Peace in South Asia

Recently, the J & K Forum for Peace and Reconciliation arranged a lecture in Jammu by the former Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, Dr.Amitabh Mattoo. The topic of the lecture was, Is peace possible in South Asia? The forum had earlier arranged a similar lecture by Dr.Mattoo in Srinagar last year. At that time the topic was, Peace Building in South Asia: An Agenda for Civil Society. In that lecture he had discussed a wider picture of a peaceful and reconciled South Asia of the future which we all needed to imagine and work for. He wanted us to go from Kashmir First to South Asia First. Once overall peace and reconciliation had been established in South Asia on a broader perspective, the minor conflicts like Kashmir would get automatically resolved. Peaceful South Asia is a very sublime and idealistic goal which all of us cherish to reach. Following the last year's lecture, I had pointed out in my column that it was not practically possible to have overall peace in the region unless the underlying areas of conflict are attended to in the first instance. It is true that unless there is an understanding at the higher level for establishment of peace, the smaller problems cannot be sorted out. All the problems are based on the trust deficit between the various stake holders. The first requirement has always been the establishment of mutual trust. In the latest lecture, Dr.Mattoo's theme was precisely the same that there was urgent need to establish mutual trust between India and Pakistan. According to him, the jingoist talk of war was out of question. War is no option at all. It was incumbent upon the civil society in the two countries to come forward to re-establish trust and strengthen the evolving democracy in Pakistan.

In fact, he suggested to Dr.Farooq Abdullah who was present on the occasion, to lead a group of 100 civil society members to Pakistan especially to disturbed areas to strengthen the democratic forces there. It is very encouraging to know that the people now realise that it is not possible to establish a peaceful South Asia unless we resolve the basic problem of mistrust. The major manifestation of mistrust in regard to Indo-Pak sub-continent is the Kashmir problem. Unless this core issue which has been plaguing the entire region for over 60 years is settled to the satisfaction of all the stake holders the peace in the true sense will continue to be illusive. Mr.Varun Sahni, the new vice-chancellor of the Jammu University also spoke during the event. He was more forthright in calling a spade a spade. He blamed the present scenario on the wrong foreign policy followed by the Indian Government right from 1947. According to him, Indians tried to befriend people in distant lands and totally neglected the neighbours. It is a pity that due to mutual bickering among the South Asian neighbours, the outsiders from distant lands were getting a chance to come here as the global peace brokers. We fail to realise that the so called peace envoys are in fact the very people who are responsible for the discord in this part of the world. They know that we have failed to look within and are looking outside for establishing peace in this region. In fact, they create as well as manipulate the situations to suit their aim which is total self-interest. Their recent mantra has been that the people everywhere are either with them or against them. Europe after two destructive wars has become almost one country. They have themselves realised the futility of war and removed all barriers but are selling us all sorts of gadgets and weapons to create and strengthen barriers among our neighbours. The recently announced budget has hiked the defense expenditure by 34% bringing it to Rs.1,41,703 crores.

The most jubilant people to see this hike would be the western armament companies. Pakistan is getting a similar boost from its US friends. How can one discuss peace in South Asia when the governments in the area are exponentially increasing their defense budgets? If war is not an option then why increased spending on defence? This is the greatest dichotomy in our part of the world. Whatever we do has two facets. We talk of peace and at the same time prepare for war. We repeatedly declare that the idea of war is preposterous as it will destroy not only the sub-continent but the entire South Asian region. At the same time we keep all our options open. This must be the height of hypocrisy! In such a situation the civil society which Dr. Mattoo wants to awaken appears totally impotent. There are umpteen organisations claiming to be working for peace and reconciliation. All of these aim at the civil society in both the countries. The track-II, the back channel, and the overt and covert diplomacy. No matter how hard one tries the civil society fails to muster the strength to over ride the internal political compulsions on two sides. The vested interests on two sides are more powerful than the civil societies. Afghanistan has virtually gone back to Middle Ages and the Americans are inducting more troops to probably take it to Stone Age? Swat in Pakistan with the recent capitulation of the government has gone to a period which may be beyond the Middle Ages. The events of Mangalore show that the Indian Taliban are not far behind. Where is the civil society? In such a situation the question, Is Peace possible in South Asia? becomes very relevant. Seeing the developments in our neighbourhood the answer can only be in the negative! The peace process which had been meticulously built over the years by the efforts of the progressive political leadership on two sides as well as by the active participation of the civil society received a tremendous set back by the events of 26/11 in Mumbai.

This shows how fragile a peace process without establishing the basic trust between the people of the region can be. A single incident can completely derail it. The problem has been the focus on elite civil society in five star hotels. The peace will not flow down from the five star hotels. It has to rise from the roots among the common people popularly known as the Aam Admi. They face same problems in the entire region. Poverty, ill health, hunger, lack of education, and unemployment. In spite of high growth rates, increasing economic power, and so on, there are millions below the poverty line. No South Asian State can claim to be a welfare state in the true sense of the often repeated phrase. We have to go a long way before we can reach the stage as it is understood in the west. The way forward towards peace is not meeting of high flown civil society with vested interests but the coming together of the common people. It would be more useful in the long run if the civil society keen on establishment of peace in South Asia wholeheartedly works for bringing together the common people in the region. We have to go beyond the symbolic confidence building measures presently being implemented for diplomatic and political consumption. The elite society on two sides has no mistrust. They share the same tastes, cocktails, and other fads. It is the common people who need their mistrust created by the propagandist media to be removed. Once in a blue moon lectures and seminars may highlight the problem but the real road to peace is the bringing together of the common people by forcing the governments to remove unreasonable restrictions on travel and trade. Umpteen high society delegations travelling between the two countries will not solve the problem. It is the everyday travel by thousands of common people which will ease the situation. Peace in South Asia is possible only if the civil society musters the power of the common people to break the barriers of mistrust. To do that they have to come out of the five star hotels!