My other writings
Cricket 24 x 7
Jaagruthi
Yahoo! 360
Mayajaal
My Bloglines
My 43 things
My LinkedIn
On Orkut
Badri's Tamil thoughts
Ganesh's Happily Haphazard
Nitin's Acorn
Prabhu's Pethals
Raghu the reluctant Delhiite
Samanth's blahg
Sankhya the busy idler
Srini the movie critic
Rabble Rousing Random Ramblings by S Jagadish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Associated Press reports that Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated at a rally today.
It is unclear to me right now if she was killed by gunfire from the assassin who then blew himself up, or if she was killed by the explosion.
At least fifteen people were killed in the explosion.
Ironically, Musharraf had declared earlier today that 'No body allowed to sabotage electoral process in country'.
Maybe this doesn't count as sabotage.
What does this mean for the Jan 8 elections? Who's next? Pervez Musharraf will be very quick to cancel the elections and announce another emergency.
Pakistan's prime ministers have had some weird deaths.
Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated for his policy of moderation vis-a-vis India on the Kashmir issue. HS Suhrawardy, who at best provoked and incited riots, and at worst, did his Nero thing when Bengal burned in 1946 as a consequence of Jinnah's call for a 'Direct Action Day', is believed to have been poisoned. Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was executed for allegedly conspiring to murder the father of a dissident Pakistan Peoples Party politician.
I did some poking around and it seems likely that the PPP politician in question was Mahmud Ali Kasuri, the father of Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, who was until recently Pakistan's Foreign Minister and seen/heard very often on Indian TV news channels.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated earlier today. Nawaz Sharif really ought to be doing something to save himself.
Benazir and Sharif looted and destroyed the country for the best part of a decade, beginning with Benazir's first innings in 1988. While she couldn't achieve much in her first term, her second term was notable for her husband Asif Ali Zardari being made Minister, and the subsequent nepotism.
Although her death is a sad event and condemnable, in a warped sense, I hope this is the beginning of a clean-up of Pakistan's political system. The country desperately needs a new generation of leaders.
Her government provided military and financial support to the Taliban. The Taliban gave shelter to Osama's al-Qaeda. It is speculated that she was assassinated by the al-Qaeda, something that the White House spokesperson also hinted at.
If it indeed was the al-Qaeda, it reinforces my belief that you cultivate and breed terrorists at your own risk.
The most hilarious part about George Bush's condolence message is when he says
The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy.Pakistan's democracy? Is he referring to what exists right now?
Labels: al-qaeda, bhutto, elections, musharraf, pakistan, taliban, terrorism
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Does this table sort of tell us why Pakistan is currently in a mess? To me, there's far too much of a coincidence with the timing of the Lal Masjid drama and the 'discovery' of an assassination attempt on Pervez Musharraf.
| Who | Cultivated by | Result |
| China | India | 1962 and Hindi-Chini bhai bhai |
| Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale | India | Terrorism in Punjab and mass-murder of Sikhs |
| LTTE | India | Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi |
| Osama bin Laden | United States of America | Terror attacks on Sep 11, 2001 |
| Adopting a Laissez-faire attitude to terrorism originating in Pakistan | Pakistan | ? |
Labels: musharraf, pakistan, terrorism
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
'Daughter of the East' wanted to go further east
In a new revision of her autobiography, "Daughter of the East", Benazir Bhutto has claimed that Mirza Aslam Beg, in 1989, and Pervez Musharraf, in 1996, had offered/claimed to capture Srinagar. Extracts from this autobiography are being published by Outlook magazine, in the next issue.
"I once again heard how Pakistan would take Srinagar if only I gave the orders to do so. Musharraf concluded the briefing with the words that a ceasefire would be in place and Pakistan would be in control of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir. I asked him, ‘And what next?’. He was surprised by my question, and said, ‘Next we will put the flag of Pakistan on the Srinagar Parliament’.For one, this is hardly surprising. Everyone knows that Pakistan has always had
"‘And what next?’ I asked the general.
"‘Next you will go to the United Nations and tell them that Srinagar is in Pakistan’s control’.
