Ahoy India & Pakistan – Dossier Diplomacy
In light of recent skirmishes with Pakistan over the 26/11 massacre, the word dossier has assumed epic proportions. Till Mumbai happened, the humble word Dossier had been buried deep in the annals of vocabulary and is now making a spectacular comeback. According to thefreedictionary.com, the word Dossier means “a collection of papers containing detailed information about a particular person or subject”. It has become a new pseudonym for pusillanimity err..Diplomacy. We common citizens have been subjected to a barrage of dossier exchange between the two estranged countries. It is the latest entrant in the dictionary of diplomacy, another first to the credit of our Foreign Service babus, who have mastered the art of diplomacy as evidenced by the magnificent success of the recent Joint Statement, another word much in vogue.
The constant carp regarding Pakistan makes for a nauseating saga on how not to manage foreign relations. Pakistan, never to be left behind in bluster and false bravado of the cheapest kind, has hit back with their own version of dossiers which pales into insignificance the one’s created by our erring babus. These dossiers come straight from the stable of the lunatic medieval ruler of India, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, who was an embarrassment to the Tughlaq rulers. His policies were like these dossiers. Dossiers were never supposed to occupy such prominent place in the small matter of governance but they have arrived and will be a tool for future warfare. Today, it is the two South Asian friends; tomorrow it will be our Arab and Palestinian friends, then the Chinese and Taiwanese. Imagine, US sending dossiers to Osama Bin Laden with evidence of his involvement in 9/11, and getting a dossier in response denying the charges. Obama will invite Osama over a can of beer to sort out their difference on the dossier! We might as well do away with Diplomats, as dossiers can easily replace them. No need for recruiting such talented people for such an easy task. All you need to do is to send dossiers to countries through couriers/fax etc. Soon, as it happens in India, institutes will offer a diploma in dossier management. Going by the current trend, it promises to be an extremely rewarding profession in the near future as our relations with all our neighbouring countries are in complete disarray and imagine the need for people who are trained in conceptualizing dossiers, writing them and responding to the queries by the recipients. Soon we will have a national competition on Dossier making similar to the immensely popular spelling competition in US, Spelling Bee, where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words.
How long this dossier soap continues is anybody’s guess. Sample the extent to which the dossier diplomacy has trivialized what happened in Mumbai. The other day, our eminently affable minister, surrounded by the omnipresent media was at his eloquent best when faced with questions on yes again the recent dossier (apparently the nth one sent by India). The reporter, “Sir, what is the response of Pakistan to the dossier sent recently?” The minister quipped, “We are waiting for the Pakistani dossier for the response.” The second question, “Sir, has Pakistan assured of any action on the perpetrators of the 26/11 attack?” The minister, rather grim faced, replied, “Pakistan has assured to answer the same in their dossier which is expected any day.”
The long held Indian tradition of debates, arguments/discussion so passionately deliberated by the Nobel Laureate, Dr. Amartya Sen, in his well known book “The Argumentative Indian” could be the fore bearer of the Dossier Diplomacy. Dr Sen argues that there has been a long tradition of debate and discussions beginning from the earliest civilization in the subcontinent. This healthy practice created a conducive environment for democracy to take roots in our nascent nation and ofcourse the British Raj played a significant role in the development of democratic conventions.
For most of the Indians, the word dossier reminds us of the terrible Mumbai massacre and of course the equally terrible response of the government. To be fair to the government, they can’t go to war with Pakistan on each and every pesky issue that plagues the two countries. Dossier Diplomacy could show the way in the absence of the choice to go to war. We might have versions of Dossiers like missiles...Dossier – I, Dossier –II etc. May be the best practices can be replicated between the center and the state governments. Now on the state governments will send a dossier asking for central assistance to tackle drought, Maoists, and other such issues.
Why has the word dossier assumed such frivolity? To us it signifies weakness in the face of adversity. It typifies vacillations of our governments when a decisive response is needed. Answer to this paradox is not going to war but with all and sundry but to resolve problems left behind by history. All issues which could have been solved 20 years ago with tact and acumen have festered far too long and the nation is paying a heavy price with no ends to our problems in sight. The government has failed to address the basic needs of its citizens and no wonder they have resorted to arms to be heard. It is so easy to brand someone a terrorist these days. There have been genuine cases of people resorting to terrorism when they have been denied justice or have been wronged. Pakistan has taken advantage of our internal problems to meddle in our affairs with impunity and thinks that it can get away every time. Why cant the government solve all outstanding issues with Pakistan and all other neighbours is a question in the mind off all Indians. Why relations with all neighbours including Pakistan have deteriorated over the last twenty years? The government is empowered by the people of India to deal with all their problems and it is their bounden duty to answer these questions.
