A.C Bose Following the Big-B's head-line capturing gesture refusing a doctorate degree of the Queensland University in Brisbane our minister for tourism, Selja Kumari too has reportedly cancelled her planned participation in a show in Australia meant to promote India as a tourist destination.
However, the distinction must never be ignored.
It is one thing for an eminent public figure to demonstrate his or her sympathies for ones country men in distress, but it is quite another thing for someone in government to show her resentment by openly boycotting a pre-planned event.
After all, we may have legitimate grievances against the tiny population of goons in Australia, but we nourish no ill-will towards their government at Canberra.
The latter are evidently doing their best to provide safety to the Indian students there.
They are interested in protecting their valued image as a civilised society as well as in saving their billion dollar trade in selling education to around, 90,000 Indian students there.
Besides, the Indian expatriates there are a helpful prop to Australian economy by providing all sorts of cheap services that the locals are usually loathe to perform.
But, in every society there are elements who do not see reason and forget the accepted norms of behaviour, especially when an economic crisis faces them.
So we must not publicly suspect or exhibit our resentment with the Australian government, since these are likely to prove unproductive.
After all, Canberra is not at fault.
In the same vein it may be asserted that it is heartening to note that we have ultimately decided to come out of our post-26/11 denial mood about talking to Pakistan.
Till then we have been shouting from roof-tops that the 'comprehensive peace talks' with Pakistan are a part of an irreversible process.
Yet, in an obvious surrender to domestic pressure, especially on the eve of the election, we refused to continue that process till Islamabad satisfies us with steps taken against all the suspects involved in that ghastly incident of 26/11, and against the continuing cross-border terrorism directed at us.
Virtually, all talks, trade, and travel between the two countries were stopped, although under visible international pressure Islamabad did admit the involvement of Pakistanis in that gory incident and took some steps to partly meet our demand as well as the West's.
Evidently, none is fully satisfied with the steps taken so far.
Even the US is aghast at the sight of Hafiz Saeed moving out of house arrest as a free man.
Still, the same US invited Presidents Zardari and Hamid Karzai to Washington, and trebled their normal aid to Pakistan, apparently, to enable her fight terrorism more effectively at home and on their western frontier.
This US action had two covert lessons for us.
First, although the US had been always urging us for all these months to resume normal relations with Pakistan, we have so far refused to oblige them, and the Obama administration publicly ignored our hard stance by agreeing to shore up Pak economy and strengthen her security system, although the latter has often been used against India.
Obviously, our 'no talk' attitude has not met with international approval.
Secondly, although US nationals had been killed on 26/11 and American opinion was aghast with what some Pakistanis had done, they had realised in time that non-cooperation in any form would not serve any purpose.
If Pak-AF based terrorism has to be fought Islamabad's cooperation, however hesitant, has to be sought, and for that one must talk to those in office at Islamabad.
It is encouraging in that context to find India-now that the UPA government in Delhi is stronger and more self-confident than before-agreeing to resume the stalled peace talks through a pre-arranged 'chance meeting' between our PM and their President when they meet in Moscow on the side-lines of the Shanghai Cooperation meet their.
Like the US we too, as a nation, must realise that Pakistan is a very soft state and the writ of Islamabad does not run across the entire country.
The latter has to deal with not only citizens but also officials, both civil and military, who sympathise with the fanatical elements or, at least, hate those fighting them.
So, poor Zardari-who has lost his wife to terrorism-and his government have to function within severe strict limits, and is in no position to deliver all that may seek.
There is no reason to suspect Islamabad's intentions, and therefore we must in varying ways enable them to meet our demand-may be by making ourselves more acceptable to the powerful elements in Pak society, through appeals in the name of humanity, and never by evincing that we are putting pressure on them, either directly or through the US or any other third power.
Refusal to talk has never led to any successful outcome, nor it ever will.
So, whether it is Pakistan or Australia, or Bangladesh or Myanmar, we must never close the door and shut our mouth and ears.
Talks continue between billigerents ever during war, and certainly we are not at war with any of our neighbours.
We wish our PM God Speed.
*(The writer is a retired Professor and HOD of History of Jammu University and Presently based at Kolkata).
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