"‘And what next?’ I pushed on. I could see General Musharraf had not been prepared for this grilling and was getting flustered. He said, ‘And you will tell them to change the map of the world taking into consideration the new geographical realities’.
"‘And do you know what the United Nations will tell me?’ I looked General Musharraf straight in the eye, as the army chief sat silently by and the room grew still, and pointedly said, ‘They will pass a Security Council resolution condemning us and demanding that we unilaterally withdraw from Srinagar, and we will have got nothing for our efforts but humiliation and isolation.’ I then abruptly ended the meeting."
An army-connected friend informed me that the dead bodies of soldiers were kept in frozen lockers and released in small tranches to prevent the news spreading of the high casualties inflicted during the conflict.
Labels: bhutto, india, jammu and kashmir, musharraf, pakistan, terrorism
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Mohd. Afzal's clemency petitioners, including Arundhati Roy in her introduction to a collection of essays in the form of a book titled "13 December – A Reader: The Strange Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament", present a very good opportunity to put in perspective what the various actors in the terrorist attack on Parliament five years ago are upto.
Looking at my posts in 2004 and 2005, nothing seems to have changed.
If anything, Musharraf has become far more smarter about using the media to put forth his 'Solutions for for ever-lasting peace in Kashmir ™' and also hoodwinked India to have a joint terror fighting mechanism!
Labels: 2001 parliament attack, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Pervez Musharraf's four point solution
In Indo-Pak relations, the term 'back-channel diplomacy' is heard very often. But Pervez Musharraf has evidently perfected the art of 'TV channel diplomacy'. In an interview to NDTV, Gen. Musharraf outlined his four-point solution for ever-lasting peace in Kashmir ™
- Kashmir will have the same borders but people will be allowed to move freely back and forth in the region
- The region will have self-governance or autonomy, but not independence
- Troops will be withdrawn from the region in a staggered manner
- A joint supervision mechanism will be set up, with India, Pakistan and Kashmir represented
I have just one issue with his 'four-point solution for ever-lasting peace in Kashmir ™': Why doesn't it say a single word about Pakistan agreeing to rein in the terrorists it foments, supports and sponsors?
Reactions from Nitin and Offstumped.
Previous posts on Musharraf & TISJaK: Joint anti-terror mechanism, Admitting that J & K was part of India, Pakistan and the earthquake: part 1, part 2 & part 3, Indian bloggers' protest against his visit in April 2005 to watch cricket, different democracy yardsticks in Iraq & J/K, Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service grounded, Manmohan rejects Pervez's three-point solution for ever-lasting peace in Kashmir ™, Musharraf's claims on Indian soldier deaths during the Kargil war, cuts in Pakistan armed forces announced, sabre-rattling over lack of progress in talks, Kashmir issue will be resolved by the end of 2004, among many others that I may not have trawled through!
Labels: jammu and kashmir, kargil, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
The Pakistani connection to North Korea's nuclear test
The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty can be thrown in the dustbin now.
Three years after it became the first nation to withdraw from the treaty, North Korea, which went online a couple of years ago and where the government tells you what haircut to have, yesterday announced that it had conducted a nuclear weapons test.
Sources close to the North Korean government confirmed to this reporter that Dr. AQ Khan was among the first to call up the Chairman of North Korea's National Defence Commission to congratulate him on the test. There's apparently also been TV footage of workers at the site frantically clearing out debris which had references to 'Made in Pakistan' and 'Made in China'.
Previous posts on Pakistan's involvement in North Korea's nuclear programme: Musharraf and Karamat knew, as did Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, an exposé by The Observer and an investigation by The New York Times.
Labels: aq khan, musharraf, north korea, pakistan, proliferation
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Yesterday, on the sidelines of the 14th summit meeting of the Non-Aligned movement, comprising 'non-aligned', responsible and distinguished countries such as Angola, Burkina Faso, Congo, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Brunei Darussalam and Suriname, India's Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) met Pakistan's President (General Pervez Musharraf).
