DNA Edit: Insincere Offer

It sounded very nice when Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke about ‘meaningful dialogue’ with India. After all, all Indian Prime Ministers, especially Prime Minister Modi — who invited then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his swearing in — want nothing more than cordial relations with Pakistan.

Too many lives have been lost in this never-ending war. But sadly, the Pakistan army chief’s statement is not grounded in reality. The fact that the mastermind of the Mumbai attack Hafiz Saeed is allowed to walk free is proof.

The Pakistani court has also pulled up government authorities, ordering them to refrain from ‘harassing’ him. Clearly, Islamabad is in no mood to address New Delhi’s concerns. Saeed’s issue aside, Pakistan has gone overboard to arrest and harass Indians.

Few Indians will be able to forget the treatment meted to Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is accused by Islamabad of being a spy. It is one thing to arrest a person accused of being a spy, it is quite another to humiliate him. Jadhav, who has been given the death sentence, was forced to appear in what were clearly doctored videos — where he accused an Indian diplomat of yelling at his family.

Pakistan ensured that Jadhav’s family was humiliated when they went to meet him, by forcing his wife to remove her bindi and mangalsutra while being searched. This act is proof that by extension, Pakistan was clearly trying to humiliate India in the bargain. Also, the humiliation of Indian diplomats, and the recent instance of Sikh pilgrims being denied consular access to the Indian mission shows that Pakistan is still very much on its anti-India crusade.

Hence, one has to wonder why the Pakistan Army Chief is saying what he is. Is it to put pressure on India and appease the international community? Is it a bid to woo back countries like the US? Whatever the intention, this offer of dialogue is clearly not sincere.