Why Clinton Should Not Visit Pakistan: an Indian Viewpoint

feel sorry for you,I wish you health and a normal life.Best wishes

To the CAUSE OF KASHMIR

CAN ANY PAKISTANI CONFIRM THIS

TO Ali1, alireza, fairdinkum and others who harp on babri masjid.

I have never heard of the distruction of temples in pakistan in response to babri. The following is from news international, jang of today. Can any one confirm this.

Since we have a selective memory, few would recall that some Pakistanis demolished many temples as a reaction to the mosque demolition. Have you heard of any Pakistani ever arrested for destroying those temples or attacking the Hindus? There is a BJP government in power in the state of Gujarat that permitted its civil servants to join Kuppahali S Sudarshan-led RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh); the state government justified its action on the ground that RSS is not a political but a cultural outfit. This permission led to such an uproar in the Lok Sabha and such condemnation by the print media that the BJP eventually bowed to public pressure and withdrew the authorisation on March 8, 2000.

The above anomalies may not be written or talked about in Pakistan but the world community is not deaf, nor is it dumb. They see India as a Third World country attempting to maintain democracy and secularism; they all wish it well because this is the system that most of them also subscribe to. On the other hand, ours is a country which is gradually shifting into the hands of mullahs who talk of Islamic bombs and missiles and who wish to rule the whole world. What an irony because, at present, they cannot even rule themselves. They see India as a country where even the minority communities surpass the population of their own nations and then there is Pakistan where even a single conversion of a Hindu or a Christian is reported in all the major dailies, including the English ones.

We can no longer have it both ways. We cannot aspire to be a fortress of Islam and wish Clinton and Tony Blair to be our best friends. If we want to be Green Fortress, then we will have to content ourselves with Afghanistan`s Mulla Omar and survive like Afghanistan. No one in the world is asking us to change our religions. Islam, in fact, is the second largest belief in many of the countries. All that the world asks us to do is to respect other faiths as well. It is not good enough to say that minorities enjoy full protection of the state. The minorities in Pakistan cannot vote with us; they cannot be elected with us; they cannot become ministers; they are almost non-existent in our armed forces and civil service and the judiciary.

Most important of all, we wish all of them ideally to convert to Islam for their spiritual salvation. I am not so worried about theirs as our own religion because our scale of corruption increases manifold just before Eid during the holiest of holy days in Islam.

ANOTHER PAKISTANI REMEMBERS

Suddenly the pakistanis seem to remember that their notion of `freedom` was always weak. Their notion of dignity was always with respect to india only, a consequence of TNT. The following is from dawn, opinion, of today.

To add insult to injury, at the very moment that the US missiles were cruising over Pakistani air space from its territorial waters, a US army general was sitting in the VIP lounge at Chaklala airport with the then COAS, holding a meeting at the former`s request to assuage any wounded pride. No wonder then that the official Pakistan response to the violation of its air space was lukewarm and muted, and came only after a few missiles had been found to have gone astray and landed in remote parts of Balochistan. Yet, this brazen action of the US drew not a word of censure from the UN or from the European Union or other champions of democracy, human rights and rule of law.

Roedad Khan, and his ilk in India, make for eloquent reading. After they retired, of course. If Roedad was so upset about Bhutto not being permitted in why didn`t he just quit his job and maybe write articles to wake his people up, then?

It is his sort, in India and Pakistan, who claim that we are our worst enemies. It is in their petty OxBridge interests (with Leftist diversions . . .) to keep us fighting. Do the people say we are our worst enemies?

Stand on top of a hill of excreta and try to tell others that we should fight each other to save it! It is about time Indian and Pakistani people realised that we are our only friends and that the truth is that it is in everybody else`s interests to keep us fighting.

I ask again: has anybody seen the dignity with which our soldiers exchange bodies? There is a lesson here . . . if they can do it, why not the rest of us? Treat each other, living or dead with dignity . . .

temporal #23 the article by Roedad Khan ends with the following poem that I think deserves repeating:

Who is in charge of the clattering train?

