More than 65 years have gone by since the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan, but unfortunately neither nation has learnt to live in peace, leave alone harmony. This is despite the fact that both nations know that they cannot change their neighbours, as Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to say during his prime ministership. The stupidest thing in the Tom and Jerry type Indo-Pak relations is that these ties are based on reciprocity.
The lethal attack on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national on the death row in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail for last 21 years for his alleged role in four bomb blasts in Lahore and Islamabad in 1990 in which 14 people were killed, is a classic example of this unwritten, unspoken doctrine of reciprocity between India and Pakistan.
It is difficult to believe that Sarabjit was hit on his head with bricks and blunt objects on 26 April by fellow Pakistani prisoners in a rush of blood and there was no larger conspiracy. There have been reports, attributed to Indian intelligence sources, that Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban planned the attack on Sarabjit in retaliation to the hangings of Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab (21 November, 2012) and Indian national who was in cahoots with Pakistan terror outfits Afzal Guru (9 February, 2013).
There have also been reports that Sarabjit Singh’s attackers Mudassar and Aftab have been foot soldiers of the LeT as well as the Tehree-e-Taliban, Pakistan. Apart from these two, Sarabjit was attacked by five other prisoners whose identity is not yet clear. These Pakistani prisoners had sharpened spoons and plates which they used to attack Sarabjit.
If the alleged involvement of TTP and LeT in murderous attack on Sarabjit is true, it is difficult to believe that these non state actors could have raised a finger without the state actors (read Kot Lakhpat jail authorities as well as the Inter Services Intelligence) turning a blind eye to the entire episode.
The principle of reciprocity, always at play in Indo-Pak relations, is not something that is not known to the Pakistani establishment. In fact, Sarabjit himself had voiced concern over his security after the hangings of Kasab and Afzal Guru.
The Indian government, on the other hand, has done well by unilaterally upgrading security for Pakistani prisoners who are lodged in various Indian jails after the attack on Sarabjit. The Indian government was not prodded by Pakistan for taking this pre-emptive action.
It is sheer madness that despite having served more than 20 years in Lahore jail, Sarabjit, now battling for life with slim chances of survival, is still not being released by Pakistan on humanitarian grounds. Pakistan has rejected appeal to this effect made by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid as well as the family members of Sarabjit.
It is actually not the madness of Pakistan government alone because Pakistani sins of omission and commission stem from the decades old mindset of hatred and trust deficit. India too has been guilty of the same mindset, the classic case being that of Pakistani scientist Khalil Chishti who was ordered to be released by the Indian Supreme Court on 12 December, 2012 after having spent 20 years in jail or detention in India on charges of a murder that he denied.
Chisti was 80 when he was freed. The Indians did not move even after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari sought Chishti’s release on humanitarian ground during his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi in April 2012.
The Indo-Pak diplomatic tit-for-tat has come to the fore in the case of Sarabjit, thanks mainly because the wide media coverage turned it into a high-profile case. But there have been two other similar cases reported this year, one of which happened earlier this month only, which indicate the invisible hand of this stupid doctrine of reciprocity in Indo-Pak relations. The only thing is that these cases related to lesser known mortals.
The two cases are worth mentioning. It is nobody’s argument that the two cases are inter-related and there is a quid pro quo or tit-for-tat. But knowing the nature of reciprocity in all acts, sane or insane, that impinge on Indo-Pak ties it will be worthwhile that a thorough and objective investigation is conducted into these incidents by both governments.
In January this year an Indian prisoner died in the same Kot Lakhpat jail of Lahore, allegedly after being assaulted by fellow Pakistani prisoners. Pakistan government is yet to provide an autopsy report of the deceased prisoner despite repeated requests by Indian authorities, including Khurshid himself.
On 5 April 2013 another prisoner died, this time a Pakistani who allegedly committed suicide in a jail in Banskantha, Gujarat.
It is high time that the two nuclear-armed neighbours move on in their relationship. The 65-year-old trust deficit cannot be eliminated overnight. It will be childish to believe that the Pakistani military establishment will shed its anti-India mindset any time soon and stop using terrorism as an instrument of Pakistan’s foreign policy. India too cannot even think of smoking the peace pipe with Pakistan till the neighbour stops aiding and abetting non-state actors who are hell bent on bleeding India white.
While the larger issues will take long to be sorted out, there is one thing at least that the two sides can do without much ado: be mindful of each others’ prisoners’ welfare on humanitarian grounds. It serves no purpose for the two sides to keep each others’ prisoners and spend money on their food, security and legal rights.
India and Pakistan can sit down together and prepare a list of prisoners who are not accused of a serious offence like waging war against the state and exchange them on humanitarian grounds. Similar criterion can be applicable to an extreme case like Sarabjit Singh’s. Sarabjit has been accused of waging war against the state of Pakistan and given death sentence many moons ago. But then he has already suffered too much. How many prisoners have been sent to coma after a brutal attack?
Every long journey begins with the first step. A whale of an opportunity has presented itself before Pakistan. The Pakistani military establishment, which is the most important power pole in Pakistan, needs to turn a new leaf and release Sarabjit forthwith. But then if wishes were horses…!
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