Building a bridge and crossing it remains a major political challenge for Pakistan and India leaders. The Nov 26-Mumbai mayhem was engineered to revive tension between Pakistan and India. The ‘terrorists’ succeeded in derailing what Manmohan Singh had called the “irreversible” peace process, and brought the two countries to the brink of a new war.
There had been many initiatives, most of the confidence-building measures were taken by Pakistan but all of them were short-lived. This showed a weak commitment on part of New Delhi towards resolving the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, withdrawal of its troops from Siachen and solving the issue of Sir Creek, etc. The dialogue process seemed to benefit India only as a time-gaining tactic.
Why the two countries have not been able to firm up the peace process is the ultra-nationalist and extremist elements that are ideologically and emotionally rooted in communal hatred. As Dr Raees observed, India even with better democratic credentials and a more pluralist political culture, is not free of the curse of Hindu extremism.
The fact remains that Hindu extremists frequently attack and kill members of minority groups and have been responsible for massacres in Gujarat, Malegaon and the terrorist attack on Samjotha Express.
War should not be an option between Pakistan and India. Both the countries need a social commitment to the peace process by enlarging the peace constituency with two considerations: First, the terrorists should not be allowed to determine the nature of our ties when we know well that they want the opposite of reconciliation.
Second, we need to evolve an institutionalised mechanism to cooperate in investigating tragic events like the Mumbai attacks, and bringing their planners and perpetrators to justice.
KAINAT ASHRAF
Karachi