The axels creak, the couplings strain

And the pace is hot, and the points are near

For sleep has deadened the driver`s ear

And the signals flash through the night in vain

For Death is in charge of the Clattering Train

With nuclear weapons in the sub-continent, let us all pray that this poem does not apply here. I find truly strange that there is no thought given in his article to the simple way to pull the runaway train to a halt: make peace with India, and accept LoC as international boundary. After all, there are over a 100 million muslims living in other parts of India, so what is so terrible with 10 million Kashmiris living there as well?

Temporal #23 Raodad Khan

What a nice article.

Let me tell U why Pakistan is in deep trouble. U need people with ideas, innovations and free thinkers for it teaches U right from wrong,good from bad, unscruplous from scruplous and brave from cowards. Pakistani society has become a community of obedience. Some one is always telling them what to do. Americans, Afghans,Russians and Saudis. Why should it come as surprise to Pakistanis when Americans took over Islamabad and even serving Generals had to be screened by SS/FBI. It did not happen in New Delhi when Indian Security told politely and firmly that we Know our Job(See Hindustan Time report)

As reported in Ur article even Bhutto was not allowed to visit the base which was in Pakistan. SHARAM SE DOOB MARO. WAKE UP.

Oh....OH ...it is too much.. IT IS GULKANDH TIME AGAIN... Sameer JB Do some thing.

From The Deccan Chronicle, sometime last week. MJ Akbar is a prominent journalist and was/is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Sadhana

A job offer to Mr Clinton

By M.J.Akbar

By this time next year, President Bill Clinton will have nothing to do in America except wait for the Nobel Peace Prize award. By this time next year, the coalition in charge of the governance of India will be tense, fragile and immobile, and the Opposition Congress comatose, so there seems to be an opportunity for a creative marriage of opportunities.

The genuine adulation offered to Bill Clinton by both the ruling and the ruled class in India suggests an option. Moreover, Clinton has clearly loved his India visit; his Irish eyes were twinkling as he danced in Nyala, and this empathy is important for the proposition to work.

We should invite Bill Clinton to head a national, all-party government in Delhi after he retires from his job in the United States. I can see several distinct advantages.

To begin with, there would be no legal problem. All Bill Clinton would have to do is to become an Indian citizen, and that is surely within the President of India`s powers to grant with speed in a matter of such national importance.

There is, as we know so well, no bar on Persons of Foreign Origin becoming Prime Minister of India. It is also certain that the BJP government will do nothing to change this situation because, as is being made clear by every BJP theoretician in the Rajya Sabha, it is in the BJP`s vested interest to keep Sonia Gandhi the leader of the Opposition and claimant to Atal Behari Vajpayee`s job: as long as she wants it, Vajpayee`s job is safe.

Although the BJP had promised to bar a POFO from becoming Prime Minister by law, it has done nothing. The one man keen on pushing through such a statute, Purno Sangma, is being fobbed off with endearments and excuses. His effort to raise this issue at the first meeting of the Constitution panel was ignored.

On the other hand, the prospect of a Clinton prime ministership could make the BJP rush towards Parliament, waving an amendment. Fortunately, the Congress would fight this to its dying breath.

It might die in the process, but it would not be buried without a fight.There is, next, the psychological aspect to consider: would Indians, the voters who are in charge of our destiny, accept a foreign Prime Minister. So far the answer has been a categorical no.

They rejected Sonia Gandhi`s bid to become Prime Minister and show no indication of changing their mind. It would, however, be in Sonia Gandhi`s interest to break this psychological barrier by using Clinton as a sort of cat`s paw.

After all, Clinton would not want to live in India for ever; no one with a Green Card wants to live in India beyond a certain point. Having established the merits of foreign rule through Bill Clinton, Sonia Gandhi could then argue a more persuasive case in the post-Clinton general elections.

Congress strategists should think this through before dismissing the prospect of Prime Minister Clinton. The voters have already established an affectionate bond with Clinton; they have even found an Indian name for him: Quintal.