Declaration #3 of their joint statement had me wondering if I should laugh or cry. It also made Nitin fall off his chair. It reads
The two leaders met in the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts. They strongly condemned all acts of terrorism and agreed that terrorism is a scourge that needs to be effectively dealt with. They decided to put in place an India-Pakistan anti-terrorism institutional mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations.We're going to work with Pakistan to setup an "anti-terrorism institutional mechanism"? India does have this institutional mechanism. You can refer to it by various names: India's armed forces, military, defence forces, etc. What Pakistan brings to the table is the terrorism institutional mechanism. You can refer to it by various names: ISI, Government, proxy-warfare, etc.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Karan Thapar fails ... or does he?
When I read Karan Thapar's chat with Arjun Singh about the whole ruckus, I'm inclined to believe that the HRD minister has so beautifully internalized (to borrow a Kaavya Viswanathan cliché) what the bureaucrats portrayed in the 'Yes Minister' series kept doing - stalling, providing vague answers, being non-committal, etc.
I couldn't spot a single firm reply to any question that was thrown at him. It'd be interesting to do a statistical analysis of his replies. Chances are above 70% of the answers would have referred to 'Parliament is supreme' or 'Cabinet decisions' etc. I've never really had any respect for him. His performance in the interview has meant that I have lost complete faith in his ability to carry out his responsibility as my government's minister.
Overall though, a poor show from the "Devil's Advocate", given how he manhandled Pervez Musharraf a few months ago. Then again, he was successful in making it obvious, yet again straight from the horse's mouth, that Arjun Singh is content to hide behind Parliamentary decisions and collective responsibility to justify the decisions taken rather than come out with the reasons and statistics to back up his [and the government's] verdict.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Pakistan's announcement about considering the case against Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan as being 'closed' is irresponsible, shocking, and entirely predictable. It merely provides a final act to the clean chit he received earlier this year.
Given the way Iran has increased the stakes on its nuclear ambitions, the admission last year by a Pakistani minister that AQ Khan sold centrifuge technology to Iran is proof of Pakistan's refusal to acknowledge the role played by the government and military establishments in the nuclear blackmarket, where China features prominently as well, despite it being a signatory to the NPT.
Pakistan has consistently rejected any attempts by the IAEA etc. to directly interact with the metallurgist. It has successfully stalled the investigation thanks mainly to the US government's willingness (or convenient 'incompetence'?) to not step up the heat on the proliferation issue as long as Pakistan helped with capturing Osama bin Laden.
The nuclear agreement between India & the US perhaps lends credence to the belief that Pakistan's proliferation record effectively ensured that India would benefit more when it came to nuclear co-operation.
Pervez Musharraf's comments in 2004 about how he knew all about it but had no proof, which is why he had to pardon Khan for he knew not what he was doing, were a complete load of bullcrap.
This issue can not be considered closed by India, the IAEA, the US and the other signatories to the NPT. Tough questions must be asked and answers extracted. The carrot approach has obviously not worked. It is now time for the stick to be used.
Labels: aq khan, iran, musharraf, pakistan, proliferation
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
The nuclear deal and unclear opposition
The India-US nuclear deal signed last year has had its share of detractors. There has been a lot of talk about whether India was pressurized into twice siding with the US over the vote against Iran in the IAEA board meeting.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a 'suo motu' statement yesterday where he defended the deal and made it clear that India's military programme would not be compromised during the separation process. A column by Placid Rodriguez, former Director of the IGCAR, Kalpakkam, looks at the deal from an interestingly different perspective. He reckons that a stagnant US civilian nuclear programme stands to lose a lot more if the deal doesn't come through.
Meanwhile there is a lot of opposition to US President George Bush's visit to India tomorrow. Although my letter published in 'The Hindu' was in a different context, the gist still holds good. Protests, as long as peaceful, can be tolerated in a democracy. The moment they turn violent, regardless of the political affiliations of those involved, it is the duty [and right] of the government to protect citizens from law and order problems. Arundhati Roy is amongst the 'Go home' brigade.
I don't really care much for his visit. If he'd visited Bangalore, we may have at least seen some urgent filling of pot-holes etc. to make the city look better. Of course, I do wonder where all these protestors went when Pervez Musharraf came to India to watch a cricket match. So a dictator, responsible for Kargil & the problems in Jammu & Kashmir, is acceptable, but not George Bush? I find that hard to swallow!
