As the fog of war slowly dissipated over the past weeks, a few aspects emerged from the haze like nebulous question marks.
First, the government’s policy in Kashmir. Besides proving the fallacy of the normalcy narrative, the terror attack and its aftermath scarred an already traumatised Valley. Kashmir has lived too long in limbo, its people squashed by the crushing foot of militarisation, censorship, and threatened demographic change while its lakes and meadows are pressed into service for tourism. Until the Centre takes its boot off the throat, the Valley cannot become normal, its journalists cannot write, its people cannot speak, and it will keep breeding an unhappiness that makes it easy for terrorists to strike. In Kashmir, a lot can be achieved with empathy than with force.
Second, India’s declared “new normal” in deterrence. While understanding that this emerges from a deep frustration with Pakistan’s continuing sponsorship of cross-border terror, it will only further destabilise the subcontinent. In 2016 and 2019 too, India used military retaliation, but this time the strikes had to be fiercer and deeper inside Pakistani territory. Future reprisals will further up the ante. While the idea may be to cripple Pakistan so that it shuts down terror camps, Pakistan is ruled by an unstable and aggressive military-mullah complex, now emboldened by China, and is unlikely to submit to any “new normal”. It will retaliate, as it did this time. Hostilities will escalate, as they did this time. International players will urge a ceasefire, as they did this time.
Does India want this recurring dance of war? Would it rather not focus on becoming an economic powerhouse that lifts millions out of soul-crushing poverty? India would be well served by investing more in the rapid development of border villages, high-end intelligence gathering, and pressurising the FATF and big powers to dismantle Pakistani terror camps.
Why intelligence? Because had the military strikes this time been preceded by one piece of hard evidence against Pakistan, there would have been two substantial gains. First, it would have generated spontaneous global support, as after the 2011 Mumbai attacks. Second, Pakistan’s military would have been discredited at a time when its home base was waning. Instead, India has been forced to send a global PR mission to garner goodwill even as Pakistan has promoted General Asim Munir to Field Marshal.
As galling as it may be to India’s more muscular politicians and generals, war between two nuclear neighbours cannot be contemplated. Instead, alongside punitive actions, we have to return to the much-discredited idea of dialogue. As often as they fail, talks are the only feasible long-term answer because they keep the doors open for solutions to walk in. Connecting at all levels—diplomatic, Track II, trade, sports, culture—is the only way to dispel the miasma of hatred that is being transmitted through generations. It’s not easy but, as Gandhi said, “If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Let’s consider one tiny change. Why not end the naked display of aggression that is ceremoniously enacted at Wagah and other border posts? While packaged as a harmless tourist attraction, the ritual serves to cement India and Pakistan as permanent enemies in the popular imagination. The mock belligerence is wildly cheered on both sides, hostile slogans are raised, fists are pumped—and not everyone realises it is make-believe. The daily drama inscribes enmity deeper into the psyche of two nations already scarred by the bloodletting of Partition.
Something else keeps the hate fires burning: prime-time television. The disinformation and hysteria spewed by these channels have eroded India’s global credibility considerably and spawned a generation of bloodthirsty citizens. That these anchors have successfully made hate the “new normal” should raise alarms in any responsible administration.
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