Chowrangi

Desperation is a virtue at times. Despite of its inherent negativity that manifests itself in the form of selfishness, desperation does give an impetus and energy to move forward and challenge inertia and stagnation. Desperation is goal oriented and is never without purpose. It is a semi-deliberate act and although it does not portray itself as a planned act in strict refined definition of planning, it does achieve goals in rare cases. The most important factor is the timing when desperation ensues. The threshold where the stimulus successfully and consciously triggers this syndrome is often vague and the timing cannot be specifically gauged when the whole affair begins. But generally, desperation begins when there is an imminent danger of failure and the perceived time left to convert the failure into success is either minimal or uncertain. The type and form of desperation depends on the manner in which the perceived failure is confronted by the individual. If the perceived failure is due to an unfair competition, the desperation contains ingredients of anger and ruthlessness. On the other hand, if the perceived failure is due to a fair competition the desperation takes the form of urgency in action and self discipline. In the first case, the individual wants to beat while in the latter case he wants to win.

When seen in the context of Pakistan, I am of the view that it is not too far when the signs of desperation start appearing as regards its current relations with India. The perceived failure is almost a reality in the background of the jingoistic antics of India and the competition is unfair to a large extent. The current problems of Pakistan have taken the shape of an acute syndrome wherein the need of the hour is attempted and deliberate signs of desperation for addressing and treating it. As discussed earlier, desperation if deliberate, planned and calculated coupled with prevalence of sanity can save Pakistan from imminent failure at least on India’s front. Diplomacy, no doubt, is a sophisticated tool of addressing bilateral issues and disputes but in my view it is case sensitive and we cannot use it as a standard template wherein we can cut, copy and paste with slight changes of names and facts. It is time for desperate diplomacy which requires flexibility and aggression at the same time.

India is showing planned and calculated desperation in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s subtle acknowledgment of Kashmir dispute as an international issue rather than a bilateral one as advocated religiously by India for almost half a century. The honeymoon that India has enjoyed with Bush administration is not foreseeable with Obama’s America with that much clarity. The Mumbai inferno is the only diplomatic and political opportunity that Indian administration has at hands where it can play its cards.

I totally disagree with the stance of many seasoned analysts that Congress is using this issue as a desperate attempt to win general elections that are to be held in a few months. In fact, the Hindu mindset is at stake in the current scenario of Pakistan becoming the centre of international new world order where it has been acknowledged as a necessary evil which cannot be left alone. The conspiracy theories emanating from the current scenario and advocated by many in the media, especially in the electronic media, has only confused the Pakistani administration and government and the desperation so caused is taking us to a negative recourse for addressing the issue. It is high time for us to analyze the situation and start showing calculated signs of desperation for winning the situation. It is time to seize the moment as difficult but real opportunity and launch a desperate diplomatic and political offensive against India’s foolish and laughable diplomatic statements.

There is no doubt that India’s economy and might has become an international reality but it is also true that the observers all over the world have noticed the signs of desperation and amateur behavior of Indian diplomacy. Our analysts are portraying a very gloomy and negative picture for Pakistan in the current situation but they fail to realize that had Indian stance been accepted internationally, the behavior of global actors would be totally different towards Pakistan from what we are witnessing at the moment. There is a tremendous traffic of global diplomatic and political representatives in and out of Islamabad asking Pakistan to cool down and do not react to Indian behavior. Unfortunately, we are calling this movement as application of pressure on Pakistan to which I totally disagree.

It is also a fact that democracy in Pakistan is a reality and the world has acknowledged and accepted it. The international community has no problems in engaging the democratic government of Pakistan for diplomatic efforts. It is in the context of these realities that India has become desperate. There is just one difference between the diplomatic and political efforts of India and Pakistan. India has taken the course of deliberate and planned desperation while Pakistan has or will become desperate without any planning which could be counterproductive.

India has realized and found this subtle and unexplored tool of diplomacy and is making the diplomatic and rhetoric diplomatic competition as unfair by design so as to make us desperate ill planned and force us to start feeling that failure is imminent; this could make us do something silly and that would be a victory for India. The need of the hour is to get us prepared for a creative and well planned diplomatic desperate offensive and utilize all our diplomatic and political resources in addressing the Indian assault. A great example before us is the All Parties Conference that was held immediately after the Mumbai incidence which very clearly caused jitters in Delhi’s diplomatic corridors. That was a calculated and deliberate desperation and did achieve immediate results diplomatically at international level and politically at domestic front. But unfortunately we lost the plot after this successful act and started signs of miscalculated desperation by issuing confusing and incoherent statements from various forums that clearly proved counterproductive.

Pakistan can be in a winning position if it shows itself to be desperate in a calculated manner. It will push our desired offensive forward and we can bring India on a back foot by engaging it on many diplomatic fronts at the same time. We should tell the international community in general and our friends like China, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Obama’s America that enough is enough and we can no longer remain silent to India’s offensive. Pakistan should impose its sovereignty on the international diplomatic stage and assert its stance that the stimulus that could trigger the threshold of its desperation is being recklessly used by India and is unacceptable. I am of the firm opinion that this game of nerves can be won by us if we show some signs of desperation to the international community in general and to India specifically. Desperation, at times, is a virtue.

By Faysal Bukhari