Labels: iran, musharraf, nuclear, nuclear agreement, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Straight from the horse's mouth
CNN-IBN is right now screening Pervez Musharraf's interview with Karan Thapar. I haven't been able to find the transcript of the interview on their site. They'll perhaps put it up soon.
Karan Thapar asked him something about the recent problems in Balochistan and some killings in Waziristan. To that his reply was (not verbatim)
So what if some people are killed in Waziristan? In India, see what is happening in the North-East, Kashmir, Bihar. Does this mean India is going to pieces?Forget the mentions of the North-East and Bihar. Musharraf has effectively admitted that Kashmir (the state of J & K in fact) is part of India.
Having made it a habit of making bold statements and conducting diplomacy through the media, he will perhaps realize now that sometimes, verbal diarrhea, can be a bad thing! Then again, this is as bold as he can get!
Update: The transcript is online and this is what the sequence was
Karan Thapar: Even on Friday, papers said that eleven people were killed in Waziristan and the hand of suspicion is pointing towards the Taliban.
President Musharraf: So, what is the problem if eleven people have been killed? How many people die in India? There are people dying in the North East of India, in Kashmir, and in Bihar. There are so many insurgencies in India also. There are about eighteen insurgencies going on. Is India breaking-up?
Labels: jammu and kashmir, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Why bother about a hotline when you have the media?
Pakistan's Public Relations Officer President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has once again chosen to use the media to announce his latest and greatest solution for the issue over the Indian state of J & K. In an interview with Karan Thapar, he proclaimed that India should move troops out of Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara. He then says that he will do what is required to ensure that militants stay quiet. At the same time, he also adds in the disclaimer that he couldn't possibly ensure that not a single bullet would be fired, but that if such a situation arose, Pakistan would co-operate with India in bringing the culprits to book.
Like they say, it is deja vu all over again. Where've we heard this before? Of course, this is just the same old wine in the same old bottle. In September, when India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met him in New York, Musharraf had apparently tried to get US President George Bush to interfere and sought his help in getting India to agree to move troops out of the same three places, Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara.
In yet another show of diplomacy through the idiot box, he invited Manmohan Singh to watch any of the cricket in the India-Pakistan series which got underway today with a tour game. I wonder why he didn't speak to Doordarshan. It'd have at the very least been a nice tagline: Diplomacy through DD. This is obviously in response to the Indian government's invitation last year to Musharraf to watch the cricket series.
The Indian government has not reacted yet. Watch out for their take, on the Ministry of External Affairs website. It is highly unlikely that the reaction will be positive and will point out the fact that the issue of pulling out troops hasn't been raised in any official channel but only through the media. It will also address the issue of an invitation not being offered through the official channels.
Update: The MEA has reacted.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Unconfirmed reports suggest that several pigs were seen flying over various parts of Pakistan shortly after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri told reporters that Dr. AQ Khan's clandestine nuclear network was now totally dismantled.
A couple of days ago, 'The Guardian', through access to a confidential report by a European intelligence service, revealed that Pakistan is still at the centre of the nuclear black market.
Previously featured here in the same context: Pakistan sold centrifuges to Iran, AQ Khan was just a metallurgist, no access to Khan & co., CIA confirms Pak-Iran joint venture, why the US won't bother, IAEA confirms Pak-Iran JV, Nawaz Sharif says he knew, how India should counter Pakistan's role, no proof from US, Pak's JVs with Libya and North Korea, Bhutto, Sharif and Musharraf in ignore mode, 'The Hindu' editorial, official government seal on AQ Khan's brochure and 'New York Times' editorial.