Two weeks on the hustings - just a fortnight, no more - and Clinton would sweep any election in India. You can check this out with any psephologist, including those who got the Bihar Assembly elections wrong (in other words, all of them).

The Clinton support base would be unique; the rich would be as eager to vote for him as the poor. Which Indian businessman would reject the option of sustained, unprecedented growth which Clinton would ensure for the Indian economy?

This is what we need in India above all else: an eight-year economic miracle. Clinton has a proven track record, and if he wants to put Alan Greenspan in charge of the Reserve Bank of India, welcome.

It is obvious, however, that even Clinton cannot achieve any such miracle unless the haemorrhage in Kashmir, which is draining us both economically and emotionally, ends.

Who else can create this political miracle, and sustain it, other than Prime Minister Bill Clinton? At one stroke, this would resolve the basic dispute over process. Pakistan wants, as its foreign minister Abdul Sattar has repeated in an interview to American media on the eve of the Clinton visit, third party mediation, preferably American, because, it claims, India is not interested in any meaningful dialogue.

India insists that the talks should be purely bilateral. With Prime Minister Clinton, the talks would be effectively both bilateral and trilateral, just as they were in the good old days of Lord Mountbatten. (In India, we have a precedent for

the most unexpected eventualities.)

Nor would there be any domestic reaction to whichever peace formula Prime Minister Clinton devised because he would be heading a national, all-party government.

Those who think that Clinton would not get bipartisan support need to be shown television clips of the reception he got when he entered Parliament. Saffron merged into tricolour as MPs pushed one another aside to touch the hem of his garment.

There was electricity in air, and teenage hysteria was brought under control only with some conscious effort. This man has multinational charisma, reader, to which he adds the sexual magnetism of youth and the driving force of a winner.

Height supplements a natural authority; he looks like a commander in chief who needs something more to command than what he has already. The world can`t afford to waste him, so India should be sensible and make the first bid.

There are countless supplementary benefits. The Indian taxpayer would not, for instance, have to pay for the Prime Minister`s security. That alone would be sufficient to balance the budget of a small State.

As ex-President of the United States, Clinton gets American security for the rest of his life. The only drawback is that American security agents would pass on some of their habits to their Indian counterparts, making life hell for the rest of us when the time inevitably comes for Clinton to return home.

And look what Clinton could do for the golf industry. One of the essential clauses in his contract would be the right to play golf twice a week on a course of his preference, in the right climate: given the variables we have, this could lead to a nationwide boom in the game.

Then there is tourism to consider. If India could merely provide the infrastructure for all those across the world who would want to come and see Clinton for either business or pleasure (do not discount the latter), we would get more travel trade here than Thailand.

Politicians from West Asia would almost certainly bring back the Arab tourist traffic that has shifted to the West.It is quite likely that the United Nations would have to expand operations in Delhi to accommodate requests for Clinton`s intervention in world affairs (particularly since Nelson Mandela is ageing).

It would only be in the natural order of things if India became a permanent member of the Security Council under Prime Minister Clinton. He could in fact return to the United States as our representative in the Security Council, although he would have to live with Senator Hillary there.

Astrologers who have done their homework are reporting that the best years of Clinton`s life are going to be 2002 and 2004, the latter being especially brilliant. It is obvious that Clinton cannot surpass himself in America; this crowning glory can only come from another nation. Let us make that India.

There is only one hitch. Clinton would be only 54 when he became eligible for the prime ministership of India. This is clearly far below our age-limit requirements. Madhavrao Scindia, Kamal Nath, Rajesh Pilot, Ahmed Patel et al are still considered youth leaders although they are closer to Clinton`s age than ChelseaÕs.

Prime Minister Narasimha Rao used to think they were too young even to be in the Cabinet; he never gave Pilot or Kamal Nath a Cabinet job, and handed one to Scindia only with the utmost reluctance.

Clinton could overcome this problem by assuring all the ex- and soon-to-be-ex Prime Ministers that he wanted the job only for a temporary period and they could all restart trying to get back their old job after he left.

