Daily Times

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! – Patrick Henry

Thus spoke Patrick Henry, the man with the sword like tongue, one of the most revered founding fathers of United States of America. His above cry de coeur was a warning against the excesses of pacifism begotten out of the womb of the republican idealism of a new nation trying to find its feet in a polity freshly liberated from the yoke of British colonialism. Pakistan and India also being the legatees of a British colonial tradition have cried continually like the Patrick Henry’s “Gentlemen” but have found no peace.

Pakistan being the smaller and consequently more threatened protagonist in the conflict equation has been dancing a dangerous minuet with the wolves around her ever since its independence. After resurgence of the Nehruvian pacifism in the shape of Gujral, Manmohan, and Vajpayee for a brief yet sane interregnum in the Indo-Pak standoff the baton has passed again to the jingoistic Hindu nationalists subscribing to the ideology of right wing Hindu extremist outfits like RSS.

The latest and the most febrile reincarnations of the Hindu revivalism is the Modi regime that shuns pluralistic ethos while embracing the worst elements of the ethno-religious particularism. While the Modi government’s mollycoddling of Hindu militants advancing the cause of Hindutva has resulted in a recrudescence of religious and tribal atavisms inside India it has also inflamed passions across the borders vitiating the good neighbourly environment in the region. Pakistan’s dance with the biggest wolf in the region ie India has kept the whole sub-continent hostage to a military centric notion of security as against the more development friendly human security. India’s consistent attempts at being a bully on the block for the small neighbours alongwith a desire to act as a Gendarme in the service of the big world powers has condemned South Asia to a state of perpetual conflict where only the negative peace ie absence of war exists. Positive peace which is a result of removal of basic causes of war has eluded the two jinxed neighbours.

The denouement of the conflict drama being played out by the war has featured a very interesting human catalyst of conflict in the shape of the Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. He is an ex-intelligence operative who rose to be the head of Indian Intelligence Bureau and RAW before his present stint as NSA that began in 2014. The individual in his present capacity has adopted a larger than life role by making a strong case for “Offensive Defence” against Pakistan. The notion of “Offensive Defence” as articulated by Doval in his multiple TV interviews and symposia means taking the war inside the rival nation before destabilizing it through negative media campaign, acts of terrorism, and economic strangulation. He has been a most vociferous proponent of political, economic, and military subversion who has been holding forth on notions of hard power as currency of power in South Asia.

Ajit Doval who has claimed to be the main catalyst in devising a destabilization strategy against Pakistan has his imprints all over Pakistan. The tendentious logic of targeting Pakistan’s youth, their morals, educational state, and economic potential surprisingly strikes a very receptive chord with the people heavily indoctrinated in Hindutva ideology. The network of Indian spies and their hidden supporters in Pakistan indicates the operationalisation of the Doval doctrine ie destabilizing the government through multiple stratagems including psychological warfare, economic sabotage, and aggressive military deployment. The spate of killings in Pakistan because of acts of terrorism is an accurate barometer of the security situation in the country made worse through active espionage and subversion. Seven Indian consulates including the Kandhar mission have been scuttling deals and  exporting terrorism in the country. Despite heavy deployment by the regular military troops and the border fencing the saboteurs and terrorists keep burrowing into the mountain fastness of Pak-Afghan border for sneak raids.

After resurgence of the Nehruvian pacifism in the shape of Gujral, Manmohan, and Vajpayee for a brief yet sane interregnum in the Indo-Pak standoff the baton has passed again to the jingoistic Hindu nationalists subscribing to the ideology of right wing Hindu extremist outfits like RSS

Ajit Doval is an extension of the destabilizing continuum spawned as per a well thought out strategy by the self-same Indian establishment that led by the likes of Krishna Menon and BM Kaul whose ambition exceeded their competence. The duo blindsided statesmen like Nehru to pursue an aggressive forward policy vis a vis China. Brig Dalvi in “Himalayan Blunder” and Mawell in “India’s China War” mention that the decision to form 4 Corps at Tawang under BM Kaul, bypassing the Entire eastern Command was a military folly begotten out of the womb of political incompetence. It was a jingoistic and egotistical mindset personified by the likes of Kaul and Menon that created a happy paranoia of war leading to a military clash and humiliating reversal for the Indians. Nehru after the defeat in Indo-China War of 1962 was a broken hearted man who rued his manipulation at the hands of Indian hawks who misled him into a self-defeating showdown with Chinese. The present Indian political leadership is also confronted with the same old dilemma ie whether or not to believe the super patriots rooting for a sub-continental Armageddon, the only difference this time being the absence of statesmen like Nehru.

Any sane person can compare Nehru-Menon combine with the Modi-Doval duo and conclude the repercussions. The sub-continent is not being served well by the largest democracy on the world in the hands of warmongers who view all relations from the prism of power politics. In international relations the liberal internationalism and Kantian world view are celebrated as concepts that promote peace and cooperation amongst the nations. The concepts find no resonance with the Indian political and military establishment that continues to brow beat smaller neighbours. The responsibility to engender an atmosphere of peace and amity devolves on the largest protagonist in a conflict equation. India being a bigger nation needs to display greater patience in order to inspire confidence in smaller nations of South Asia.

The continual standoff that in fact is the negative peace is draining South Asia of its élan vital to stand tall amongst the comity of nations. It is time India jettisoned Ajit Doval’s heavily militarised confrontationist doctrine and embraced a peace centric world view promoting trade, economy, and culture leveraging the shared historical and cultural linkages amongst the SAARC nations. The choice is with India whether to opt for a peace dividend or continue getting pinned down like a Lilliput by the chains of the confrontational politics. Pakistan and other neighbours of the sub-continental colossus would continue dancing with the wolves unless there is a change of heart in India.

The Writer is a PhD scholar at NUST. E mail rwjanj@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, October 29^th 2018.