Labels: aq khan, iran, musharraf, pakistan, proliferation
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Four years after the Parliament attack
December 13, 2001 saw terrorists launch a brazen attack on India's Parliament. Last year, I wrote about the personal fortunes of some of the key people in that episode. Nothing much has changed since then.
| Who | Dec 13 2001 | Dec 14 2004 | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB Vajpayee | Prime Minister | Former PM, ousted six months ago | Still a former PM with even less influence on his party, out of a job for over 18 months |
| LK Advani | Home Minister | New BJP President | Soon to be former BJP President |
| Maulana Masood Azhar | Head of the Jaish-e-Mohammad | Free man, let go by Pakistan court | Still free. Did he have a hand in blasts in London? |
| Pervez Musharraf | President | Islam spokesperson, blue eyed golden boy of the West | Continues to be President of the origin of all terror, cricket diplomat, PR machine and betrayer of quake-hit Kashmir |
Pakistan has continued to get away with it. Four years on. This is shameful.
Labels: 2001 parliament attack, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
The Pakistan military's attitude towards the earthquake
In the context of my earlier post mentioning Salman Rushdie's thoughts and Nitin's post on the military's attitude, I found this piece by Muralidhar Reddy in 'The Hindu' a couple of days ago illustrative of the Pakistani establishment's approach to the earthquake.
He writes about how during the recently concluded SAARC summit, there were only cursory references to the quake victims and relief efforts to mitigate their suffering. Instead, Pakistan continued to stress on how if India demilitarized the area, the wounds would heal by themselves. If India was in a conciliatory mode, Pakistan lost all credibility when blasts went off in Delhi. Jammu & Kashmir has been attacked multiple times in the last week.
But should we really be surprised? After all, Pakistan was more focussed on haggling over helicopters and about accepting relief from India at a time when rapid action was needed. In February, it had no words of solace for those that it claims to support diplomatically and morally when they were buried under snow.
Labels: jammu and kashmir, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Rushdie: The greatest calamity of all may lie ahead of us
In an evocative piece in The Times, Salman Rushdie points out that with winter almost upon the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the absence of substantial aid and relief could ensure that more people suffer and die.
But the people of Kashmir deserve better than they are getting. They certainly do not deserve to be subjected to a kind of "political test" of aid-worthiness. Yet, ever since the day of the earthquake, people in the US and Europe have been asking me and many others the same politically loaded questions: will the disaster "help"? Will it allow India and Pakistan to sink their differences and, at long last, make an end of their long Kashmiri quarrel? It has been hard to avoid the conclusion that Western attitudes to aiding Kashmir are dependent to some degree on the answer to these questions being "yes".He is practical enough to rightly realize that the romantics' wish that this disaster would perhaps bring India and Pakistan closer to each other will remain just a pipedream, given the fracas over helicopters and accepting relief from India. In fact he seems to suggest that aid is being given with the hope that the differences between the two countries will vanish overnight, just as Pervez Musharraf's wish for the Kashmir issue to be resolved overnight.
Alas, the answer is "no". India and Pakistan are still mired in mutual suspicion, as the saga of the Indian helicopters revealed. (India offered them, but Pakistan refused to accept unless they were flown by Pakistani pilots, a condition that India in turn refused to accept, and, in the meanwhile, the quake victims went right on dying.) Also, as the murder by militants of a Kashmiri moderate politician showed, and as the bombs in Delhi would seem to confirm, there are Islamist groups who are determined to continue to sabotage any improvement in Indo-Pakistani relations, and as long as those groups find sanctuary in Pakistan, a peace settlement will be impossible.
Rushdie also hints at a potential compassion fatigue following last year's tsunami and hurricanes in North America.
Labels: jammu and kashmir, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Pakistan wants Indian helicopters, but not the pilots
In yet another instance of playing politics with quake victims, the Pakistan government conveyed to the Indian government yesterday that it needed helicopters to carry out relief work, primarily along the Line of Control. However, the request came with a queer rider. Pakistan would not accept Indian pilots and crew.
The government had three options:
The Indian government wasted no time in rightly conveying to Pakistan that it was an untenable request. Indian helicopters would come along with Indian pilots. Take it or leave it!
Of course, terrorists who killed Ghulam Nabi Lone, Jammu & Kashmir's education minister, this morning in Srinagar were obviously not of the heartless variety.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Musharraf plays politics with quake hit in Kashmir
On Saturday, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale hit northern parts of India and Pakistan. The death toll is expected to go beyond 40,000 in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and 1,000 in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Aftershocks continue to create chaos.
