A farewell to sanity

When W B Yeats was asked to write a war poem during the First World War, this was his response, of course in verse: “I think it better that in times like these / A poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth / We have no gift to set a statesman right.”

One might say that a statesman or, more appropriately, a populist leader has in any case no use for the voice of a poet. Or even the voice of conscience. And certainly not in times like these when you can hear the muffled sounds of the drums of war.

Obviously, if India remains on the path that it has chosen after Tuesday’s terrorist attack on civilians, most of them tourists, in Pahalgam in Indian-held Kashmir, a terrible disaster seems very likely.

Already, India has pointed a finger at Pakistan, without any evidence and has made a number of drastic moves which have been reciprocated by Pakistan in equal measure. The drums are getting louder by the hour.

In fact, measures that have been announced by India are so frantic and aggressive in nature that anything may happen at any moment. There is no doubt that the stage is being set for something very sinister, very consequential.

Consider, for instance, the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India and Pakistan’s assertion that any disruption of Indus River flows would be treated as an ‘act of war’. This is how critical it has become. Once again, the arch enemies are readying for a possible military confrontation.

The event that has triggered this cycle of rising tensions was indeed exceptional in its brutality. The attack claimed the lives of at least 26 people. The unarmed, civilian victims included people on vacation with their families. The killing of innocent civilians, particularly those targeted for their religious identity, is bound to generate a massive outpouring of grief and anger.

But the manner in which this rage was almost instantly directed towards Pakistan is actually a measure of the history of hostility and hatred and deadly armed conflicts that has cloaked relations between the two countries. In addition, the arena this time is the disputed territory of Kashmir. You tend to shudder at the thought of what has happened in this jinxed region, beginning with that astounding spectacle of communal riots and migration of millions in 1947.

However, given this bloodied backdrop, I was still not prepared for the kind of venom and downright obscenity that I encountered in a vlog of an Indian commentator on Thursday – and I know that he does it regularly. The reason I was shocked so much may be that I normally do not intrude into the digital world and have absolutely no presence on social media. This does not mean that I am not familiar with the rants of the likes of Arnab Goswami – and his somewhat diluted Pakistani reincarnations.

These media exploits make me ponder the very possibility of conducting a really serious and reasoned debate in the sphere of politics in the present media environment. We, in Pakistan, would be justified in attributing our moral and intellectual deficits to the low standards of our education and the system of governance. But India is clearly being governed by the dark passions that are doled out by the mass media. Ah, and there is Donald Trump as the chosen leader of the most powerful and supposedly a very advanced country in the world.

To restrict our thoughts to the present escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan, what does this mean for the prospect of peace in South Asia? What is in store for all those selfless, committed and enlightened individuals who have consistently struggled for peace between India and Pakistan and within South Asia?

I have often been associated with these social activists and defenders of human rights. I could speak about that passionate initiative, Aman ki Asha and the high-profile conferences of the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma). There have been other outfits working for the same objective. And they do believe that they are on the right side of history, that there is no survival for the South Asian societies without meaningful peace and mutually beneficial collaboration.

But can that hope survive in these times, when the governments of India and Pakistan are actively playing a kind of war game? Honestly, my heart sinks when I see the steps that are being taken and hear the statements of belligerence that are spewed out from all around.

In this gloom, I have noticed a flicker of hope. We have this Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), promoting people-to-people contacts for a long time. I have read a detailed statement of its India National Committee issued on Wednesday. I want to quote some words from it to show that even in this highly charged, crazy environment, some activists in India can be sincere and candid about this tragic incident.

The PIPFPD has reiterated that killing unarmed citizens in a conflict is not a demonstration of militancy or revolutionary politics. Such brutal acts of state or non-state actors cannot be defended.

One important point made is that killing innocent civilians “plays into the hands of majoritarian right-wing forces. It makes it easier for Hindutva forces to portray all Kashmiri Muslims violent terrorists, while in reality the local Kashmiri Muslim population was seen risking their own lives to save the lives of guests, who got targeted”.

To conclude, let me quote one more PIPFPD paragraph: “The brutal silencing of Kashmiri voices through [incarceration], especially of youth, journalist and human rights activists is a stark reality that cannot be put under the carpet. The approach by the Indian government has further pushed the youth towards extreme ideologies and influencers, making peaceful resolution increasingly difficult. As John F Kennedy aptly said: ‘Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable’”.

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com