Passing Through Fire

On a green-upholstered chair in Parliament, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri listened to his critics attack the government on everything from the Indian economy to the army's inability to come to grips with Pakistani infiltrators in Kashmir.

In his reply, Shastri gently chided the opposition for offering "routine" motions of censure -- last week's was the third in 14 months. Shastri added, "We are passing through fire. I would only like to say this, that the government that is passing through fire will come out of it much brighter and much stronger. It is this government that will deliver the goods." When the vote was taken, the censure motion lost by 318 to 66.

Actually, as far as Kashmir was concerned, the opposition had little to criticize, for Shastri was in luck on the border last week. On the cease-fire line, Indian troops captured three more Pakistani outposts in heavy fighting. More important, Indian troops moved across the cease-fire line to occupy a sizable swath of Pakistan-held territory as a "precautionary measure" against further infiltrators. Even Indian resentment of the failure of U.N. Secretary-General U Thant to denounce Pakistani aggression was mollified by public circulation of a report by Australia's Lieut. General Robert Nimmo. He has served for eleven years in Kashmir as the U.N.'s chief observer, and he accused Pakistan of "numerous and widespread" violations.

Indian and Pakistan passions run so deep on Kashmir that not even the U.S. likes to take a forthright stand. Britain and the U.S. are busily looking in other directions: Britain helped solve the Rann of Kutch dispute but is bypassing the Kashmir fighting; though heavily arming both sides, Washington has no intention of becoming embroiled.

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