Kargil and the Myth of Losing the Media War

What i find most amazing is how short sighted pakistan`s Kashmir policy is! If India holds onto Kashmir illegally, so does pakistan. By promoting militancy in Kashmir, pakistan may feel that it is driving India towards handing over Kashmir to it. Not at all! India would rather have an independent Kashmir than give it to pakistan. If things get really desperate, that is what may happen. I`m sure this will be acceptable to most Kashmiris too: why would they want to go to pakistan, when they could have azaadi and gain by playing both the opponents against each other?

And how would this affect pakistan? They have made it so much a part of their national agenda, their ``patriotism``, that such a blow would be hard to bear. Particularly because then demands will start emerging for the ``reunification`` of all Kashmiris, including those in the terroriteries held by pakistan. Kashmiri leaders have always pointed out that they would resist pakistan too, in case it interferes in their ``struggle``. I expect a hurt and humiliated India would lend them full ``moral support``, and the current roles would be reversed.

India might still be able to bear the loss of Kashmir. But if this worst case scenario does come true, after raising the stakes so high, can we say the same for pakistan?

-narain

The holes and holey rhetoric in this article speak louder than its analysis. As others have pointed out, how was Pakistan the `good guys` in Kargil? I assume the author`s quotes around the phrase had something to do with a later critique of why that really meant not so good at all guys, but none came. I thought the author would intelligently explain why and how Kashmir is a ``just cause``, in light of our nation`s current state, but no intelligence followed.

The author points out the bad things and then filters out a meek yet clearly spelt out cry for Kashmir. This I find disgusting. Mr. Najam, while trying to maintain his weight on the fence falls right into the laps of such as the lashkare-tayyaba, and then he picks up his scholarly glasses and dodging their smoking guns, falters to escape...saying `i was just picking up my glasses...

Why does Kashmir continue to be such a massive rallying point? Where all male blood boils to a nationalistic, patriotic roar? Isn`t it the same corrupt regime that destroys its NGOs and represses dissent internally that propagates Kashmir as the ``natural`` focal point of all our patriotic instincts? The same corrupt regime that has stretched Islam to chavunistic, jihadi proportions is the the same corrupt regime that uses Kashmir to make people believe that it is more important than employment and infrastructure.
Is it?

It is the same ``flurry``, and ``parade`` and ``sequence`` of politicians (I applaud the author`s cute use of synonyms) that will starve its nation to make a bomb, then test the bomb, then initiate aggression. There are several just causes within Pakistan before one can claim just causes abroad and expend millions maintaining the same through defense budgets and propaganda.

Re: AA

I could not agree with you more. It is amazing that even learned Pakistanis believe that Kashmir is important enough that even to risk Pakistan`s own annihilation is justifiable. I feel that modern Pakistani intellectuals and learned people are torn between `free thought` and the oppressive shackle of a truly mis-interpreted religion. This extracts a terrible toll on their enslaved minds. When you are a slave to anything you cannot have clear, unbiased and truly intelligent thought. Kashmir? - because it has a majority Muslim population, this is the only reason and raison d`etre of Pakistan.

Attn.: OMAR 1974

This one is especially for OMAR 1974.



I have been observing his postings.

This guy (OMAR) is either sick or dis-oriented, or both! He refers to a group of people as `pagans`, talks about `vaporising` a whole country, and insists Kashmir is Pakistan`s national goal!

I find his comments unconstructive and stupid, and of course, very unIslamic.

By the way, OMAR, a comment on your hatred for religious groups other than your own: Remember, you are a Muslim only because you were born in a Muslim family. Had you been born in the Vatican, you would have been a Christian. Had you been born in Kathmandu or Calcutta, you might have been a Hindu! Learn to be tolerant. And realize that religion is a personal thing. If you don`t like the way others `worship`, well, that`s their business. You mind your own. One does not go around telling others what kind of hair-style they must have or how they should walk/talk or worship.

