"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
- Mahatma Gandhi
Lately, the Indian Goverment has gone blind when it comes to diplomacy towards Pakistan, but without an eye for the eye!
In the aftermath of the Mumbai Attacks, somewhere around mid- december 2008, when the Indian Armed Forces were on red alert, waiting for the political orders of a go ahead for pre-emptive strikes at different locations within Pakistan, one thought that this time atleast the usually sleeping elephant would awake and take some hard revenge. This revenge would not have been just for the victims of the Mumbai attacks, but for every Indian, who felt helpless and shelterless in their own house all those 3 dreadful days and many more before that. The mood was worse than 'enough is enough!'.
Fast forward 8 months, and still we have the culprit not been punished yet in our own country forget about the masterminds across the border. Things look just as pathetically bad as they were before, with no steps taken at all by Pakistan to bring the terrorists to justice and worse enough, India simply not doing anything to punish the terrorists. Rather, India has gone shamefully ahead in starting diplomatic talks with Pakistan, a day after the master mind of the Mumbai Attacks, Hafiz Saeed, is released by the Pakistani Authorities with much fan fare, and the usual reason being given as lack of evidence.
The much respected Dr. Manmohan Singh, PM of India, went ahead and made statements along with his Pakistani counterpart, such as "Dialogue is the only way forward and that Action on terrorism should not be linked to the dialogue process. Dr. Singh also stated that India was ready to discuss all outstanding issues with Pakistan." The reason for changing the decision of not having dialogue with Pakistan which was made post Mumbai in a span of just 8 months even when no steps had been taken by Pakistan to nail down the culprits comes as a surprise to many.
If analysed further, you would know the reason for this change in decision abruptly, comes from the behind the closed door pressure being put by the US on India. Everything between the political leadership of both countries just looks fine since the recent visit of the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to India, concluded. Even worse for India, was the signing of the joint statement in Egypt between the two Prime Ministers, which was very aptly named by the opposition as the "Sharm of Sharm-El -Sheikh". The Indian Authorities had recently also upgraded Pakistan by calling them a victim of terrorism just as India, though after the 'Sharm of Sharm-El-Sheikh' India has blindly downgraded themselves to Pakistan's level by allowing them to call India, sponsors of terrorism.
Analysing a little more and you would realise all the pressure generated by the Government just after the Mumbai Attacks was more so because the elections were around the corner, while now, the government when in power with almost a majority, has fallen to all the pressure of the US, and seem to have no zeal or the will to get Pakistan nail the terrorists.
The greatest return gift which could have been given by Pakistan to India after the recent joint statement, well, it has been the release of the main accused, the mastermind of Mumbai - Hafiz Saeed by the authorities in Pakistan due to lack of evidence. Nothing less than a slap on the face of the Indian government & its diplomacy.
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Sidharth Mehta
Dubai, UAE
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Key Tags: Sidharth Mehta, India Diplomacy, India Pakistan Relations, India Pakistan War, Mumbai Attacks Aftermath, India's Suicidal Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs India Pakistan,Nuclear Weapons India, Nuclear Power Pakistan, Political Crap, Sharm El Sheikh, Pakistan Terrorism, Disaster Sharm El Sheikh, Disaster Diplomacy India,
Hafiz Saeed
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Indeed the release of Saaed is a tight slap on the governments face and also a wake up call for the general public of india. Indian gov has a history of sucking up to the US when it comes to negotiations. Everytime I hear Obama and other US politicians giving speeches on peace and figting terrorism, it fumes my blood. Those speeches are all bull as the very next day they give Pakistan billions of dollars of aid, and they very well know where that money is funneled.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. They know where that money is channeled. Recently, high ranked officers in the US government have even agreed, that Pakistan need to curb on terrorism not just on its western border, but also eastern, and that the funds been given need to be utilised against terrorism, and not against India.
ReplyDeleteYet, when the US started to acknowledge this fact, our government has gone ahead and done this blunder of a joint statement, calling themselves sponsors of terror, and also sitting on the negotiating table.
it is really worth thinking on this...!!
ReplyDeletetotally impressed by ur blogging skills ALSO ;)
Very pertinent observation, i guess its time when we start voicing these concerns and issues at much larger level.. hats off to you Sidharth that at such a young age you think so deep and passionately for the country
ReplyDelete