The Runaway Bride

The Runaway Bride

Dr. Jassim Taqui

In a show of defiance, the Interior Minister Ch. Nisar Ali was ready to refute all allegations of the Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh during SAARC conference held recently in Islamabad.

Ali was never shy of declaring Pakistan’s support to the Kashmiri intifada in Indian occupied State of Jammu and Kashmir. He asked Singh to differentiate between terrorism and freedom struggle in line with the UN Security Council Resolution that gives the Kashmiri people the right to self- determination under UN supervision.

He also pointed out that Pakistan was not interfering in the internal affairs of India since the Jammu and Kashmir State is a disputed territory as per UN Security Council Resolution, dismissing the Indian notion that the State of J&K was “an integral part of India.”

Ali went further by condemning Indian violation of the human rights of the Kashmiri people by firing on peaceful processions. In the process, Ali accused India of pursuing a terrorist policy in the occupied State of J&K.

The Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh could not digest the strong rebuttal of his Pakistani counterpart and run away to the New Delhi, like a Runaway Bride, even before the conclusion of the SAARC conference.

Evidently, Singh had no answer to Ali’s rebuttal, which made him a Runaway Bride. He violated in the process the diplomatic etiquette and was criticized by all and sundry including the powerful India electronic and print media.

However, this episode is very regrettable since both countries should have desisted from bashing each other. The SAARC is an excellent forum to restart the composite dialogue between Pakistan and India. The objective should have been working out a political settlement to all outstanding issues including the disputed State of Jammu and Kashmir.