Bar the din over “war” trophies, it’s quiet on the Western front with troopers on both sides reverting to the boring tedium of the routine, shelling, bombing and in the case of the valley taking no chances with spiraling militancy. Not quite, though, given the wind bags on either side – God alone knows what sustains the breed – who haven’t lost a minute of their waking hours in telling that a scrap of metal, less than square foot in dimension, was on offer tell tale proof of a Pak aircraft being downed. Nobody needed to be convinced because it was clear already that the IAF and the PAF had had a fair share of the mini battle along the LOC and across it as well; tell-tale evidence of the weaponry used by the two sides. There was a sense of relief – very tenuous on the face of it – when at the end of a long day and into early night hours Islamabad finally kept Prime Minister Imran Khan’s word to return the captured Indian Wing Commander who did abort his plane after it was hit by a Pakistani jet whose plane too in the event crashed eventually causing the Pak Wing commander’s death. An irony, the killed Pakistani pilot was the son of a retired Pakistani Air Marshal. Very much like the captured Indian flier whose father too retired as a IAF Air Marshal. Only, the Pakistani pilot died, not so much because of the injuries he suffered when the plane crashed, but what his own Pakistani brethren did to him after he hit the ground. He was beaten up by a home crowd and succumbed to his injuries in a Pak hospital. The Indian clearly was luckier since he was saved by timely intervention by PaK soldiers who stopped the crowd before it could have done him in. Tomfoolery, you would say, but, remember you are doing so at your own risk. For the record remember that after the Indian raid on Balakot, described by the Indians as home to a major terrorist finishing school on that side of the border and hence the Indian raid to destroy it; one aircraft shot down on either side seemed considering India had more than a score on the sorte against Pakistan’s eight. Tall claims were made by both but eventually the mightier remained to tell. Indians though seemed cock-a-hoop. Why? Am wondering. The LOC, not to forget, was alive with much more fervor as the profit and loss account was beginning to be readied. India has claimed to have inflicted severe damage on the Jaish terror academy but Pakistanis denied any major losses even as eye witnesses were quoted saying that the main building of the spread-out camp was untouched. Yes, sadly an IAF Wing Commander, as was explained later, had had to bale out of his aircraft crippled in a dog fight with a downed Pakistan aircraft, as the Indian spokesperson had it, he was handed over to the Pak military by the locals who had by then got in a few kicks to the officer’s body. The officer was later put on TV by his Pak counterparts, sipping tea but without answering specific questions put to him. Prime Minister Imran Khan had in the meantime told his Parliament that the IAF officer would be returned to India the next day. The Indians argued that his return was dictated by the Geneva Convention which turns out to be only partially true. The Geneva convention strictly speaking concerns itself, among other things, with the treatment of PoWs. Immediate return of PoWs or a prisoner is no part of the deal. I remember visiting several PoW camps post 1971 Bangladesh war but you were hardly allowed to engage in any tu tu mein mein. I remember talking to Pakistani-Bangalee Major and another Major from the PoK spilling anger but was within the acceptable limits, the Army conducting officer told me.We had even shared a joke. I am in no manner trying to belittle the bravery of the Indian Wing Commander who shot down a Pak aircraft but am surprised the song and dance the Government and some political activists tried to make over it. The Wing Commander is a senior enough official to know what falls in the line of duties for him to see politicians going gaga over what was simply part of the soldier’s job. And the following day apparently suggesting that the Indian Air Force be allowed to send a special aircraft to get him back home. Let me hasten to add that the I have great regard and respect for the soldier for his daring and his readiness to unhesitatingly sacrifice his life for a cause he has adopted as his own but am not so very sure about the politicians and their trumpeters who, one can’t helping saying, are often times seen as mere pawns by the indolent potbellied politicians. The air strike this week have undoubtedly set a new course in the relations between the two neighbours. But the way forward will need many moire gestures of the kind Imran Khan made by voluntarily returning the captured IAF officer. The political class, except for an aberration or two, also showed unaccustomed restraint. But then our studio warriors certainly didn’t let the TV watching moron down. There was much more poison around to play with. I get a feeling sometimes that most of the tele warriors must be getting bonuses, apart from contracted fees – for the extra abusive verbiage they inflict on the “viewer” each evening. Telewarring apart, this week’s happenings across the border should remind us that the issues that brought us to the edge remain. These need to be addressed. The Modi government caught in the middle of a touch poll campaign may find it hard to sound reasonable to Pakistani ear given the harsh reality that the ruling party in New Delhi, its rightwing rank and file in particular, has anything but peace on its minds just now. Their poll campaign for the most part remains hate-based, hatred of the minorities, Muslims especially. Funnily, Modi even when the minorities in his country are in awe of him, has managed to be on the right side of some of the most orthodox Islamic States, Saudi Arabia and Iran, to name two, and others like the UAE, Egypt, even Turkey etc on board. He has just adorned his head with another feather, of his Foreign Minister, Sushma Swaraj making the opening speech at the Organisation of Islamic Conference in the UAE, prompting the Pakistan Foreign Minister (the country is one of the founders of the OIC). Am reminded of the late President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, then Industries Minister in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet, being refused admission to OIC meeting. So much so, the gentleman even denied some basic courtesies at the hotel he was staying in. For the record I must note at the end of the tale the fact that Kashmir valley figures very highly on the list of priorities – as was indicated by Prime Minister Modi last week. His military would not spare militants, imported or home-made. You have his word that the Kashmiri (his word, himself used will not be targeted. Yes a Multi-edition English daily from Delhi said it in bold letters, I am merely being cautious. Put that statement against the statements by the Army Chief and Home the Minister. Their message is much the same. Only the militants and militancy will be eliminated. And the catch: …. Anyone sympathetic will be deemed an underground supporter.
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M.L. Kotru