Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
STRATAGEMS IN A PAIRED-MINORITY CONFLICT
States or groups that see themselves as threatened minorities have at least five
strategies to cope with the situation. In the abstract, these include fleeing the
relationship, either physically or psychologically; assimilation (joining the
dominant power); accommodation (living as a weaker state by yielding,
compromising with the dominant power); changing the perceptions of the enemy
state (by people-to-people diplomacy, persuasion or bribery); using outsiders to
redress the balance of power; and finally, changing the balance of power by war
or other means (such as increasing one's economy or population faster than the
other side). Over the past fifty years India and Pakistan have contemplated each
of these strategies.
Fleeing the Relationship
India and Pakistan, created as a 'Homeland' for Indian Muslims, have tried to
flee their relationship several times. The first instance was literally a physical
escape; the others symbolic, psychological, and strategic flight. The key West
Pakistani leaders were from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Bombay, the key East
Pakistani leaders were Bengali Muslims. While Pakistan was deemed to be
homeland for Indian Muslims, most of its founders were fairly secular politicians
worried about being outnumbered in democratic India where Hindus would have
a controlling majority. They had no interest in creating a theocratic state, but
favored a tolerant Muslim majority state where Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians
would live as contented minorities.
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Indeed, some Islamist groups such as the
Jamaat-i-Islami originally opposed Pakistan on the grounds that Islam could not
be contained within a single state.
Intermittently, India has pursued a policy of psychologically escaping the
relationship with Pakistan by simply refusing to engage in serious negotiations
with it, in the hope that time would eventually lead to the maturation of Pakistan.
Eventually, Islamabad would have to realize that Pakistan could not hope to
compete with the larger and more powerful India, until that moment came, then
India would be best advised to ignore Pakistan.
Demonization is a variation on fleeing a relationship. If the leaders of the
other country are evil, misguided, or corrupt, then there is no need to talk to them.
Indeed, dialogue with such a country, or its leaders, is immoral and dangerous.
For many Indians Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, has long
personified the evil leader who was triply misguided. Jinnah challenged India's
civilizational unity by his two-nation theory, he began the militarization of
Pakistan by seeking arms from the West, and he was aloof, cold, and
undemocratic, jealous of Indian rivals, whipping up hatred and fear of India.
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His successors, largely military officers, are thought not to have even Jinnah's
