Political will needed

On Sunday, two more soldiers were killed, and ten civilians wounded in the exchange of heavy shelling between India and Pakistan in the Pargwal sector of Akhnoor in Jammu. Since the beginning of the year the Line of Control (LOC) and the working boundary in the state has been unusually hot with the armies of the two countries almost exchanging heavy fire on a daily basis. Sadly the guns on both the sides, like man eaters, have devoured scores of men, women, children including infants, and wounded scores, disabling many for life. Thousands of people were dislocated and reduced to live as a refugee in their own land. It had augured well a week back when the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries had agreed to “fully implement” the ceasefire pact of 2003 in “letter and spirit” to stop cross LOC firings in Jammu and Kashmir. It was Pakistan that had initiated the hotline contact. The identical statements issued by the two armies had brightened the hope of calm on the dividing line. Nevertheless, despite the top military leaders agreeing to ensure peace on the borders with the same spirit as prevailed in 2003 this ceasefire had the briefest life ever. The earliest one had lasted at least for eleven years. The commitment made by two DGMOs failing speaks volumes about brittleness in the relations between the two countries. India and Pakistan have inherited quite a baggage of problems, issues, and disputes after their birth as independent dominions. Nevertheless, it does not mean that the people will be made to suffer this burden of inheritance even seventy years after. There is no issue or dispute that cannot be solved, it only needs will and determination of the political leadership. Of the Indian Prime Ministers, it was Vajpayee who showed that will and determination to pursue the goal of cooling down the LOC and paving the way for bringing peace to the region. He refused to buckle under the situation created by the Kargil War, attack on the Parliament, and the long military standoff between the two countries. 2003 cease-fire and the starting of the composite dialogue was an expression of the political determination – it is this will that is missing at present. The cease-fire in isolation of a political dialogue will always stumble.