A homage to Vajpayee

No Indian political leader would be more remembered in Pakistan than Atal Behari Vajpayee. We are convinced that he was always sincere in improving relations with Pakistan. He alone could not have single handily reversed the age-old antagonism that prevailed between the two countries. But he began the mission many years back when he was India's Foreign Minister and steadfastly kept at it, when he became the Prime Minister.
Unfortunately he happened to be the head of BJP, a party of extremist Hindus who are anti-Muslim and averse to Pakistan. And yet he took the initiative to visit Lahore with a view to reconciliation. The democratic govemment of Nawaz Sharif was receptive but our military was not. Vajpayee made a good impression endearing himself to us and some ice was broken. But it was love's labour lost as the army staged Kargill adventure soon after.
It proved to be a vainglorious adventure. We did bloody India's nose for a while but it did immense harm to shaky attempts at reconciliation. Vajpayee took it as betrayal. He lost face in India and was greatly disheartened in his endeavour to mend fences with the neighbour. It, therefore, speaks of his greatness that finding Musharraf chastened on becoming President of Pakistan he was invited to a summit at Agra. Surprisingly the two leaders hit off and the talks proceeded extremely well, so much so that it reached the stage of signing a joint declaration of an amicable understanding. But alas, it was not to be.
The hawks in BJP torpedoed the boat of truce before it could reach the shore. Musharraf came back empty handed but he did charm the public and the media to remove the impression that he was a villain to be distrusted. Vajpayee concluded that Musharraf was a man to do business with as he was capable of delivering. However, before the broken threads could be picked up again, international developments changed the scenario.
Pursuant to 9/11 attack when America launched a war of vengeance against terror, with Afghanistan as the target. India rejoiced that Pakistan would also be the victim as the sponsors of Taliban. It, therefore, disappointed and irked the Indian rulers when Musharraf executed an unexpected U-Turn to abandon Taliban and become a friend of America as also an ally in the international anti-terrorism coalition. Now onwards the Indo-Pak relations started going from bad to worse culminating in India amassing a million troops along the borders to browbeat Pakistan into withdrawing Mujahideen - alleged to be Jehadi intruders - fighting in Kashmir.
Instead of cowing down, Pakistan responded aggressively and the two countries were on the brink of a nuclear war.
As luck would have it, diplomatic intervention by US-UK enabled wiser counsels to prevail preventing a possible point of no return.
By this time Vajpayee had secured a better grip on his govemment and was in a position to let bygones be bygones with Pakistan. He, therefore, sprung a surprise proposing CBM (confidence building measures) with Pakistan. At first hesitant, Pakistan soon responded with enthusiasm. One thing led to another. Diplomatic relations were re-established, flights restored, damaging propaganda was halted and delegations of ordinary people from both sides of border came over to endorse the moves for friendly ties. The trends of goodwill and amity reached a climax when Indian cricket team agreed to tour Pakistan and received royal treatment. Attendance of Vajpayee at SAARC summit at lslamabad in January provided an opportunity to formally seal an agreement to resolve all issues and disputes including Kashmir, which had kept the two countries apart, by negotiations to strengthen the emerging bonds of friendship.
General elections in India scheduled for April 2004 delayed progress of the peace process. It was expected in both the countries that BJP would sweep the polls to enable Vajpayee to carry forward his mission of Indo-Pak amity. To the consternation of the government and people of Pakistan, BJP lost the election to Congress and its allies. The new government has hastened to endorse the outgoing administration's policies vis-a-vis Pakistan but the continuity has been broken. The feeling in Pakistan is that in the absence of a driving force as represented by Vajpayee, the process of reconciliation would necessarily slow down.
Vajpayee - a politician in Gandhian mould - is a poet, philosopher and a captivating orator in Hindi. He was respected on both sides of political divide in India and, therefore, in unique position to influence negotiations on thorny issues in the right direction. In this absence it would be an uphill task for Pakistan to forge ahead with hopes of achieving a breakthrough.
Vajpayee is still the Chairman of the BJP though not the leader of the opposition in the Loksabha. Advancing age and debilitating health may have slowed him down, but he remains an undisputed elder statesman of India. Let us hope he lives long and contributes towards the fulfilment of his dream to usher lasting peace in the sub-continent.