It is amazing how so many Pakistanis continue to insist that the terrorism in Kashmir (they call it the `freedom struggle`) is for a just cause.

Tariq talks about the countless atrocities being committed by various terrorist outfits on innocent civilians (an example: they severed the head of a Scandinivian guy who perhaps didn`t even know why on earth did he have to die like that!), yet says that the Kashmiri `struggle` is a `just cause`.

The idea that people from diverse backgrounds cannot live together is a very theocratic and narrow-minded one. Diversity is good. Secularism and respect for all is key to our survival in a world that is now beginning to learn that we are only DIFFERENT (not `good` or `bad` just because we happen to be Hindus or Muslims or whatever).

The only reason why some Indians (in the state of Kashmir) and most Pakis think that this ridiculous yet cruel `freedom struggle` is justified is because they believe it is a `holy war`, with Muslims pitched against those `bad` Hindus. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is wrong to brand any community `good` or `bad` simply because they appear to be different. Such stereotyping is the tool of fanatics and demagogoues. India is a diverse nation with more Muslims and Hindus than any other country. The Kashmiri `struggle` is NOT just. It is cruel, atrocious, and inhuman. Pakistani involvement will only lead to complete Talibanisation of Pakistan and will give all Muslims a bad name the world over.

The So Called `Peace Process`

Let me for the record state clearly and unequivically that there has never been a `peace process` between India and Pakistan over our 52 year history. All we in the sub continent have known is Indian duplicity. Therefore the question of betrayal of trust where none existed in the first place by Pakistan, as India conveniently alleges, does not exist.

The only solution to the pagan problem, because really that is what the Kashmir issue boils right down to, is an all out nuclear first strike on India by Pakistan. For this to be wholly successful, the minimum requirement of Pakistan is 50 (though I would prefer to use 100 but we can`t wait THAT long) nuclear weapons simultaneously launched/dropped on India within a period of 1-2 hours. We must in Pakistan be prepared to take casualties of at least 50 million. But the pagan issue will be resolved satisfactorily once and for all. Both countries are overpopulated anyhow. Lets say 200-300 million dead overall in a full nuclear exchange, assuming both use hydrogen bombs. This is an acceptable level of casualties and provides the only possible resolution to Pak-India problems in my opinion. And the sooner it is implemented, the better.

Omar

what do u think?

Hypothesis: See Reply #: 9

Proof: See Reply #: 12

-- QED --

Re: anajam # 14

I re-read your article and your post, but I still do not see any connection between Kargil and the media marketing this story. First of all, if the media did market this story, it was poorly done, because Kargil not an issue of concern in this country. Secondly, other than the Washington Post and the New York Times printing stories on this affair, this issue was ignored by the rest of the country. The only major papers, which had stories on this were Los Angles Times and occassionally the Wall Street Journal and these papers are not read by the rest of America.

As far as middle America was concerned, Kargil could have been on the moon, because it made no difference in their lives! As to Indians and Pakistanis being gullible, in this matter or any other matter, that is a gross generalization, which strongly hints of an east coast elitist view on foreign policy, to which you as a professor at Boston University belong to, and is in no way indicative of the real American opinion on this matter.

There might have been a media war on the east and on the west coast on this issue and Pakistan may have lost it, but as far as the rest of America was concerned, this was not a story worth mentioning and no one cared who won or who lost outside of the Beltway!

Prof. Najam,

An excellent analysis of the issue.

I agree with your view that unless Pakistanis get their act together, they are not likely to find a sympathetic ear in international community or international media for that matter.

Also I have no doubt in my mind that Indian security forces are involved in human rights abuses in Kashmir in an attempt to crush the Kashmiri freedom movement.

However, I don`t know if Pakistan held a high moral ground as far as Kargil issue is concerned.

Its fair enough that Pakistanis provide moral and indirect military support to Kashmiris, but how can Pakistan justify getting directly involved with its military forces fighting side by side with Kashmiris?

I am quite sure that it was in violation of several agreements with India, and a few UN resolutions.

