What Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan has expressed in an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times on the 9th (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/opinion/09zardari.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=zardari&st=cse), is a far more courageous act than that of any Indian leader after the recent Mumbai attacks of November 26. At the most what our leaders have said is ‘sorry’! This is where we need to think about the leaders we choose and how they appear and act in crisis situations.
When 26/11 happened, there was public anger against the terrorist elements that used Pakistani soil but also towards our own political, security and intelligence establishment. There was no immediate anti-Pakistan sentiment among the masses in India because they understood that Pakistan is also suffering, although for them they are home-products. The Indian public and media were outraged against it’s own government and political leadership for their inappropriate handling of this whole episode and the events thereafter.
As the confusion and anxiety settled down or, as some would say simmered up, our government and political leaders took its advantage to hide their own mistakes and lassitude. Their fears and worries were two sided. One, from within the government and its political allies who blamed it for not being able to perform tough and effectively against the threat of terror, despite repeated incidences in last few months all over the country. Second, the unfounded fear of loosing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the ongoing state assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. The media itself was in the dock over its over-enthusiastic and ‘not-so-right’ coverage of the incident. The media has several reasons of its own for this – it’s inefficiency and lack of training in covering such events and the race for TRPs, among many others.
This mix of the weaknesses of the government and political establishment, the public outcry and media hype compelled many in the Indian government and the incumbent political coalition to believe that they were at the very verge of loosing the next general election. This made them pose tough on terror, sack ministers, issue unwanted statements and acquire an irrational hard attitude against Pakistan. In total, India’s leadership appeared anxious, desperate and confused over this crisis, which was extraordinary but definitely not unexpected. Indian leadership did not have the courage to accept the situation, let alone the question of tackling it rationally and strategically. Zardari has also mentioned this subtly in his piece.
For the leadership of a country which flaunts it’s nuclear might, whose economy had been expecting to grow in double digits and which is being talked about as the next super power, this was definitely a loss of face – to the whole world and to its own people. What is at issue here is not just the exact way the government dealt with 10 terrorists or failures of the intelligence and security establishments along with the political handling of the situation, but the way they appeared to the whole world and its own people – as stupid and gullible. In these times, when your expressions can’t be concealed from anyone in the world or in the country, the government and the leadership should have, at least, appeared confident and tough, even if it was not actually so. This is where our leadership failed in this whole episode and where Pakistan outsmarted us. This is exactly what is meant by ‘India caught with its pants down’ as pronounced by a senior TV journalist.
What Asif Ali Zardari has expressed and accepted is something more than just courageous. He has not restricted himself and his country to medieval dilemmas where warlords or patriarchs kept themselves and their populations under a false sense of pride, honour and wellness. He, the President of Pakistan, has accepted that Pakistan has suffered at the hands of these rogue elements and, importantly, he has accepted that Pakistan has been ‘used’ and exploited as an instrument during the cold war and is still paying the price. This is courageous and a very big acceptance of the facts, by a head of nation in troubling times where his country is literally at war within its own borders, begging for loans and has a looming threat from India.
This is something which has happened at a time when India is also being pulled towards the same tub where United States is washing its dirty linen. Zardari’s acceptance and revelations have also come as a warning to India’s leadership to be rational and cautious in taking further steps towards Pakistan when any untoward action against Pakistan by India could derail the democratic process in Pakistan and create problem for the whole region of South Asia. It could also lead India to the same situation in which Pakistan is today.
And Zardari has not been ‘caught pants down’. When you accept that you are not wearing any pants or you are showing your undies, you are also expressing that you don’t have a pair of pants, you only have undies. In case of India, when you are ‘caught your pants down’, its not your choice not to show your undies. You are simply caught. This is where Zardari as a leader – however he may have become a leader or whatever kind of leader he may be – has outsmarted Indian leaders. I believe, now, when results for the so-called ‘semi-final’ elections are out and the ruling coalition is more at ease, our leaders should relax. They should accept the situation, fight it and in doing so, they should appear confident, calm and composed, even if they do not feel so.
