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| Track II or Bartering J&K - II | | Enemy within more dangerous than Pakistan, China | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 17: There are not only elements within the establishment who are posing danger to India. There are others as well. Take, for example, the so-called track II operatives. They have been active since very long. It would be only appropriate to refer to here what these track II operatives have done during the past three months or so to promote the Pakistani cause as well as the cause of the Kashmiri separatists.
On December 4 &5, Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) organized its two-day long national annual convention at Ashoka Hotel, Jammu. The speakers from Jammu and different parts of India and Pakistan opined: "Kashmir is not a territorial dispute between the two warring countries. It is also not a religious issue. It is a human problem which concerns the basic right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future. As such for any solution of this problem it is imperative to take the people of the troubled state on board. For the dialogue to be purposeful it must include every major stake holder-India, Pakistan and the representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir…We've to go beyond the sovereignty issue while redefining the `self-determination.' 21st century is the century of 'self-determination' vis-à-vis people, nations, culture, region, religion, and harmonized tradition. Goal is common civilization of humanity on the basis of which we've to build our structure of democracy and Human Rights…"
Participants from India included Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, Prof Agha Ashraf Ali from Kashmir, Ravi Hemadri, Badri Raina, Jatin Desai, O Vijayan and a number of persons from Jammu, including a couple of so-called academics. Participants from Pakistan included Chowdhary Muneer and Madiha, to mention only a few.
On January 29 & 30, the "track II" operatives met at Bangkok. The platform was provided by the Jinnah Institute, Islamabad, and Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. After the meeting, they issued a joint declaration: "The absence of a formal and sustained engagement on the full range of issues confronting India and Pakistan is unhealthy, counterproductive and dangerous. We welcome the forthcoming meeting of foreign secretaries in Thimphu and hope that the two sides will be able to prepare the ground for the resumption of a comprehensive and sustained dialogue. We hope that this will lead to a productive summit…We note with disappointment the difficulty in people-to-people contact because of the increasingly restrictive visa regime. We urge the two governments to adopt a more rational visa policy that facilitates contacts, particularly between media practioners, academics, students and business people… We reiterate the need to initiate institutionalized and regular dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the two countries. We acknowledge the increasingly crucial role of the media on both sides of the border in shaping public perception. Therefore, we encourage the media to help strengthen the constituency for peace in both countries. We exhort the opening up of the air waves to each other's television channels and other cultural products. We believe that South Asia faces serious challenges posed by extremism which undermine democratic and pluralistic societies. There is a special need to ensure that state institutions are not eroded and undermined by extremism... Terrorism is of deep concern to both India and Pakistan. Indian concerns about the Mumbai attacks in 2008 have seriously affected the dialogue process. The perpetrators of the attack should be brought to justice at the earliest. Pakistan has deep concerns about the tragic loss of lives in the Samjhauta Express attack. India has to expeditiously prosecute those involved and keep Pakistan informed. It is imperative that the continuous exchange of information on incidents of terrorism takes place... We believe that it is essential to review the efficacy of existing CBMs between the two countries and explore additional declaratory, unilateral, and mutually agreed Nuclear Confidence Building Measures…"
Participants from India included Maj General (retd) Dipankar Bannerjee, Dr Sanjaya Baru (former media advisor to Prime Minister), AS Dulat (former Director RAW), Sagrika Ghosh of CNN IBN, Dr Happymoon Jacob, Admiral (retd) Raja Menon, G Parthasarthy (former ambassador), Siddharth Vardarajan of The Hindu, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, to mention only a few. Participants from Pakistan included Sherry Rehman, President Jinnah Institute, General (retd.) Jehangir Karamat, Brig (retd.) Ambassador (retd.) Humayun Khan, Ambassador (retd.), AVM (retd.) Shahzad Chaudhry, Nasim Zehra, Dr. Rifaat Hussain, Moeed Yusuf, Brig (retd.) Feroz Khan and Sehar Tariq of the Jinnah Institute. (To be continued) |
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