Cheers,

Fairdinkum

The Kashmiri struggle for self-determination is a just cause. To the extent that Pakistan`s support has enabled the people of Kashmir to resist the Indian army, it has had a positive dimension. Beyond this, I do not see any contribution of Pakistan regarding Kashmir that would qualify us for categorisation as good guys.

Here are some aspects of our Kashmir policy that bother me:

1. Pakistan has consciously sought to sideline the secular nationalist political groups in Kashmir, such as the JKLF. Given Kashmir`s multi-religous and multi-cultural population, I don`t see how the various groups of mujahideen with a sectarian outlook could advance the POLITICAL

project of Kashmiri self-determination which will

require alliances of Kashmiri speaking people in the Kashmir Valley with Pundits in the Valley, other Hindus in Jammu, and with Buddhists in Ladakh.

2. Sine 1989, India has sought to suppress all institutions of civil society in Kashmir. The major responsibility for the emergence of religous fanaticism can rightly be laid at India`s door. BUT, the Mujahideen have committed atrocities on unarmed civilians repeatedly, and for this, they deserve the bad reputation that they have acquired. The principal supporters of these groups of Mujahideen, who are often not Kashmiri, should also accept their share of the blame for these acts. The international press had been very sympathetic to the Kashmiri struggle until the mid-1990s. It was probably in 1995, that the kidnapping of European hikers by Al-Faran

which began to change the positive perception of the Kashmiri struggle in Europe and North America.

By the late 1990s, the pop-media coverage of the

uncivilised policies of the Taliban has created a popular environment which is likely to doom any possibility of a sympathetic view in global civil society for Mujahideen.

3. Finally, concerning Kargil, I simply fail to see the logic which inspired this initiative. How could the capture of these heights have contributed POLITICALLY to the interests of Kahmiris and Pakistan? The Lahore declaratio at least had the potential of enabling Indian and Pakistani leaders to arrive at an agreement to persue thier conflicting interests in Kashmir through diplomatic, as opposed to military means. This might have created the possibility for the revival of civil society in Kashmir. With the indefinite stalemate in the post-Kargil period, the Kashmiris are likely to remain crushed between the conflict between hardline Indian nationalists and Muslim religous fanatics.

I agree with most of your article. However Pakistan certainly did not have the high moral ground on Kargil. On Kashmir, yes, on Kargil, not at all. No country has the right to jeopardise a peace process that it is officially committed to by supporting an armed insurgency. There was no need for Kargil when the Lahore declaration had been signed and was to be followed up on. Pakistan has lost the trust of its adversary as well as of the international community and will have to pay a tremendous price for this adventurism.

As a Pakistani-American, I have been searching for something of merit in this article. When and if I find that something, I will post again.
In the mean time it appears that it is time to
bring out the razor blades because CHOWK must surely be hurting for a readership to continually
print such self abuse.

Ras

As I read the various comments I am reminded of this couplet from Faiz Ahmad Faiz:

woh baat saarey fasaney mein jiss ka zikr na tha

woh baat unn ko buhat nagawar guzri hai

(That one sentiment which was not even mentioned in the entire story, that one sentiment has really offended them so much!)

Here is my one cent worth on some of tghe comments.... Read again, freinds. The article is not about why Pakistan did what it did (or supposedly did) nor about what India did what it did (or reportedly did). That is another article.... nay, another book perhaps. The role of new Indian (and India focussed) TV chanels (including BBC Satellite TV, which in fact was the most partisan of all) is also another article... the interesting point there being how well the local media capitalized and marketted the war fervor (this is not an issue of whose side they were on... this was simple capitalism at work... where is the best buck to be made).... What Indians and Pakistanis alike might ponder upon is the irony that the one thing that was the LEAST important in the entire Kargil episode was Kargil itself.... this was NOT about Kashmiris.... this was not about Mujahideen.... this was not about Islam and this was not about Hindu fundamentalist parties.... This was about marketting (hence the focus on media).... it was marketting my latest cassette of CDs (burree nazar na hum pay dallo... hum Hindustani), about putting my new all-news TV channel in the big league (ZeeNews), about selling my trashy afternooner (`Dopeher` and all those other rags that have been doing such booming business in Paksitan).... so lets please get over `low-horses` of petty patriotism and sloganeering and analyze the one fact thatthe episode proved beyond doubt.... We may be Pakistanis or we may be Indians.... but we are SOOOOOOO VERRRY GULLIBLE!

