Pakistan should not have been brought into the ongoing Lok Sabha poll campaign as that can have serious consequences as it would become some sort of necessity to talk about the state of affairs of the neighbouring country to push the political narratives. That time was over long ago. Pakistan is not to be talked about as a factor in the campaign, though there should be a plan B as to how to deal with Pakistan after the elections. Realistically speaking, the references to Pakistan in the election campaign are irrelevant.
The time when Pakistan was a factor in the Indian politics is over. India has graduated to new heights, while Pakistan is lagging behind in every sphere of life. Islamabad is a symbol of the begging bowl and its implosion under its own weight of self-promoted terrorism. There is no comparison, except for the fact that India and Pakistan are neighbours of each other. As of today, this is the reality, but when the neighbor is helpless and under international scrutiny, there is no need for the larger country to make it part of the national discourse.
Pakistan indeed is watching the ongoing election campaign and the course of Lok Sabha polls in India It is viewing the Indian election campaign through two different prisms; (a) there is a sense of unease among Pakistani intelligentsia, business community and society over the way Hindu-Muslim discourse, which they feel is anti-Muslim and bad for the minorities in the country. Second, however, is a prism of positivity. India is seen as emerging super power, which is having say in the global affairs, and its accomplishments in space and other fields are held in awe. There is a mix of admiration and envy.
As the things have emerged over the past few years even after the abrogation of Article 370 by the government of India, scrapping special status and privileges of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, now split into two union territories of Ladakh, and J&K, Pakistan is keen to have relations with India for its own interest. It is missing on the benefits of trade on the road links that the two countries have, they are dependent on Indian imports via Dubai and other distant lands. There is a genuine interest and longing in Pakistan to have working relations with India.
Pakistan hurt itself for decades when it invested in using terrorists as its foreign policy tools in a proxy war unleashed in Jammu and Kashmir, in its illusion that the Himalayan territory could be annexed by inciting and engineering terror violence in Kashmir, or to blackmail India to decide Kashmir issue at its terms. There is no armoury against illusions and delusions, or to put it more simply, against day-dreaming.
There was a time, particularly in 1990s and early 200s, when India was vulnerable to blackmail. The leadership of the country could not chalk out a clear-cut path to address Kashmir issue. It alternated its approach between hard and soft measures. It would talk tough of ending terrorism, and it found a way in doing so by inducting more troops and giving them free hand in dealing with the situation as the troops liked- there was a protective shield of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that saved them from punishment under law for any act of omission and commission Alternatively, it would send messengers and appoint in interlocutors to bring separatist and even militant outfits on board. This led to a confusion of which Pakistan – sponsored militants and separatist took full advantage. of it.
The situation has undergone a tremendous change. Pakistan itself has contributed to Kashmiris’ disillusionment with it – terrorism and its dimensions were understood when the people started losing their loved ones in dozens when children were pulled out of schools to take to stones, which ultimately took them to graves or hospitals. Kashmiris watched the political deterioration where civil war like situation arose last year when army and former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s supporters clashed, and now when they are seeing what all is happening in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, they believe maintaining distance from Pakistan and its ideology of destruction is good for them.
Against this backdrop, people should have been allowed to take their own decisions, by bringing Pakistan in the national campaign is not a good idea, Pakistan doesn’t deserve that because Kashmir is showing more of positivity in the terror-free atmosphere. Any reminder of Pakistan at this stage is giving a wrong impression that Pakistan, even when it is ridiculed, matters.
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