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WEEKLY
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| Putting heads together |
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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Islamabad has spent a busy few days. Amidst signs that India is ready to maximize the pressure on Pakistan following the Mumbai terrorist drama, the prime minister and the president have been reaching out to build support both inside and outside the country. Leaders of most national parties within the country have been contacted, as have decision-makers in foreign capitals including Kabul, London and Paris. The Pakistani leaders are naturally eager to ease the mounting tensions. In preparation for a scenario that experts have feared could lead even to conflict in the region – an almost unthinkable calamity given that both India and Pakistan possess nuclear arsenals – the building of consensus on strategy options is vital. In this context, the decision to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) is a sensible one. The pace of events that have created a new crisis has been so rapid that there is a clear need to take stock and consider options. This opportunity will be provided by the conference, where a range of ideas and thoughts will be heard. The prime minister has, ahead of this, also been able to bring Mian Nawaz Sharif on board in support of the government, after a detailed discussion of the situation with him.
A warning here must, however, be delivered. In principle at least, the building of consensus is almost always a positive process. This is especially true within a nation as fractured as is the Pakistan of today. But the last experiment in consensus building, during the closed-door session of parliament called on the internal security situation, we saw more rhetoric than open, frank discussion. Consensus can only be built when there is a willingness to hear other opinions and, to some extent at least, embrace them. There was no evidence of a readiness to do this. As a result, we heard essentially heated speeches and saw repeated walk-outs, but no evidence of any evolution in thinking.
Of course the issue now before us is a different one. There is much justification for the anger many ordinary citizens feel towards India and its hasty levelling of accusations. While the government will be eager to muster support at the APC, it is important too that the discussion touch upon the very real dilemmas that face us. The name of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba has cropped up repeatedly. This may be nothing more than a figment of Indian imagination. But the government needs also to use this opportunity to persuade leaders from across the political spectrum to look at all the issues raised, all the charges levelled, in the context too of our own security concerns. At present, the main focus must be to defuse the current crisis. But we must also keep in mind more such problems will arise until we persuade the world that we are determined to drive terrorists out and will do all we can to ensure there is no ambiguity in this.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
