakistani Supreme Court are just charades.
Zardari’s 50-million-rupee ‘nazrana’ (gift) to Ajmer
dargah would have benefitted the flood-affected people of Sindh much more!
K B Kale, Camp: USA
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