J&K Chief Minister demands action on Pakistan
People who had despaired of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's advocacy of peace and dialogue even as Pakistani troops continue to shell Indian posts along the line of Control, have received a pleasant surprise. Mr Abdullah said on Monday that India must consider “other options” to counter Pakistan's violation of the ceasefire agreement. He added, for good measure, that India can meet “fire with fire”. Perhaps it had to do with the occasion (he was speaking on Police Commemoration Day), or maybe Mr Omar Abdullah is really frustrated by Pakistan's continuing offensive that has disrupted normal life in villages along the borders. Whatever, he has voiced the sentiments of millions of Indians who believe increasingly that India is getting nothing but more humiliation by continuing to talk with Pakistan.
After all, regardless of the much-hyped meeting between Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New York and repeated assurances by the former that he wants to erase enmity between the two countries, Pakistan's Army continues to rain rockets and mortars on Indian territory in Jammu & Kashmir. Either Mr Sharif is not in charge of his Army or that he is complicit in the offensive. It may be a bit of both. But, unless the Congress-led UPA Government summons the courage to call a spade and spade and then act accordingly, Pakistan will continue to get away. It is ridiculous for the Indian Prime Minister to sob on the US President's shoulder over Islamabad's misdeeds when he and his regime show no determination whatsoever to take harsh steps. That determination was completely missing when Mr Singh recently met Mr Sharif. He meekly agreed to a proposal for an early meeting at the level of Director-General of Military Operations of both the countries to resolve the crisis along the loC, but did not bluntly tell Pakistan that New Delhi would respond forcefully, matching fire with fire, as Mr Abdullah has said, if his troops did not end their attacks. Neither did the Indian Prime Minister categorically state that trade and other exchanges would be grounded if Pakistan failed to check the incidents along the border.
The Chief Minister has in a way articulated what Union Minister and his father Farooq Abdullah has been stating for some time now: That Pakistan must be given a befitting reply, not just for the current violations of the ceasefire but also for aiding and abetting terror activities on Indian soil. It remains to be seen whether the Chief Minister will stick to his new-found aggression, which, even his strident critics must admit, is grounded in reality. The problem is: Mr Omar Abdullah gets tempted too often to strike a note which is discordant with that of national sentiment. One example is his remark on the accession of the State to the Indian Union. As an elected leader, he must not fall in the trap that the separatists have laid for him.