Pakistanis are in search of acceptable excuses for the loss in Kargil. Media war and local politics are a few that are easy to blame. Pakistan was trying to maintain ``lies`` but it did not have proper plans to do so or it simply didn`t care. Perhaps, Pakistan was carried away and started beleiving in the misinformation that it was giving its people. Kargil was an ill-conceived misadventure carried out at the wrong time that is after the peace-hopeful bus diplomacy that was acclaimed by the whole world.

The objectives for Pakistan was to portray the insurgents as `freedom fighters`, to paint India as an oppressive occupier of Kashmir, to win sympathy of the world for the hapless Kashmiris who are allegedly subjugated, to win some Kashmir land in the process and to cut off the supply route to Siachen as a revenge for 1984. India had successfully quelled the native rebellion and normalcy was returning every passing day. Pakistan wanted to destroy the Indian success and revive the miltancy.

If the intruders are to be seen as `freedom fighters` by the world, Pakistan should have disconnected itself from the intruders by pretending to be a curious and concerned onlooker. Pakistan blew the cover and exposed itself by shooting down two Mig fighter planes. Except for the loss of a life, that was a good omen for India. In ordinary circumstances a country will only give warnings to such intruding planes. India claimed mechanical problems for the first plane but Pakistan stupidly insisted it shot it down. Even if Pakistan did shoot the plane down, it should have shut its mouth and went along with India`s claim. In addition, Pakistan engaged in fighting all along the LoC. Pakistan gave an excuse to the world that Indian troops are trying to enter Pakistan`s territory. This was a clear sign that Pakistan was part of the conflict.

Kargil is an inhospitable area and Pakistan chose to fight there. The world knows mere `freedom fighters` cannot fight from such an altitude without support from a trained army. Pakistan gives only moral and political support to the freedom fighters and so far Pak maintained to this effect. After seeing an interest in peace from Pakistan, the world would have been convinced to a degree if they had heared discouraging statements from Pakistan to the fighting intruders.

In addition to all that, to the dismay of Pakistan, India showed restraint in crossing the LoC which was applauded by the world. So, in all, India did not have anything for anyone to accuse of. India was merely protecting its territory. The worst ever mistake Pakistan did in this crisis, which will haunt them for a long time to come, was to proclaim that they were native `freedom fighters` who were not under its control and then on Cinton`s behest Nawaz called them back and the submissive `intruders` withdrew instantly and quietly without protesting. Pakistan not only desroyed the Kargil mischief it also self-destructed its future misadventures. The world will not believe the future insurgencies as native ones. Thereby Pakistan has given a free-hand to India to suppress future uprisals whether native or foriegn.

Blaming it on the Media war is just like blaming the gambling and drinking problems of the Pakistani cricketters for their worst ever loss in the world cup. You didn`t plan and you didn`t play the game right. 1999 is a year Pakistan simply would like to forget.

Re: ad #9

The problem is not a question of simple hate ad. It a question of national goals. Kashmir is a national goal of Pakistan. And that is not going to change simply because you want to wish it away.

Thus the only question is how many dead pagans will it take for Kashmir to be free. You want to vaporized? We can arrange that too now. You and the rest of Indians are the devil, and this is no different from how the U.S viewed the U.S.S.R and world communism during the cold war. And similiarly the official, hypocritical ideology of India and its illegal immoral occupation of Kashmir must be resisted at all costs for all time until India collapses under the weight of its own internal contradictions.

cheers,

Omar