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'Military rule has no place in our culture'
Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Hello, I am Air Chief
Marshall S.K. Kaul here. I am ready to answer your questions. ramudu : ok leave about the thing .now tell me sir about the situation if the both fail to get a poistive theme from the meeting. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Frankly, one should not expect the outcome from the summit to be such that it would resolve all the outstanding problems between our two countries. Problems in Kashmir alone is such a complex one that one cannot forsee tangible results emerging at the very first meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf.Since both will be meeting for the first time, perhaps more important is that they get to understand each other particularly their minds and resolve to continue the dialogue on all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan including that of Kashmir.The process of dialogue needs to be established during this summit alongwith the will to live in peace gets reinforced. That is what we should expect from this summit. And hopefully, it moves in that direction. madhu : why cant indian government allow the hurriyat leaders to participAtein the summit Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : One must appreciate the Indian governments stand that Hurriyat is only representing a group of people of J & K particularly those who believe in secession of Kashmir from India. Hence they are truly not representative of all the people of the state particularly those residing in Jammu and Ladakh. There are many other organisations. They too need to be represented if Hurriyat is given a place around the table. shailesh : dont u think that the summit has created an unnecessary hype and do u think that some think constructive will come out of the summit Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I agree that there is tremendous media hype created on both sides of the border but such a hype is inevitable when leaders of two fueding nations decide to meet in an attempt to resolve problems through dialogue than through guns which in any case have always failed to produce lasting solutions. madhu : sir,i agree with u. But how long our centre will be watching the deathos of innocent kashmiri.And why cant indian govt. treat them as a major group as they are beyond the control of musharraf and they are strongly supported by pakistani people.Why cant three party heads put together their heads and discuss the issue. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I had mentioned earlier that the Kashmir problem is very complex. It is not the problem of the valley alone. It is first about Pakistanis invading Kashmir in 47-48 and still occupying many parts which orginally belong to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Secondly, there are people who belong to Jammu as well as Ladakh who do not necessarily subscribe to the same views as some of those in the valley. So, it is not a case of three parties involved. There are more than three parties involved. vidhyesh : do u think American pressure is the real key behind Vajpayee's sudden invitation to pak president Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Americans have been talking about India and Pakistan resolving their issues through dialogue for quite some time. But I do not think Mr. Vajpayee invited Gen. Musharraf as a result of American pressure. Dialogue between the two countries was totally stalled after Kargil and it was time that some efforts were made to resume this. It is in this quest that the dialogue is being held and not under any pressure. mishracs : Is it necessary to have such a grand reception and summit when one can talk across the world like we do with you now. more so when we are not sure about the intention of our neighbour. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : You have a point in what you say. But you have forgotten the fundamental thing that Mr. Vajpayee has invited Gen. Musharraf to India for talks. Musharraf comes as a guest and as is traditional in our country guests are treated extraordinarily well and given all the respect. Apart from this, as hosts it is also for Vajpayee to ensure that an atmosphere for the talks is conducive and is held in the spirit of cooperation. panduhawaldar : What is the merit in talking about Kashmir when the leadres from both sidesare already decided on the issue...and they still say that we are going to begin with an open mind?? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : The leaders on both sides have merely stated their positions with regard to problems related to Kashmir. These have been stated so for many decades now. What is hoped is that during the summit there could be some movement forward in trying to resolve the issue with a give and take approach. grewty : why cant we have a referendum on kashmir?what will be the defence services reaction to any such move? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : We can have a referendum in Kashmir provided the ground situation is conducive for such a development. For this to happen, Pakistan must first vacate the occupied part of Kashmir totally and secondly, the cross border terrorism has to stop completely for such an excercise to be contemplated. RobinChat : SIR AN IMPORTANT QUESTIONS THAT INDIA NEVER ASKS PAKISTAN! IF PAKISTAN TALKS OF TAKING KASHMIR ON THE BASIS OF MUSLIM MAJORITY, THEN TOMMOROW ANOTHER POCKET OF MUSLIM MAJORITY COULD WANT TO ACCEDE TO PAKISTAN AND THEY WOULD ONLY BE TOO HAPPY TO OBLIGE THEM!IF PAKISTAN WERE TO USURP KASHMIR WOULD "PAKISTAN, A FASCIST NATIO BE READY TO ACCEPT THE 120 MILLION MUSLIMS IN INDIA?"I THINK SHREE VAJPAYEE, WHO HAS ACTED SO SUBMISSIVELY TOWARDS PAKISTAN IN THE PAST(MAYBE THATS WHY THEY LIKE HIM SO MUCH) SHOULD ASK MR.MUSHARRAF THIS QUESTION? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I do not subscribe to your thesis that in the 21st century that India should again be sub-divided on the basis of religion.If we accept such a division then Pakistan should be willing to accept 14 crore Muslims who are residing in India within Pakistan because religion is thought to be the true basis of creation of nationhood. In such a scenario, you can imagine the catastrophe that will fall on the sub-continent with violence, killing, uprooting of humanity all over again.Can we allow this to happen. Dileep : Will the Indian Armed Forces wake up to the call of our times and take a more assertive, direct and proactive role in combating our national problems? We have seen enough of politicians spilling words but doing nothing in the past 50 years. Leading the pack now is Mr. Vajpayee, the Nehru-reincarnate, "world-vision" statesman .. his sole aim seems to soft pedal and win a Nobel Peace Prize. Air Chief Marshal Kaul, Sir, why don't u guys take over the country and lead from the frontlines for the next 50 years? