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| BJP of contradictions | | | Early Times Report
jammu, Aug 20: It is now manifestly clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't mean what he loudly said on September 27, 2014 at the United Nations. That day, he gave the nation to understand that he was not happy with Pakistan Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif for the reason that he raised the Kashmir issue in the United Nations and that he would engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan "without the shadow of terrorism". He had asked Islamabad to create an "appropriate environment" for that. In other words, he had sought to make the nation understand that terror and talks couldn't go side by side or that his government didn't approve what his predecessor Manmohan Singh did at Havana (Cuba) in September 2006 and Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt) in 2008.
In 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had endorsed President General Musarraf's canny suggestion that Pakistan, like India, was also a victim of terrorism and at Sharm-el-Sheikh, he had endorsed the Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's nasty suggestion that terror and talks must go hand-in-hand and also agreed to include an unwarranted reference to the alleged Indian involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan. The then BJP national president Rajnath Singh had opposed the Havana meeting and declared after the conclusion of the BJP national executive meet at Dehradun on September 10 that "there should be no talks between Prime Minister and President Musharraf till Pakistan destroys terror camps on its soil". As for the shame of Sharm-el-Sheikh, senior BJP leader and former Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha had said that the "waters of the seven seas will not be able to wash the shame" brought on the country (India) by Manmohan Singh. It is significant to note that Sinha continues to hold the same view even today and on August 19 openly and unambiguously questioned Prime Minister Modi's foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan, saying to talk with the rouge Pakistan would be to waste precious Indian time and talks with Pakistan had always helped Islamabad and damaged the India's paramount interests.
It is also now crystal clear that the BJP didn't mean what it said in its April 4, 2015 Bengaluru resolution on foreign policy. On Pakistan, the BJP national executive's separate resolution on foreign policy had, inter-alia, said: "We have laid out a clear policy for building peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan, predicated on an end to terrorism. There can be no compromise with terrorism. There can't be any duplicity towards a problem that has become a regional crisis and is fast becoming an international nightmare. All outstanding issues with Pakistan can be resolved through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence". The resolution had unequivocally said that the national ambition was "Bharat's rise as a strong and respected world power" for which the (Modi) Government had adopted "Panchamrit". And by "Panchamrit", the BJP meant dignity, dialogue, security and shared prosperity and culture.
But more than that, it is also manifestly clear that what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on May 31, 2015 at New Delhi about India's foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan didn't have the backing of Prime Minister Modi and the party as a whole. That day, she very boldly and candidly rejected policy's characterization as "on-off" or "confused" and said: "Our policy's outlining guiding principles are - First, all issues can be resolved amicably through talks. Second, talks will only be held between the two nations without any third party intervention. Third, all this can only happen in a conducive atmosphere that includes action against perpetrators of terror".
Earlier in August 2014, she had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan after Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit held talks with Kashmiri separatists despite the Indian suggestion to the contrary. Her Ministry then made it loud and clear that while India was willing to discuss all the bilateral issues, it will never allow Pakistan to make Kashmiri separatists a third party to the Kashmir issue. Surprisingly, that time, Prime Minister Modi and the BJP as a party swung behind Sushma Swaraj as they had been left with no other option but to do so. The national sentiment was such.
That Prime Minister Modi and the BJP didn't really mean what they said about Pakistan, scourge of terrorism and Panchamrit and that they don't think the way Sushma Swaraj did in August 2014 and May 31, 2015 could be seen from the reported decision of the Modi Government that the scheduled National Security Advisor-level talks between India and Pakistan onAugust 23 and 24 would take place at New Delhi.
Pakistan's conduct is gravely provocative. It is breeching the international border and Line of Control on a daily basis. It is resorting to heavy mortar shelling on our civilians all along the border and Line of Control and the result has been more than 38 deaths of innocent civilians and soldiers and displacement of population. Pakistan has converted the borders and the Line of Control into war zones. It has also caused two deadly terror attacks at Udhampur (J&K) and Gurdaspur (Punjab) within a short span of two weeks. It has refused to invite Speaker of Jammu & Kashmir Assembly to participate in the upcoming Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) to be held in Islamabad from September 30 to October 8, saying Jammu & Kashmir was a disputed territory. Besides, it, on August 19, taunted and ridiculed New Delhi by extending an invite to Kashmiri separatists so that they could interact with Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in New Delhi on August 23, the day he would meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval to raise Kashmir issue. Again, Pakistan, almost at the same time, raised Kashmir issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and sought mediation from the world body and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to resolve the issue.
The fact of the matter is that Pakistani political establishment, Army, dreaded Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and terror outfits such dreaded and barbarous Lashkar-e-Toiba/Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Taliban and so on, the Pakistani press and commentators and all former Army Commanders and diplomats have been working in tandem to bleed India by a thousand- cut on a daily basis to further their break-India and annex Jammu & Kashmir agenda. Besides, Islamabad has unleashed a no-holds-barred propaganda blitz against India wherever it is needed to mislead the international opinion on Kashmir issue. But neither the national sentiment nor any of the Pakistani provocations has moved what could be termed as adamant, insensitive and irresponsible Modi Government. Contrarily, the BJP has let loose all of its spokespersons to defend the Modi's foreign policy, which is totally flawed and not based on India geo-political and economic interests. They are advancing two spurious arguments to defend his foreign policy. One, Pakistan has invited the Hurriyat leaders to attend a reception function in honour of Sartaj Aziz to be organized by the Pakistan High Commission and not for seeking their views on Jammu & Kashmir. "There is difference between reception and seeking views," the BJP spokespersons like Siddharth Nath Singh are shamelessly saying. Two, Pakistan has been provoking India to scuttle the scheduled talks, but the Modi Government will defeat all its moves to tell the world that India was for peace talks with Pakistan, whereas Islamabad was not.
Indeed, the confused, ambivalent and directionless Modi Government and the BJP have failed to realize the dangerous ramifications of the Pakistan's aggressive and coercive diplomacy. What an irony! It must not walk into the Pakistani dangerous trap. It must appreciate the national sentiment and call the Pakistani bluff by cancelling the scheduled talks. It must not replicate Sharm-el-Sheikh in New Delhi. On the contrary, it must replicate August 2014 in August 2015 and do what Sushma Swaraj did twice to send a strong message to Pakistan that India meant serious business. Why because the nation has endorsed the Sushma line. It's time for PM Modi to show his 56 inch chest to Pakistan. |
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