Islamabad: It is not new for Pakistanis to be fed anti-India propaganda; it has, after all, been the staple diet in this country. Still, the noticeable upsurge in inflammatory statements by government functionaries against the “traditional enemy,” in recent weeks, demands interrogation. This is especially pertinent when one considers that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) talked peace with Delhi in the run-up to the 2013 general election, and for at least a few months afterwards.
The hawks will say that the government has been left with no choice given the recent “provocations” by Indian military personnel. But even if one was to take at face value the claims that “they” are causing all the mischief, border skirmishes have a long history and getting worked up about them is a case of much-ado-about-nothing.
The truth is that Prime Minister Sharif’s government, on account of “dharnagate” and Peshawar, has virtually ceded all policy space to the men in khaki. With this retreat has come a not altogether surprising memory recall about eternal enmity with India. Interestingly, things on the western border with Afghanistan appear to be going swimmingly. Functionaries on both sides, civilian as well as military, are issuing one feel-good statement after the other. Washington is, for once, satisfied with both Kabul and Islamabad (read: Rawalpindi), and “counter terrorism” strategies are being drawn up by all.
I admit I am sceptical of Pakistani officialdom at the best of times, but the “love Afghanistan” and “hate India” policy is nothing short of exceptional. Pakistan’s default foreign policy features suspicion against both the western and eastern neighbours. The now notorious “strategic depth” policy was based on the presumption that war with India was inevitable and that Afghanistan’s anti-Pakistani bias had to be overturned accordingly.
How, and why, has this straightforward conflict-laden worldview given way to the current scenario? My sense is that the powers-that-be, namely the US and China, have made clear that it is no longer acceptable to cultivate “strategic assets” in Afghanistan. Regarding India, our uniformed guardians have been given slightly more leeway (by Beijing in particular).
Quite aside from the dictates of our foreign patrons, there is also the small matter of India being the security establishment’s raison d’être.
The Pakistani state, since its inception, has been dominated by the military under the premise that India poses a threat. Just the fact that this is not said so openly anymore should not be taken to mean that the consensus within the military has dissipated. Aqil Shah’s recently published manuscript The Military and Democracy confirms as much. India’s rulers have played as big a role in maintaining tensions between the two countries as their Pakistani counterparts. Some Indian regimes are more hawkish than others the recent raising of temperatures is explained by the hyper-nationalism of Prime Minister Modi and BJP.
The difference between the two neighbours is that political forces actually design foreign policy in India whereas the military reigns supreme in Pakistan. More specifically, political regimes in Pakistan that try and make policy autonomous of the men in khaki are cut down to size. The most telling aspect of this calculus is the so-called “public opinion”. Even today, as violence eats away at the body politic, we Pakistanis can’t get enough of the tired explanation that foregrounds “India’s evil designs.” India’s ruling class also plays to the gallery, but the Pakistan factor in Indian politics is far less pronounced than in the opposite direction.
In the final analysis, we should be clear that peace at home, and in the neighbourhood at large, requires not a selective detente on our western border, but a renunciation of regional enmity. In any case it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the current “friendship” with Afghanistan is sponsored by imperialism hardly the recipe for peace.
Perhaps we do not want such a peace, and continue to believe that one of, or both, Afghanistan and India will eventually be wiped off the world’s map, pursuing whatever destructive policies we deem necessary to make this “dream” of ours come true. How this wishful thinking can coexist alongside our supposed resolve to rid society of terrorism is another matter altogether. That India-enmity is the military’s raison d’être is old news — those of us who will be foaming at the mouth during Sunday’s World Cup match should bear in mind that we are equally responsible for sustaining permanent war with our neighbours, and, by extension, in our own backyard.
By arrangement with Dawn
