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f late there has been a spate of India-Pakistan related articles, especially after the recent visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to India. This visit has been welcomed by most people, except for a few skeptics. It is imperative that the leaders of both countries talk to each other to ease tensions and build confidence. Cordial relations between the two countries will bring peace, stability and prosperity to the entire Indian sub-continent.

The entire letter-writing sequence started with KB Kale mentioning the television episode relating to the respected Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir avoiding a direct answer to the question about “the Pakistani Army and ISI clandestinely supporting Hafiz Muhammad Said as an anti-India asset” and harping on the CIA starting the trend by helping terrorists to defeat the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The answer should have been a simple “yes” or “no”.

Faraz Liaquat and Faraz Qutab from Islamabad further expanded the argument that the sapling of militancy was planted by CIA. However, both these gentlemen forgot to mention that the sapling was further carefully and strategically nurtured by the ISI by watering it financially to make it into a tree. The ISI wanted to reap the harvest by plucking the fruit and throwing it at India. Unfortunately for Pakistan, some of the ill-nurtured fruit fell on Pakistani soil also, and Pakistan became the epicenter of international terrorism. One is reminded of the famous proverb, “as you sow, so you reap”.

Liaquat also preaches, “Don’t let this Hafiz thing come between us, please.” Yes, but please, first you must stop creating “this Hafiz thing” and the like, and it will automatically not come between us. This ostrich-like attitude will not make ISI innocent in the eyes of the world, especially in the current age of super fast communication and the presence of a vibrant social media. And further, “this Hafiz thing” is not just one person, he is the initiator of the attack on Indian soil. Not easy for the Indians and other foreigners whose near and dear ones lost their lives, to forget those horrific moments.

They also further suggest that India should not make the Mumbai attack an issue to be resolved, and Pakistan offering to jointly investigate the matter. It is like the US and al-Qaeda jointly investigating the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center!

However, when President Zardari offered to send the ISI chief to India to discuss the matter after the Mumbai attack, ISI killed the idea — so much for Farhan’s claim that the Pakistani Army wants to improve relations with India as per its civilian leaders’ desires. What hypocrisy!

Yes, both Nawaz Sharif and Zardari are real statesmen who wished to improve relations with India, but were thwarted by the Army in their efforts. In all democratically elected governments, India and Indonesia included, the army receives orders from the civilian head of the government, but in the Pakistani system, it is the other way round.

All Indians and most peace-loving Pakistanis share Liaqaut’s wish to have amicable discussions and a resolution of all the issues between the two countries. However, let there be no irritants created like the Mumbai attack by vested interests (for their own survival) to hijack the peace momentum.

Ram Bahukhandi
Jakarta