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I sincerely hope that never happens.Because there is not guarantee that if the military takes over India the situation would be better than what is prevailing today. According to your logic, Pakistan should have been a model state as it has been mainly ruled by the military and yet the world considers it a failed state with democracy nowhere in sight.India is better off with the bungling politicians because democracy has taken firm roots. Military rule has no place in our culture. srinivas : sir,how for is it possible to solve terrorism with musharafs arrival to india Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I would suggest that you ask this question to Musharraf because he is the one who is supporting the terrorists who are creating the problems in Kashmir today.It is for him to stop this support. amitabh : india should make the offer to let kashmir be an independent state with only the defence & foreign policy to be handled jointly by pak & india.your comments. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Historically as you know there is a legal instrument of accession of the erstwhile state of J & K to the Union of India. J & K is a full fledged state of India with some special provisions made in our constitution to give it a special status. vivek : Sir do you think that President's visit will bring some result. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Firstly, I do not know what you mean by results.Between the people of India and Pakistan, there is a mindset of distrust of each other that has existed for over five decades. If President Musharraf's visit can help bring about a change or cause a dent in this mindset, I think his visit would be worthwhile. In any case, just one visit is not going to resolve all our bilateral issues. There needs to be composite dialogue on all issues including on Kashmir and this has to be done on a periodic basis till we reach some aimacable solution to our problems. Shinde : We know that Mr Musharraf was chief of Army during Kargil war and he defended his action all along against India. How is he going to accept our version on India_Pak border issue. And is it not suprising that Indian govt. still feels something can be fruitful? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : While the world knows that Musharraf was the brains and the executor behing the Kargil episode, yet Vajpayee felt it necessary to resume dialogue with Pakistan which had been stalled after Kargil in order to make some progress in finding lasting peace in the sub-continent. I think such an effort is worth trying even if there is chance of a failure. Peepu : Mr Kaul: Do you think it was unethical for Air Force Chief Tipnis not to salute Musharraf? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I find that many of you have asked about Air Chief Marshal Tipnis not saluting President Musharraf. Frankly, I do not have authentic information on this yet and hence cannot make a comment. niranjanp : SIR, IF WE WERE TO DISECT J&K ON BASIS OF RELIGION WE WILL THEN HAVE TO FACE MANY SUCH DEMANDS SAY BY CHRISTIANS FROM N-E WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS IN SUCH A SITUATION Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Obviously, India has declared itself as a secular country and its entire polity is based on this fundamental principle of secularism. We cannot permit division of our country on grounds of religion anymore. anandmour : CAN the two nations be friends anyday? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Very much so. For this to happen, I strongly believe there has to be a movement of people of both sides to work together for a better subcontinent. kaushlendra_m : Jai Hind Sir,Do We really feel proud by welcoming a person who is very much responsible for killing 1000s of our defence personal. We are still incompleting our learning from Lahore yatra and waiting for one more Kargil or even bigger.RgdsKaushlendra Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I can understand your misgivings about India welcoming Gen. Musharraf in India who is responsible for Kargil. But we also need to accept the fact that Musharraf today is not only President of Pakistan, he is the CEO as well as the army chief. Since we continue to have problems with Pakistan and we have resolved to make efforts to find solution through peaceful means, I think Vajpayee has shown statesmanship in inviting Musharraf for talks. Unless we talk, we cannot find solutions because guns have not found solutions. Subhash : Can Mr Jaswant Singh ask Musharaff where arethe hijackers, whom Jassu very ablydelivered to Pakistan Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : I believe this question of hijackers is likely to come up during the summit talks at Agra. Let us wait. S GHOSH : SIR,I THINK THE MOST PRACTICAL SOLUTION RIGHT NOW SEEMS TO ME PERNMANANCY OF LOC,YOUR VIEWS! Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : You have given a practical solution of converting LOC into the international border. This has been said so by many people on both sides of the border. Pakistan government and military in particular does not want such a solution. vishnu : kaulji, i heard from the soldier that we lost nearly 2 batallions during the kargil war.and the reason for that happenings is due to not proper plan. my question is why the airforce was not put into full fledging from the beginning. if we have used that havent our soldiers would be saved?? so where is the fault? Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Incidentally, I have answered this on this website during the Kargil conflict. For your information, airpower is employed when one expects to gain maximum results and in Kargil it was done so at the appropriate time. VIJAYD : The Americans learnt their lesson after the perfidy perpetrated on them by the Japanese in Pearl Harbour. Why can't India respond in the same vein given what happened in Kargil Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : We are not Americans. Indians have a different approach in tackling the enemy and history is full of such instances. You can't expect a Pearl Harbour from India. gastroagain : sir you are not answering us with the right indian spirit that is burning in all of us.sir don't you feel that spiritinyou Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Mere rhetorics alone does not make a man aggressive. It is the action which determines that. When Kargil happened India responded strongly and likewise in J and K our security forces are constantly hitting the terrorist all the time. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul (Retd) : Thank you very much. I really enjoyed chatting with all of you and feel happy to know that your concern about what is happening to our beloved country. Keep your interest alive.
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