What is it that Pakistanis want? Some of the comments here have referred to the Muslims in India being a disenfranchised lot.

I disgree, for the first time the Muslim vote counted. Actually the present election in India for the first time in many subtle and not so subtle ways indicate a shifting away from religious and caste based issues to more economic and human development issues. What became more important was whether the elected official had made good on his campaign promises.Questions of whether he/she had installed tube wells, fixed roads, provided potable water, introduced schools and health care were central themes.

The Muslims in India have traditionally voted for the Congress in the past.Being a backward group with little education and jobs they threw in their lot blindly with the Congress hoping that this would be the party that would alleviate their suffering. And the Congress took their vote for granted and nothing changed for the Muslims.In between the destruction of the Babri Masjid and Operation Bluestar convinced the Muslims that the Congress considered them and other minorities expendable.

I think the Muslim voter over this period of time has become quite savvy..... he has realized that what will change his life is not a particular party but the individual candidate and he can start by making his vote count in his constituency. In fact the BJP fielded quite a few Muslim candidates in predominantly Hindu constituencies (especially in UP)and vice versa purely on their achievement record. The era of coalition politics have resulted in regional parties becoming big time players in national politics and the Muslim voter has realized that. The power equation has changed .... the BJP can no longer afford to be the hardline nationalist pro Hindu party. With Vajpayee as a voice of moderation (many Muslims voted for the BJP just because of Vajpayee)and an alliance which can only pull through with consensus,religion has been usurped as an issue. The only issue that counts for most Indians is the economy.... and to that the Muslims have realized that they have a piece of the pie.

So as a rejoinder to someone who wrote ``quite a few Muslims in India believe in Pakistan`` I will say `` the majority of Muslims in India believe in

India.

Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’ Who is the General fooling? Has he talked about withdrawing troops from the LOC which is really the issue? Demilitarization is not possible till the Pakistani troops vacate their position from the offensive zones in the Kargil heights.Much of the international border(130 km) is over flat and even terrain. Withdrawing or even deploying troops over there constitutes no strategic advantage.These are just noises to pretend that they are proactive in the peace process. In his speech right after the coup the General warned that no `external agency would be allowed to exploit the present situation in Pakistan`.Hear! Hear! India.

Lets face it an Army man who has fought in two wars with India (65` and 71`) and was part of the elite SSG, decorated with the Nishan-e-Haider, masterminded the Kargil operation considers India as only one thing.... the enemy. This has nothing to do with him personally... it is an institutional thing.... the Army indoctrination. Which Pakistani Army General do we know who did not see himself as the ``liberator of Kashmir`` and the ``destroyer of a conventionally superior army``. This olive branch that the general is handing out is hogwash!

Personally I feel that gestures of goodwill that are more meaningful are the cricket matches, the kavi sammelaans,the religious visits to the gurudwaras and masjids in both countries,etc. These should be encouraged.... as well as introducing more frequent bus services ... at least that way people in both countries will get a chance to see that sectarian warfare doesnt happen in Karachi everyday and that communal violence is happenstance in Gandhinagar. Most people still believe in their heart of hearts that their countries are beautiful and that`s the way it should be!

He had no Choice! Since when has a Pakistani General or for that matter any Army General cared two hoots about the collapsing economy? They get their salaries, rations, house, car and chauffer irrespective of whether the coffers of the country have run dry. And going by economic sources about 40% of the Pakistan GDP was eaten up by the defence forces.Everybody seems to be making a big deal of Gen. Pervez Musharraf`s (PM) invocation of a collapsing economic and social structure in Pakistan that led him to stage the coup as a last resort. To my mind the General was driven by less altruistic motives.... this was a personal vendetta against NS. The ex PM through his arrogance had assumed that this General was going to roll over and fade into the blue yonder a la Jehangir Karamat.But it didnt happen and NS committed political harakiri with his stupidity.

The personal vendetta part receives support because one of the first things PM has done is to order an enquiry into the sugar scam and the release of the controversial tapes recording the conversation between the COAS and the deputy. He believes NS sold out to Vajpayee over Kargil.He has also implicated NS in plotting to kill him and his generals and systematically destroying the proffesionalism of the army by installing an ISI puppet as COAS.

The situation in Pakistan was ripe for a takeover and the failing economy and NS`s authoritarianism and unpopularity gave an air of credibility to the coup. I think PM capitalized on these factors.

One only hopes that PM does not make this his only agenda and is sincere about making real changes in Pakistan.

Shourin

Time for a fresh start Poor Godot.... his reasoning is so flawed

Hindu and Jewish writers/academics have formed a cabal and have manged to inveigle themselves into the upper echelons of the media(NYT, The Wall Street Journal)and the universities for the express purpose of bashing Pakistan. And so has Sumit Ganguly! This is the raison d`etre of their existence.Somehow in Godot`s mind they become ordinary after critiquing Pakistan.

Note Godot`s use..... `Hindu writers` In Godot`s rather limited world no Indian Muslim writer can be critical about Pakistan.Somehow ... yet again in Godot`s tunnel vision this boils down to a flawed sense of religiosity.

As for Godot`s adulation and naive trust in State Dept officials..... what proof does he have that they have any better understanding of what goes on in Pakistan?

By the way it is Tunku Varadarajan.

Regards

Shourin