It is likely that they could be appeased, purely in the national interest.This has been a selfish column. We have been discussing only what Clinton could give to India, not what India could give to Clinton.

India could give Clinton a job, and a bonus. The job would keep Clinton busy before his legitimate retirement age. The bonus? There are no stand-up comics in India. Clinton would not have to hear one more Monica Lewinsky joke from Jay Leno.

That is a huge bonus. If Madeleine Albright can be considered for President of Poland, why cannot Bill Clinton be considered for Prime Minister of India? There should be a nationwide campaign to make this happen.

I nominate our beloved Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Cho Ramaswamy, as chairperson of this campaign committee. Please take me seriously, Cho.

(MJ Akbar)

Kafir K Khan: I enjoyed reading you this and other posts. My post #7 was really fo Veeresh`s eyes only. He has mentioned in one of his previous article that his parents migrated from Jhang. I am more of an Islamabad person and speak potohari or Pahari much more fluently than Jhangi accent. Please keep posting your clear-cut and sharp opinions about culture and politics of the region.

Looking forward to seeing another ``Gulkandh Time``.

Alone in the ring

Roedad Khan

We cannot look back with much pleasure on our foreign policy during or after the cold war. First, we antagonised the Soviet Union, one of the two superpowers at that time, by joining the American camp. When the U2 incident took place, it provoked Khruschev into the dramatic gesture of drawing on the map a red ring around Peshawar. The spy plane, as we learnt later, had taken off from Peshawar, not far from the American base at Bada Ber. Not many people know that Mr Bhutto, as acting foreign minister, was not allowed to visit this base. When a request was made to arrange the visit, the base commander told me (I was then deputy commissioner, Peshawar) that the foreign minister would be welcome to visit the cafeteria where he would be entertained and served coffee and sandwiches. Mr Bhutto was keen to see the sensitive areas of the base and was, naturally, very upset when I conveyed the American response to him. He asked me if the American knew that he was the acting foreign minister. I said they did.

Rightly or wrongly, Pakistan likes to believe that in conjunction with the United States, it accelerated the demise of the Soviet Union by supporting the Afghan resistance and freedom fighters or terrorists as the Soviets used to describe them. In doing so, we incurred the wrath of the Soviets who issued a public statement saying that Pakistan was in a state of undeclared war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union is dead and gone but now it is America, our cold war ally and long time friend, which is painting us in the darkest possible colours and threatening us with dire consequences if we do not follow the right path. ``It is a dangerous area and we are worried about Pakistan``, the US National Security Adviser, Samuel (Sandy) Berger said in Jaipur, India.

``It is a country with deep-seated problems. It has political problems. It has terrorist groups that are operating out of Pakistan, and I think that in some ways one of the great dangers in this regions is the potential failure of Pakistan. And so, the message the president will give in Pakistan is `you have got to decide what is important here in terms of your own future`,`` Mr Hammer, another American spokesman said in India.

And to cap it all, before he left India, President Clinton publicly stated that there were elements in the Pakistan government which were supporting terrorism in Indian Kashmir. Once we could do no wrong in American eyes. Now we are in the dock facing all kinds of charges. We have achieved the impossible. We have the dubious distinction of alienating both the superpowers. And, to add insult to injury, America has found a new dance partner in India, our worst enemy. Pakistan is out in the cold, marooned, rejected, discarded.

President Clinton did not blink facts or mince words during his brief stopover in Islamabad. The Sermon on the Mount is the last word in Christian ethics. In his sermon on the mount, President Clinton, in effect, asked us, among other things, to bow our heads, give up our support for the Kashmiris; forget about their right of self-determination enshrined in umpteen Security Council Resolutions; forget all the promises made to the Kashmiris by Indian leadership and accept Indian usurpation of Kashmir as a fait accompli.

