Not three cities, the whole of India.

Funny, if it were not so outrageous

This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.

Jagadish points to Gen Musharraf’s latest TV interview. In this, he throws a self-admitted bombshell, ‘let’s demilitarise three Kashmiri towns’, he says, ‘Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla’, and he would ‘ensure that there is no militancy in those cities.’ And if bullets are fired, he would ‘cooperate to ensure that the groups or individuals were brought to task’.

This is perhaps the biggest climbdown of his life. The last we recall, he had promised to ensure that there is no terrorism (on Pakistan’s account) anywhere in India.

Three cities indeed! The chaps at the foreign ministry did well to remind him of his commitment. That’s the necessary first step. But ensuring that he delivers requires a lot more than televised diplomatic volleys. And yes Manu, you are right. It is explicit that he controls the terrorists. Only, it’s not just an admission. It’s a signal.

Update: Transcripts [Part1, Part2] of the interview are now available. He uses circular logic to defend the Lashka-e-Taiba/Jamaat-ud-Daawah, suggests that newspaper editorials are immature and not representative of public opinion, that Ayaz Amir is unbalanced and throws about those wierd percentage estimates. As usual he wants the Indian people to believe him, because he says so sincerely.

Another Update: There is more. Transcripts [Part 3, Part 4]. Karan Thapar is good.

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