An Indian General visits Pakistan

Patron Lt Gen (Retd) FS LODI describes the visit of Lt. Gen (Retd) Dr. ML Chibber, to Pakistan.

Lt. General Dr M.L. Chibber of the Indian Army along with his wife, Dr. R. Chibber, visited Pakistan recently. They spent a few days in Islamabad and Lahore before coming to Karachi. In Islamabad they addressed a select gathering of past and present decision makers, both civil and military. In Lahore they were guests at a Human Rights gathering arranged by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. It provided a good forum for inter-action and exchange of views.

The General belongs to the 2nd IMA batch who joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun after the second world war for a regular commission in the post-war Indian Army. After the partition of India his Muslim batch-mates migrated to Pakistan. Brigadier Gulistan Janjua former Governor of NWFP is a batch-mate, who hosted a dinner for the Chibbers at the Islamabad Club. The General travelled to Gujranwala to meet Brigadier Mohammad Asghar, a former federal minister, who is also a batch-mate and not in good health at present.

Lt. General Chibber and his wife came to Pakistan on what he described as ‘India-Pakistan Reconciliation’. He calls it “a labour of love we started on 1 September 1985.” That is the day after he retired from the Indian Army and wrote to the President of Pakistan, the late General Zia Ul Haq, who invited him to visit Pakistan. A journey he could not undertake owing to some border skirmishes at the time. He visited Pakistan later in 1992 and called on the President of Pakistan Mr Ghulam Ishaque Khan.

I have known the General for 40 years, since we both as young officers spent a year in England at the British Army Staff College, in 1960, learning the art of war. We later spent the rest of our careers in our respective armies utilizing the knowledge gained in planning and taking part in the wars between India and Pakistan.

While at the British Army Staff College we often discussed the problem of Kashmir. He recalled an incident, at an open seminar in Karachi, when we had gone to Birmingham with a group of officers on an industrial tour. At night when the others went off to a night club, we both went for a long walk through the streets of the city and for two hours discussed various ways and means of settling the Kashmir dispute. This was the seed, he said and he had taken up the challenge after retiring from the army. His wife is an equal partner in this peace mission and takes an active part in the discussions to further her aim, which is children exchange programmes between the two countries.

The Indian General visited Pakistan when the situation on either side of the Indo-Pak border is somewhat tense with firing across the L of C in Kashmir a daily occurrence. His batch-mates in Pakistan advised him not to come. As one of them put it, “You will be wasting your time, as nobody will talk to you.” When he consulted his own people in New Delhi the response was the same, “don’t go” One of them said somewhat ominously “you may be caught up in a nuclear holocaust during your trip.” Despite the advise to the contrary and the voices of doom, General Chibber decided to visit Pakistan along with his wife on a mission of peace. This was no doubt a courageous act worthy of praise.

There was some sponsored criticism of the general’s effort in Islamabad. This was certainly contrary to the norms of civilized behaviour as he was a guest in our country and his visit had plenty of official backing and support of the present administration. In Karachi, although the official response was suddenly switched off, the public reaction was that of a large metropolis with an educated and tolerant middle class. They were keen to hear the Indian point of view from a senior Indian military officer himself and have the opportunity of asking him questions.

In Karachi, General Chibber addressed the senior students, members of the staff and some invitees at a Greenwich university. The inter-action with the students was good. They heard him out with patience and understanding and had the opportunity of asking him a host of questions connected with South Asia and Indo-Pak relations, to clear some doubts in their minds.

He also took part in an open seminar arranged by an English daily newspaper, THE NEWS where there were other speakers as well. The hall was full to capacity as the people seemed keen to see the general and hear first hand the point of view of the other side. It was a curious and friendly crowd. When I mentioned to the audience that to qualify for the British Army Staff College, General Chibber had stood first in the competitive examination in India, there were loud cheers. His speech and the answers to the various questions put to him will probably be published soon by the paper.

While in Karachi the general was also interviewed by Syed Jawaid Iqbal the President and Editor-in-Chief of SOUTHASIA and Ikram-ul-Majeed Sehgal, publisher and Managing Editor of the DEFENCE JOURNAL. At the suggestion of Mr Jawed Jabbar, Adviser to the Chief Executive on National Affairs, I interviewed General Chibber for the Pakistan Television (PTV) in their studio. The interview lasted 55 minutes. I asked all the questions which I felt the people in Pakistan would like to hear and know about, and received frank replies from the general. When the interview is shown on the PTV it should prove very informative and interesting for the public as well.

Another interesting interview of General Chibber was published by an English daily THE DAWN on May 6. But his visit has somehow been kept under tight wraps. As Justice Salahuddin Mirza in his letter to an English daily THE DAWN written from Lahore, and published on May 12, rightly says it was “Downgrading a goodwill mission”. He goes on to say, “It is a matter of regret that when someone from India indulges in sabre-rattling, the news is flashed and given prominence out of all proportion, but when someone from there initiates a mission of peace and goodwill the news is either suppressed or given such a low-key projection that it escapes the notice of most of those who wish that relations between our two countries are brought back to normal and look forward to the advent of an era in which all animosity between the two countries will be a thing of the past”.

The Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf is a man of war - a commando trained officer at that. But on taking over the government he is very clear on the National Objectives essential for the country, one of these being, peace with India. A peace, no doubt with honour for both, on the basis of sovereign equality of nations in accordance with the UN Charter. He has taken concrete and positive steps in that direction. On taking over, he pulled back the troops from the international border to reduce tension, reduced the Army budget by Rs 7 billion and offered a dialogue to India. Later on he uttered those famous few words that have been reported extensively at home and abroad that he was prepared for a dialogue with India anytime, anywhere and at any level. He has thus been sending an important message of peace and goodwill to India for sometime now.

Recently the Chief Executive has gone to the extent of offering direct talks to the Prime Minister of India Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, even in a third country, to provide neutral surroundings. It is in this background that the visit of Lt. Gen and Mrs Chibber to Pakistan should have been viewed. It could have provided a small connection in the larger chain of friendship, which is being contemplated in Islamabad.

But there seems to have been some hesitation after the initial approval of his goodwill visit. After all the Government of Pakistan issued him a visa to enter Pakistan. Could it be that the Chief Executive’s policies are being unbalanced for personal gain at a lower level. It may be worth investigating. If the objectives on both sides of the Indo/Pak divide are related to peace in the years ahead, then small personal and group efforts at the unofficial level should be encouraged. These are also essential as the government’s official attitude and stance on both sides have hardened and the public sentiments made to flare up. This tempo particularly in India, which seems to have received some self-assessed boost after President Clinton’s visit has to be reduced. This will certainly produce an appropriate and conducive atmosphere for the talks at the highest level, which would benefit both countries.

There seem to be a lot of people in India also who desire peace in South Asia. In this connection it would be pertinent to mention that Mr Khushwant Singh the Popular Indian writer visited Pakistan recently. After Lt. General Chibber a former Indian Naval Chief has paid a visit to Pakistan. A group of ladies from India visited Lahore, their gesture was reciprocated by some ladies from Lahore visiting Delhi. This was followed by a group of retired officers from Lahore visiting India for a peace march with their counterparts from India. These are good beginnings to ease tension in the region, which is essential as a first step.