Even as Pakistan battles to cope with the humanitarian crisis caused by the worst earthquake in its history and biggest in the region in the last century, its leader Pervez Musharraf has chosen to act cautiously on India's offer of assistance for rescue and relief work.
In response to India's offer, he said
Whatever we need, we will certainly ask, but there is a little bit of sensitivity there.
Wrong again, Pervez. Just as the common man couldn't care less about who Pakistan's allies were as long as he earned enough to feed himself and his family, educate his children and live comfortably, he would not bother about who sent in assistance to help him and his family members in their hour of need.
As Nitin succinctly puts it
There is a chance that India can save lives in Pakistan. That should be good enough a reason to accept Indian assistance.
I am fairly sure that had the quake happened in say Lahore or Karachi, Musharraf's response towards India's offer of help would have been more positive. Effectively he's saying that because of 'political sensitivities' involved, he is willing to stake the lives of tens of thousands of people living in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
This isn't the first time Pervez and Pakistan have been oblivious to calamities in Kashmir. Earlier this year, when avalanches in J & K left several hundreds dead/missing, Pakistan was mum when it came to even condoling with the losses suffered by people. Mind you, we are not talking of Pakistan offering aid. Even a mere statement expressing its grief was missing.
Update: Pakistan will accept aid from India in the form of blankets, tents, medical supplies and food but not helicopters or joint relief efforts along the Line of Control.
Labels: jammu and kashmir, musharraf, pakistan
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
The Pervez Musharraf PR machine
In a brief chat with TIME Magazine, Pervez Musharraf hints that his patience with the US is running thin. My guess is that it is because his attempts to get a civilian nuclear energy deal with the US to rival India's have been thwarted.
He prefers that Osama be caught by non-Pakistani troops outside Pakistani territory. Perhaps he means Indian troops capturing bin Laden in Kashmir! 
When asked about his countrymen's outlook on US-Pakistan relations, he says:
Before 1989, we were a strategic ally of the U.S. and fought a war in Afghanistan for 10 years. Then we got left high and dry. The United States then started to have a strategic relationship with India, which was in the enemy camp. What would the man on the street think?
No, Pervez. I'll tell you what the man on the street thinks. He thinks of when he is going to get his next meal. He wonders about how he is going to pay his rent, sending his children to a good school, taking care of his family. You take care of those aspects of peoples' lives, they pretty much do not care who you sleep with!
In the context of retaining his presidency and army chief status post 2007, he says:
As far as my being head of the army is concerned, yes, according to the constitution, I'm allowed to wear the uniform until 2007. That's the constitutional position. And I don't violate the constitution.
Ergo, change the constitution. Again!.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
That is effectively what the joint statement issued by PM Manmohan Singh and Gen. Pervez Musharraf says.
The two leaders referred to their earlier statements of January 6, 2004 and April 18, 2005 and reiterated their pledge not to allow terrorism to impede the peace process.
I've seen some reports suggesting that Musharraf had committed to violence and infiltration in J & K reducing by July or August 2005. The very fact that he had committed to it means that Pakistan certainly controls the terrorism tap, to open and close at its convenience.
Musharraf has tried to play a very nasty game with India. He asked Bush to intervene and get India to pull out troops from Baramulla and Kupwara.
In return for what? We do not know.
Why those two places?
Is it just a coincidence that Baramulla and Kupwara are two of the districts/areas invariably infiltrated and attacked by terrorists from Pakistan? They bear the brunt of the terror attacks. Perhaps Pervez was just trying to make it easy for his men to get into J & K.
Did you like the post? [ Subscribe to the blog feed - |
Some of the links may now be broken/not take you to the expected report since the original content providers may have archived/removed the contents.
All opinions expressed are mine alone. My employers (past, present or future) are in no way connected to the opinions expressed here.
All pictures, photographs used are copyrights of the original owners. I do not intend to infringe on any copyright.
Pictures and photographs are used here to merely accentuate and enhance the content value to the readers.