The tragedy is that Americans know that in Kashmir, India is faced with what can only be described as a terminal colonial situation. It is now abundantly clear that India can hold its own in Kashmir solely by the application of brute force. The population does not welcome its presence and would not vote for the continuation of its control in any electoral process which was remotely free. And yet, the massacre of innocent men, women and children by Indian security forces continues without arousing the conscience of the West. At some future time there ought to be someone capable of writing about the suffering of the Kashmiris without his hand shaking uncontrollably or his note paper becoming wet with tears. But that person will not be me.

In November 1944, Churchill told General Charles de Gaulle: ``the Russian occupation (of Eastern Europe) would not last. After the meal comes the digestion period``. The Indians have strong appetite but poor teeth and weak stomach and are, therefore, having digestive problems in Kashmir. The world has seen the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Soviet Empire, the British and French Empires. How can the Indian Empire in Kashmir be an exception and survive history? Sooner or later, the Indians will have to quit Kashmir. How many more Kashmiris have to die before America realises this and lends its support to the just cause of the Kashmiris as it did in the case of East Timor?

It`s a great pity that President Clinton did not condemn Indian atrocities in Kashmir and held out no hope to the poor Kashmiris during his five days stay in India. The war in Kashmir is like a fire and the great thing was to remove the inflammable material, the cause of the war. This President Clinton did not do. We are facing the greatest danger and emergency of our history since 1971.

Wars come very suddenly in the subcontinent. I have lived through a period when one looked forward, as we do now, with great anxiety and uncertainty to what would happen in the future. Today we are vulnerable as we have never been before. A great responsibility, therefore, rests upon those who hold power if, by any chance, against our wishes and against our hopes, trouble should come.

The situation is incomparably more dangerous today. In the past, we had or we thought we had American support, the so-called American shield, against aggression. We cannot say that now. We stand alone in the ring. As we stand today there is no doubt that a cloud has come over the old friendship between Pakistan and the United States; a cloud which it seems to me, may not pass away, although undoubtedly it is everyone`s desire that it should. If, God forbid, there arose a storm when we knew we were in the right, we should let it break on us and we would either survive or break.

At times of stress, Churchill often recalled some particular quotation that expressed his feelings. The quotation read, ``Fear not the result, for either shall thy end be a majestic and enviable one, or God shall perpetuate thy reign upon the waters``. At this time all those among us who see the perils of the future must draw together and take resolute measures to secure our safety. God save Pakistan. I have never prayed for the safety of Pakistan with more heartfelt fervour than I did on March 25.

In the history of states and of peoples there comes a turning point which is often a battle or an episode during a revolution. A turning point may also occur in a person`s mind. On May 28, when England stood alone, Churchill declared ``that England would go on fighting no matter what happened: no matter what happened: there would be no negotiations with that Man``. That was the turning point in the history of World War II. Churchill and Britain could not have won the second world war; in the end America and the Soviet Union did it. But in May 1940, Churchill was the one who did not lose it.

Eighteen days before this, on May 10, Churchill had become prime minister. Late that afternoon, he was driven back from Buckingham Place to Admiralty House where he lived. Behind the driver, he sat with Inspector WH Thompson, his bodyguard. Churchill was silent. Then Thompson thought it proper to congratulate Churchill: ``I only wish the position had come your way in better times for you have an enormous task``. Tears came into Churchill`s eyes. He said to Thompson: ``God alone knows how great it is. I hope it is not too late``.

Never in my life did I feel so hurt, so isolated, so lonely, so small, so humiliated, so threatened, so insecure as I did on that depressing day. Our moment of truth arrived on March 25. We are at the crossroads. Sometimes, once in a long while, you get the chance to serve your country. It has fallen to General Musharraf to carry the awesome responsibility and the heavy burden destiny has placed on his shoulders. He must prepare the people for the challenges that lie ahead and lead by example.

For Romans in Rome`s quarrels spared neither land nor gold,

Not son, nor wife, nor limb, nor life.

Such, I believe, is the temper of the hour in Pakistan today. Before the October 12 coup, there lay in my memory some lines from an unknown writer about a railway accident: ``Who is in charge of the clattering train/And the pace is hot, and the points are near/And sleep has deadened the driver`s ear/And the signals flash through the night in vain/For Death is in charge of the clattering train.``

I hope the clattering train has better luck now that General Musharraf is in the driving seat.

