Retired General VK Singh, former Chief of Indian Army and now Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, attended a dinner hosted on Pakistan Republic Day also called Pakistan Day hosted by Pakistan's envoy to India Abdul Basit which included Kashmiri Separatists who want Kashmir out of India.
Ever since the new government came into being, despite overtures by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan continues to indulge in cross-border attacks which resulted in calling off the talks after Pakistan insisted on consulting the Separatists before dialogue with India.
Terror activities continue across the border unabated. Before his visit, President Obama himself warned Pakistan not to indulge in border firing across Kashmir. There was a breather in hostilities for sometime which has resumed again.
Pakistan continues to be intransigent with regard to 26/11 accused Zaki-Ul-Rehman Lakhvi with their courts every now and then threatening to release him on bail. It is only after India raised a furor that the bail has been put off by a month.
Another accused of 26/11 Mumbai attack, Hafiz Saeed of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the internationally designated terrorist continues with his tirade every now in public speech. Even the US has kept $10 million bounty on his head for his involvement in Mumbai terror attacks. Nobody knows what prevents them from asking Pakistan to hand him over as he is in Pakistan. The 26/11 investigation has moved at a snail's pace. Pakistan continues to play hide and seek game without committing anything on the 26 /11 terror attack on India.
In January 2013, in a blatant and cowardly attack bodies of couple of our soldiers were decapitated in a brutal and gruesome attack which was condemned from all quarters. Pakistan tried to show it that it was militants who had committed the heinous acts under the garb of Pakistan's army uniform.
Given such intransigence by Pakistan on all matters, it is beyond one's comprehension how India could send, of all people, its former chief of Army Staff VK Singh to attend Pakistan's Day however good its intentions may be. The general might have changed his uniform into the garb of a politician, but surely one can imagine the consternation and shock it would have sent down the ranks of our Defense forces, particularly the Army. In most functions, our Generals exhort our Jawans to lay down their lives for the nation and who continue to do so even now. But imagine their revulsion when they see pictures of their former chief in Pakistan's envoy's house along with separatists celebrating Pakistan Day. Even the most die-hard supporters and loyalists of the government cannot accept its decision to send a former Army Chief of Staff to attend such functions which are conducted in such a dubious manner with assorted separatists forming core of the event.
By all means, we should have friendly and cordial relations with our difficult neighbour. We can continue to have dialogue with them as there is no viable alternative. Fine. But let us follow some protocols and also ensure our actions do not boomerang on us creating serious internal fissures amongst our forces. None of the defense personnel amongst our Army, Navy and Air force would have liked the former chief of Army being part of Pakistan's Day mingling with separatists who create problems across our border, day in and day out.
This would amount to practicing the saying, You can't run with hare and hunt with the hounds.
However well-meaning, we should not bend our backs beyond a point where in our actions create revulsions amongst our own forces which will only lead to dangerous consequences.
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