Meaning of US rebuff to Pakistan

HISTORY seldom repeats itself, it is said, but whenever it does, the first time it is usually a tragedy.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif first dashed to Beijing and then to Washington to seek support for his misadventure in Kargil. That neither of them came up with ready support might be a temporary setback. While the Chinese advised their friend to find a bilateral solution to the problem through mutual negotiations, President Clinton’s joint statement with the visiting Prime Minister brings India a little more of a breather. There is nothing final or categorical in the President’s advice.

No wonder, the BJP-led government’s reaction to the joint statement in Washington was summed up by Doordarshan as “cautious welcome.” But their response to the Congress spokesman’s comments calling on the government to steer clear of attempts at third party mediation smacks not only of the desire to go it alone in the national endeavour to restore normalcy but also of a certain cockiness bordering on euphoria witnessed earlier in the wake of the Lahore bus odyssey. So much for the BJP’s sincerity in asking the Opposition parties to look at the Kargil question in the national context.

Further, it needs to be stressed here that the Clinton-Sharif joint statement leaves gaping holes insofar as it doesn’t commit the USA to vacating the aggression in Kargil but is yet another masterpiece in equivocal even-handedness. For example, Pakistan might, for the time being, hold back or deny army regulars’ participation in the action on the Indian side of the LoC, but hum and haw on the role of militants, mujahideen or intruders, in whatever way you look at it. Opposed though the USA might be to fundamentalists and militants, they may obviously not take a direct hand in the matter, and China may also look the other way.

Will it be possible for the Indian troops to go the whole hog and chase the mujahideen in hot pursuit to have our territory cleared? Will the international opinion stay put where it is ? From now on the government will be on its own, both internationally and internally, as the Opposition parties are not supposed to have a say in the matter. In view of the imponderable in the situation yet to unfold, one only hopes the government will not throw away what our gallant jawans won on the rocky terrain of Kargil in the cocky euphoria of what might prove to be no more than a breather.

J.N. NARANG
Chandigarh

Disabled soldiers

God and soldiers are forgotten in peace and prosperity, but thanks to the great coverage given by the media to the ongoing border war, the public has given overwhelming support and encouragement to the armed forces, which has definitely swelled the pride and dedication of the unknown soldiers who man our borders 24 hours, 365 days a year.

But it is unfortunate that the bureaucrats of the Finance and Defence Ministries, for reasons best known to them, continue to sabotage any proposal which is intended to bring relief to Ex-serviceman who got disabled due to injuries. Whereas all the other pensions have been upgraded the disabled officers and soldiers continue to draw paltry disability pensions. The Fifth Pay Commission recommendation to increase their pensions has been successfully stalled presumably on the ground that a rise in the disability pension for armed forces veterans will encourage a similar demand from civilian employees, totally forgetting the fact that 99.5 per cent of the disabled pensioners are from the armed forces.

The “one rank, one pension” formula has been totally diluted for armed forces pensioners on the ground that there will be a similar demand from civilians pensioners. Comparing the terms and conditions of service of armed forces personnel and civilians is totally absurd and illogical. If a comparison has to be made, then why are armed forces personnel denied continuous employment till the age of 60 as applicable to the civilians. Why are our disabled soldiers boarded out of service on medical grounds when civilian employees enjoy the protection of Section 47 of the persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which reads as follows. The importance of the life of a soldier will never be quite understood by those who have not gone through that unusual kind of experience whether in peace or in war. Most men who have gone through a single day of battle never quite feel that they were the “ones”, the “real ones,” those whose limbs remain intact think of the wounded and the wounded think of the dead. And yet it was the collective team spirit of the survivors, the wounded and the dead which carried the day. Unfortunately, this ethos will never be understood by those who sit in their cushioned chairs in the airconditioned offices of North and South Blocks in New Delhi.

It is time the government took an immediate favourable decision to increase the disability pension of the old veterans with effect from January 1, 1996, as recommended by the Pay Commission, and implement the “one rank, one pension” formula in letter and in spirit.

Lt-Col B.R. MALHOTRA (retd)
New Delhi

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Avoidable harassment

Nowadays admission tests for different courses have become a very expensive affair. Parents have to spend a lot of money in order to equip their wards to compete in these tests. But the problem becomes all the more aggravated when an avoidable financial burden is inflicted upon them due to the “could-not-care-less attitude” adopted by the authorities concerned. This fact is amply borne out by the following incident:

Counselling for the students seeking admission to the D.Pharma course in Haryana was to have been held on 2.7.99. But when the students with their guardians reached the venue — the government Polytechnic for Women, Ambala City — they were disappointed to know that counselling had been postponed to 9.7.99. On making an enquiry from the Principal why they had not been informed of the decision, they were told in a very casual way that the information through some newspaper had been given.

He never bothered to realise that a few lines in a newspaper in an abrupt manner cannot be deemed to be an effective communication, as different persons subscribe to different newspapers. Moreover, the result cards concerning the examination were dispatched after the decision of the postponement had been taken by the Director, Technical Education Board, Haryana. A line to this effect in the result card would have helped so many students and their parents.

If an individual letter to each student had been posted, a lot of valuable time and money of hundreds of persons would have been saved. But the distressing thing is that common people are taken for a ride and their botheration, financial loss and inconvenience seem to stir nobody’s conscience. This type of apathetic attitude towards the common man’s woes is really deplorable.

R.L. GOEL
Ladwa

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The sanctity of LoC

The pangs of Partition had not died down when in 1948 hordes of Pakistani raiders invaded Kashmir whose Maharaja Hari Singh had ceded with India. The Indian troops moved into action and, despite heavy odds and the Srinagar airport under virtual threat of takeover were able to push back the intruders from the valley and were marching ahead to liberate the whole of Kashmir, including the area known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. At this crucial moment Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, made the biggest blunder of his long political career when he refused permission to the troops to move forward and rid the entire valley of the intruders by announcing unilateral ceasefire. Thus came into existence this Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and with it the perpetual animosity between the two neighbours.

Kashmir became the sore point between India and Pakistan and the two wars of 1965 and 1971 have been the direct fallout of the same. The present Kargil conflict is the continuation of an era of hostility in which Pakistan has always taken the lead. Economically both countries are not on a sound footing and can ill-afford the spending on military build up. The political confusion on either side of the border over the years has kept the Kashmir issue alive. This is a readymade ploy to engage public attention when there are failures on the home front. The nationalistic fervour of the propel is stirred up in the name of the defence of the motherland.

The Kargil misadventure of Pakistan has once again thrown up the question of sanctity of the Line of Control, which Pakistan has violated with impunity India has been able to isolate Pakistan in the international arena. The American leaning towards India and refusal to mediate has taken Pakistan by utter surprise. But it seems the Americans have realised where their economic interests lie.

For them India is a ready and big market for their products, and the Indian Government has introduced full scale privatisation. These are the real reason for this pro-India stand of America.

SUSHIL KAPOOR
Chandigarh