FORCE OF HABIT

Disarming of the pak troops on the orders of the americans, as it happened during the Clinton visit, appears is nothing new to the pakistanis. It is now that the spineless officials are coming forward to say that certain areas of pakistan were controlled by americans as the following opinion piece from jang shows. No wonder pakistanis still talk of indian agression in Goa etc. where they are habituated with US occupation and obeying their orders. I still miss the ex-army chowk pakistanis.

Alone in the ring

Roedad Khan

We cannot look back with much pleasure on our foreign policy during or after the cold war. First, we antagonised the Soviet Union, one of the two superpowers at that time, by joining the American camp. When the U2 incident took place, it provoked Khruschev into the dramatic gesture of drawing on the map a red ring around Peshawar. The spy plane, as we learnt later, had taken off from Peshawar, not far from the American base at Bada Ber. Not many people know that Mr Bhutto, as acting foreign minister, was not allowed to visit this base. When a request was made to arrange the visit, the base commander told me (I was then deputy commissioner, Peshawar) that the foreign minister would be welcome to visit the cafeteria where he would be entertained and served coffee and sandwiches. Mr Bhutto was keen to see the sensitive areas of the base and was, naturally, very upset when I conveyed the American response to him. He asked me if the American knew that he was the acting foreign minister. I said they did.

The day Bill Clinton landed in Pakistan, India
appeared to have won the series.

Ras

gymnosophist

Yes what is the deal with the fashion sense of these guys .. I remember Zia-ul-Haq injecting Kurta&vasket and Sherwani into Pakistani politics, personally I think he was a well-dressed man only if he would have gotten rid of `Surma` in his eyes.. Nawaz not so Shareef any more added Jinnah cap to the Sharwani mix.. and General/CEO/General Secretary/Prophet/Mr. know it ALL Musharaf can have new wardrobe now , since he is gonna stay for eternity .. His commando uniform reminds me of those redneck/antigovernment militia wooing to take on the US government! .. how about Armani suites ..

Ref Rooster-Blues #: 14

You said {but you have to promise that you guys gonna slap some pants on your dhoti-posh MP.. while standing next to Bill Bugha,I was looking for that Lycos search dog to show up with under pants for MP, just in case the wind started blowing from west and the rep. of the ‘Biggest Democracy’ got butt-naked !}

But the dhoti makes for good conversation; like the time my friend was in a bar wearing a dhoti (honest; he had spent the whole day at the temple and felt the need for some liquid refreshment rather late at night) and a curious woman (who was totally drunk) asked him if he was wearing anything under that garment. He responded, like all true Scots do when questioned about their kilts, ``That is for me to know and for you to find out.`` I guess if the wind had been strong, Bill Clinton would have had no need to ask.

Did you notice how as soon as somebody gets the job of President or Vice President of India, they take themselves off to the nearest tailor and get one of those awful jackets with closed necks. Almost like Pullman porters. And I find PM (Pervez Musharraf, in this case) actually has an army uniform made in that fashion. What`s with these guys? Don`t they have any fashion sense?

``It is a true democracy, a non-expansionist state`` The Washington Times, a paper I have good regard for must be kidding. India, non-expansionist? Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim, Junagadh, Mangrol, Babriwar, Manvadar, Goa... did I forget any of them?

Sure why not gymnosophist.. but you have to promise that you guys gonna slap some pants on your dhoti-posh MP.. while standing next to Bill Bugha,I was looking for that Lycos search dog to show up with under pants for MP, just in case the wind started blowing from west and the rep. of the ‘Biggest Democracy’ got butt-naked !

gymnosophist

Ref SameerJB #: 7

Any possibility you guys can drag President RAT into a barbershop and shave off his beard? The subconscious association in American minds would be with Ayatullah Khomeini. The first thing you guys need to do would be to do a marketing study with focus groups and see how you can improve your image. Even the Chinese wear regular Western suits instead of the Mao jacket.