ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: President General Pervez Musharraf has criticized India for being “insincere” about holding dialogue with Pakistan and made it clear on New Delhi that relations could never be normalized without addressing the core issue of Kashmir.
In an interview with Canada’s daily “Toronto Star” published on September 19, he expressed disappointment at the Indian response to various initiatives by Pakistan to improve conditions for the initiation of dialogue.
“Now we get a feeling with the passage of time - because the dialogue even has not started at any level - that India is playing games with us. They are trying to buy time, and they are insincere,” President Musharraf said. He said India did not want to address the Kashmir dispute.
“Now if this is what they are doing, it’s dangerous. It is very dangerous,” the President said.
He reiterated that the issue of Kashmir cannot be sidelined.
“Never! We can never normalize with India without addressing the Kashmir dispute,” he said.
To a question on the concern over nuclear confrontation, the President said, “no sane person can ever sit and plan that there will be a nuclear confrontation. We must never even plan that; we must never even think of that.”
However, he said “what is dangerous is whether there will be a conflict between India and Pakistan which can then lead on to a nuclear exchange. The danger is that.”
The President, while replying to a question, said Indians were misusing their consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad against Pakistan “because there is no other purpose whatsoever of these consulates.
But the President warned “if they keep harming us, we won’t be silent observers.”
The President also spoke at length on the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah and stressed the need for addressing the root- causes to stem the rise of extremism world-wide.
In this respect, the President reiterated his two-pronged strategy, saying both the Muslim world and the West have to contribute.
He asked the Islamic world to adopt the path of “enlightened moderation, in accordance with the real teachings of Islam.
But, he warned, that the West, too, must make a choice. It (West) also needs to realize a correct understanding of Islam, he added.
“The West must understand the deep-rooted sense of injustice felt by many Muslims, and the grievances that allow extremism to fester. Violent conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia are not only destabilizing, but demoralizing to Muslims.”
He said unfortunately, all political disputes around the world involved Muslims, and Muslims happened to be at the receiving end.
“Take Palestine, Kashmir, or any other: Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Chechnya, Bosnia, everything. So therefore, the West owes it to the world to resolve all (these) disputes in a just manner. Then Muslims should see that justice is being done,” he added.
Moreover, he said, the West must also assist in health, education, in the human resource development, in the social sector, helping, assisting the Muslim world “ because it is lack of education and poverty which really give rise to extremism.”
The President said the West must do more to curb injustices in the Islamic world.
He said there was a perception in the Muslim World that the West was purposely targeting Islam. “This perception has to be removed.”
The President said the call for moderation by him or leaders like Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would fail if this perception was not removed. “If this is not being done....we will be weakened”.
He said the call for “enlightened moderation” among Muslims will ultimately fail if the West does not respond. “In fact, we may be labelled as people who are trying to appease the West, if there is no response from the West, if there is no response to what I’ve said.”
Responding to a question, the President said, he thinks that “the extremists have taken it upon themselves to declare jihad all around the world and “this is not their responsibility”.—APP