Smoke and mirrors for want of a scapegoat
One sure sign of a failed state is that for every failure there is a scapegoat to lay the blame on. Thus is the fundamentalist government of PM Modi slowly converting India into a failed state: for every security failure of their own they blame Pakistan for sponsoring terrorists for which they have yet to convince the world of with evidence. Some states may accept their narrative for their own geopolitical interests rather than based on evidence.
PM Modi is the same person who allowed killing of over 1000 Muslims when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat province. It was only a matter of time before his government would engage in human rights violations in Muslim majority Kashmir. The uprising in Kashmir is the result of home grown anger against overwhelming aggression of Indian military apparatus. Pictures provided daily of blinding of young men and women as the result of pellet guns used by Indian military has become global thanks to social media. Curfew on the day of Eid deprived Kashmiri Muslims to celebrate Eid ul Adha which is one of the two religious festivals. In other words freedom of religion was curtailed. Facebook’s decision to delete certain pages of the activists further fueled the fire and prompted strong reactions from human rights activists.
It is too early to tell who were behind the killing of Indian soldiers in Uri in occupied Kashmir but cabinet members of Indian fundamentalist government have already started issuing aggressive statements against Pakistan. Home Minister Rajnath Singh as usual labeled Pakistan as the perpetrator of this attack without waiting for the evidence to emerge. In other words he already had a preconceived notion of whom to blame. Former Chief of Indian Army Shankar Roy Choudhary suggested that state of India should develop suicide squads to send to Pakistan. This is not the first time these aggressive statements are made. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Defense Minister have also made public statements that Indian state should sponsor and support terrorists and separatists in Pakistan. PM Modi has also accepted that India was involved in the separation of East Pakistan during his visit to Bangladesh. In other words it is now well known that India is engaged in state sponsored terrorism and Pakistan is not the only country in the region affected by it. India has provided sanctuaries to separatist working in China and other countries in the region. On the other hand, allegations against Pakistan regarding state sponsored terrorism inside India is only based on hearsay and a propaganda campaign.
All Pakistani political leaders, both in government and opposition, have supported the policy that terrorists of all stripes and colors will not be allowed to operate from our soil. Pakistan has repeatedly extended its hand towards India for dialogue and better relations but the fundamentalist government in India is only looking for deterioration and looked for every opportunity to blame her. They want Pakistan to be isolated through their international propaganda but they are not succeeding which is frustrating for them. Now they are looking for reasons to justify their aggression against Pakistan. The incident in Uri few days before UN General Assembly where Pakistan intent to raise her voice against Kashmir atrocities could be an effort to deprive Kashmir struggle its legitimacy.
India is demanding hegemony in the South Asian region and aspire to convert all her neighbors as satellites. They don’t want any country to have good economic and security relations with China. It is evident from their repeated demands that CPEC should not be implemented. On the other hand they have become a frontline state in the Western policy of containment of China. This is resulting in imbalance of power in South and East Asia.
It is responsibility of all nations in the region to come forward and demand that UN resolutions related to Kashmir should be implemented. The Indian government’s public statements made against Pakistan have made it quite impossible to have a bilateral dialogue with them. A regional platform should be developed to initiate dialogue to resolve all their outstanding issues including Sir Creek, Siachen, and Kashmir. Russia and China should take lead in the development of this regional platform as well as become guarantors that any agreement reached will be implemented. USA as an ally of both India and Pakistan can play a positive role in reducing tensions and bring the two to the dialogue table.
South Asian region cannot experience peace and stability until and unless all countries respect balance of power, strategic interests and resolution of boundary disputes. Public threats and aggression will only result in escalation of tensions that does not serve interests of anyone. Despite Indian official aggression Pakistan has shown restraint and not reciprocated it.