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Old Foes, New Friends?

While the war of words and artillery duels across the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir may be hotting up, retired military officers from India and Pakistan are demanding peace. Late last month a sizable Pakistani contingent headed by four generals and brigadiers and including human right activists, intellectuals and journalists were meeting their Indian counterparts in Calcutta and Delhi, breathing peace and amity.

At a time when India-Pakistan relations are at their worst, the cry for peace is a welcome change from the heavy signalling between the two sides which has raised tension and the intensity of shelling on the LoC.

It was also last month that Pakistan's army chief and Chief Executive Officer General Pervez Musharraf had threatened "to teach India a lesson or two" and even held out a nuclear threat. Not purely by coincidence and also last month, his Indian counterpart, General V P Malik, warned Pakistan that cross-border terrorism and proxy war could escalate into a limited war. Defence Minister George Fernandes went one step further, saying: "Like in Kargil. India could win such a war."

But believe it or not, the Soldiers Initiative for Peace between India and Pakistan, established for the first time in the history of the two nations, was publicly decrying war. These soldiers were not old boys from pre-Partition schools going through the motions of a reunion, but sundry generals, admirals and air marshals from both sides whom fate had brought together to fight what Brigadier Talat Sayeed Khan of Pakistan described the "war for peace".

Semantics apart, how could soldiers traditionally exchanging insults and incendiary across the LoC come together to herald peace? Apparently, quite easily, at a 10,000-strong public rally in Calcutta, which included 300 delegates from J&K and some members of the Hurriyat and National Conference. Lieutenant General Nasir Akhtar (Pakistan) and Lieutenant General M M Walia (India) addressed the rally.

The Pakistani military contingent consisted of Generals Akhtar and Jamshed Malik and Brigadiers Talat Sayeed Khan and Rao Abid Hamid, the last also a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Previous exchange of military officers has taken place under the RIMC (Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun) old boys' banner, which has on board eminent former and serving members of government, business leaders and retired service chiefs. They are far too friendly to be able to promote peace seriously.

IPSI -- under the aegis of the Association of People of Asia -- is the latest movement complementing existing ones like Pakistan India People Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and Coalition for Peace (CFP). It is possible that IPSI will make headway since it consists of military officers, especially when the military is formally ruling in Pakistan.

At a one-day seminar in Delhi, a Pakistani delegate remarked that his country was in a catch-22 situation: "Unless there is peace, there can be no democracy; but peace means marginalisation of the army!"

Lieutenant General Nasir Akhtar described IPSI as a "historic beginning", adding, "The belief that the Pakistan military is not for peace is wrong. It is." Brigadier Talat said he was thrilled as this was his first interaction with Indian service officers. He noted that as both sides know the cost of war, they should explore the price of peace. "As people in uniform we will obey orders, but we can fight the war for peace too," he added.

He admitted that while Pakistan may be involved to some degree in cross-border terrorism, the entire blame could not be laid at its door. The Afghan war had changed Pakistan's culture and terrorism is big business now. He also suggested that some of the terrorists had become autonomous and the AK-47 a plaything. "The Pakistan government must try to stop theee loose cannons," he pleaded.

Educationist Karamat Ali from Karachi explained the Talibanisation of Pakistan and the growing clout of the mullahs as two sides of the same coin. The mullahs have issued a fatwa against signing the CTBT as they say the nuclear bomb is not just Pakistan's but also belongs to be rest of the Islamic world.

But one of the delegates who did not wish to be quoted remarked that the military was fully involved in governance. Military task forces had been formed to help in civil action like cleaning drains, desilting canals, etc so that they could get credit. They want to institutionalise their internal role while the legitimate role is external, he cautioned.

All the military delegates from Pakistan agreed that peace could be won now that there was a BJP-led government in India and military rule in Pakistan. The dilemma, however, observed a Pakistani intellectual, is that "peace and democracy are not compatible in Pakistan".

But IPSI, nevertheless, is a "brave start", he added.

General Ashok K Mehta