Interesting, to say the least, was the rationale provided by the respected Interior Minister regarding a recent “house arrest” of a well-known, let’s call him Mujahid for the sake of convenience. If my memory serves me right, just a few years or a few months back for that matter, our official stance about him was quite to the contrary. The neighbours and the US had stressed numerously that they wanted this Mujahid to be tried for his potential involvement in Mumbai attacks. The official stance was that there was no evidence implicating the person. Hence, the law of the land could not take its course, and all such cases were either quashed or dismissed. So much so that the dear Mujahid was seen on the TV channel challenging the US to act if they desired as his whereabouts were common knowledge. He was busy with his social work, and at times, whenever there was a rally organised by the Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC) or any Kashmir Day moot, he was seen gracing the occasion with his presence. The print and electronic media gave him coverage, and he defended himself with the utmostvigour and remained a highly vocal critic of the neighbours and their atrocities in the valley. With such a clean chit it was more like the respected Interior Minister was beating around the bush when playing the UN card against him and trying to sell his house arrest as an important international obligation for Pakistan to honour as Pakistan happens to be a signatory country to the UN charter. Amazingly inquiring minds did not question what such “new evidence” has emerged via UN, which seems to classify the dearMujahid as a security risk. Or if the house arrest was meant for his safety, what threats, if any, are out there against him? According to the Senior Analyst famous for his “invisible birdie”, it was a signal to the outside world that Pakistan meant what it said and it will go the extra mile to prove its sincerity. If memories had not faded, just a few months back when the dear Prime Minister had addressed the UN General Assembly about the atrocities in Kashmir Valley, he had dispatched envoys to the world to build Pakistan’s case about the Valley. One of his envoy upon his return, a bit frustrated, was quite vocal about his failure to make any headways with his hosts. According to him, his hosts after listening to the plight of the Kashmiris turned around and asked him, why Pakistan was protecting characters like our Mujahid? Quite a fruitless pitch at least 20 plus countries. It is equally interesting to note on this recent Kashmir Solidarity Day the former General and self-proclaimed President, decided to record a statement on the social media. Why social media and not a TV channel was a bit strange, as ordinarily he is seen on TV channels giving interviews, left and right, from his digs in Dubai. In that short message, the former commando was all praise for our Mujahid and criticised the government for succumbing to the pressures of the UN. This is the same guy who did not succumb to any pressure when he ran the show. Of course, he knew the difference between this age and stone age and took strong decisions only keeping the country first and foremost after the horrific attacks of 09/11. Getting back to the aforementioned senior analyst who had also mentioned that in the times of the Commando, all taps to the Kashmiri Jihad Enterprise were completely shut for good.Yet, the same respected Sr. Analyst, also said that Mujahid and his likes are “assets” in asymmetric warfare. The utility and benefit of such assets cannot be overlooked completely. One still wonders what difference would this house arrest make if any, as it cannot be indefinite and after a certain time the courts would be bound to grant a reprieve from this restriction on his movement. At that point, the signalling would be that things rarely change around this part of the world. Now, towards the recent spike in terror attacks around the country at various places; our folks have pointed the finger towards Afghanistan, where the terrorists are hiding and striking at their will, at any given day. It almost seems like these despicable creatures were out on a winter break and had come back with a lethal vengeance. According to our analysts, this new wave is to reverse the gains of the successful Zarb-e-Azb operation. The vague term “enemy” is used to describe, but discerning minds can decipher that asymmetric warfare through proxies, on both sides is being fought. Our side claims that it had called it quits for good, but the other side is still making all dents possible given the rosy CPEC scenario ahead. It is mind boggling where TV screens present hours and hours of analyses on both ends. The issues are made so complex and complicated that one wonders how in the world, there can ever be any solution. In reality, the solution is far simpler than all the complexities combined. It requires a strong will on both ends. To illustrate my point, I was having a Falafel at our local Mediterranean eatery, where I struck a casual conversation with a stranger sitting next to me. He thought I was Russian, which gave me a good chuckle and he was surprised to learn that I was a Pakistani by origin. He was a Lebanese Jew, and we exchanged a few words about the world and of course our newly elected President. At the end of our conversation, he said that two issues will not be resolved at least in his lifetime. One the Israel-Palestine and the other, being India-Pakistan conflict around Kashmir. He yelled in affirmative, when I said, in either case, both sides lack the will to find a middle ground and meet each other somewhere at least, half way. The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com and on Twitter @dasghar