Editorial Finally better sense prevails at LoC After ten days of serious shelling at the Line of Control and Working Boundary that had left 13 Pakistani civilians dead and a number of others injured, Senior Pakistani and Indian military officials finally spoke to each other on the hotlineon Tuesday; and as it was expected they discussed ways and means to bring the flare-up under control. In the first contact since the skirmishes broke out, the Directors of Military Operations of the Pakistani and Indian armies had a direct contact in which Pakistani army’s DMO conveyed the country’s concern to his Indian counterpart and pointed towards the neighbouring country’s consistent, unprovoked firing on the civilian population living along the LoC and the working boundary. The two armies agreed to a ceasefire accord in 2013, and after a brief lull, including the latest flare-up, fifty incidents of violations by Indian troops have been reported so far–Nezapir Sector near Rawalkot is the latest sufferer. Lucky are the two nations who had made good escape from any full-blown war despite being locked up in countless military skirmishes taken place over the decades. There is hardly any other example from any other part of the world where such violent incidents occur with such frequency. Despite being faced with extreme poverty at home, both India and Pakistan make massive investment on raising their military might. In futile show of the military muscles, wherein no one gets any advantage or makes significant gain except lose to a major chunk of scanty resources generated from the cruelly taxed money of the people. Without going into the useless debate on who initiates the war-game; foregone conclusion is that the people, on the both sides of the border, are ultimate losers; simply because they are being ruled by incapable political leadership who had failed to resolve the lingering issues between the two states. Today, agree or not but history is the best judge that will give its verdict in years to come. Apart from the regional leadership, the world leadership too has shown its apathy towards the regional unrest. Their inability to bring the two states to peace may ultimately destroy their worth. Let’s not look to others for the resolution of our bilateral problems rather the political leadership particularly the Modi government should break its shackles of self-imposed hard-line against its neighbouring state, giving sanity a chance to prevail for which it is necessary to keep its doors ajar for the bilateral negotiations that had been suspended for quite some time as non of the two can impose military solution on other-no matter how far they go. Taking a fresh initiative from the military contact, the Indian government should agree to kick-start a political process wherein the people-to-people contact can be revived. It had happened before but was jeopardized by the hidden hands. All we need to do is to put in place a strict guard against the war-mongers. Salvation lies in a direct political peace process not in slamming doors on each other. Political statements and blazing guns never create an atmosphere of regional harmony and mutual understanding needed for a durable peace.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:49:31 +0000
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