- And Indian paranoia
As Indian general elections 2019 draw closer, New Delhi has gone into top gear to denigrate Pakistan and its army. Why the feverish attempt to castigate Pakistan rather than project the achievements of the current dispensation in power — the BJP or promises by the main opposition party — the Indian National Congress (INC)?
The fact is that disgruntled with the decade long (2004-2014) lackluster performance of the INC, the masses opted for a change and voted the BJP back into power in 2014. The main reason for Modi’s success was creating the hype of Hindutva supremacy and reviving Hindu Rashtra (nation) glory. To attract Hindu fundamentalists, Modi created the aura of Pakistan bashing and targeting minorities including Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and lower caste Hindus — the Dalit. He promised Indian masses the ultimate solution to the Kashmir imbroglio. His vision was to abrogate Indian Constitution’s Article 370, which provides special status to (Indian Occupied) Kashmir, resettle Hindu Pundits and war veterans in IOK (contrary to the constitution) and also win back Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
Modi has two images: “the butcher of Gujarat”, where in 2002, as chief minister, he organised ethnic cleansing, butchering 2,000 Muslims. Secondly he built Gujarat into a thriving financial success. Modi’s promise was to replicate his accomplishments on both avenues in the whole of India. To the radical proponents of Hindutva, Modi was the right choice to subjugate Muslims and Pakistan while he held promise of prosperity for the business community.
There was another element in play. To ensure his success in the 2014 polls, Modi’s overture to his parent organisation the RSS for victory. They willfully obliged but demanded their pound of flesh when Modi took oath of office. Thus Ajit Doval, a rabid Muslim baiter, was appointed as the National Security Advisor. IB and RAW chiefs were chosen following the same criteria.
Extremists wreaked havoc on Indian Muslims and other minorities. BJP tried to win the 2014 elections in Kashmir to pave the way for the abrogation of Article 370 but the Kashmiri Muslims voted en masse to block BJP in IOK. To punish the Kashmiris, their popular leader Burhan Wani was assassinated and protesters have been ruthlessly slaughtered; over 200 have been martyred while 3,600 have been permanently blinded by pellet guns fired on their face.
Modi has two images: “the butcher of Gujarat”, where in 2002, as chief minister, he organised ethnic cleansing, butchering 2,000 Muslims. Secondly he built Gujarat into a thriving financial success
Incessant violation of the 2003 ceasefire results in taking a toll of Kashmiris and Pakistanis residing this side of the Line of Control. Furtive attempts to support terrorist groups of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) entrenched in Afghanistan have resulted in unleashing the forces of terror on Pakistan, especially Balochistan and Pakistan’s FATA region. Modi also tried to befriend the previous government in Islamabad through the carrot of trade and business partnerships while he beat us with the stick of false flag operations blaming Pakistan.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry and Modi’s promises of building “Shining India” flopped miserably. Many sane Indians are disgruntled by the excessive brutality against Indian minorities. Senior RAW terror leader Commander Kulbhoshan Jadhav was arrested in Balochistan, who sang like a canary divulging details of Indian machinations to destabilize Balochistan, Karachi and Pakistan. The military operations by Pakistan disrupted the nefarious terror attacks. Worse still, the PML-N, plagued by corruption charges, was routed in the 2018 elections in Pakistan and the new government, supported by the people of Pakistan, is willing to talk to India but on sovereign terms.
Running like headless chicken, the terror mongers in India are now going into a tail spin to somehow convince their masses of the “impending” threat from Pakistan army and its premier intelligence agency the ISI. A new narrative is being built to paint Pakistan army as rogue and a threat to the region. To lend credibility to the Indian account, its media, which is ever willing to serve as the handmaiden of RAW, RSS and extremist forces, has come to the fore.
Pseudo strategic experts like Ashish Shukla have expressed their opinion on oneindia, claiming: “Pakistan has developed a grand national narrative that army controls by several means.” He surmises that Pakistan army not only controls domestic politics and foreign policy but it is in every decision making of the country. According to Shukla, Pakistan army has gradually captured minds of the people through the “grand national narrative” and even the government is not allowed to fiddle with it. They have also changed the media to think in a particular direction. He continues his tirade, alleging that this stops Pakistan from moving towards peace with India.
The ersatz opinion builder’s lie is nailed on the spot. Directly after taking oath of office, Imran Khan offered peace talks to India and to break the ice he recommended that the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India meet at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September. India initially accepted but realising that it was contrary to its policy of isolating Pakistan, it conducted a hurried false flag operation of murdering three policemen in IOK, blaming Pakistan for it to cancel the talks. The issuance of postage stamps by Pakistan to honour martyred Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani was also cited as an excuse.
To support his deductions, Ashish Shukla construes that Pakistan army conducts national security workshops in which budding politicians, bureaucrats and journalists are invited to participate. Shukla believes that the army is investing to influence the next generations through these training workshops.
Continuing his train of thought, Shukla propagates that national media workshops are conducted to penetrate the minds of journalists about national security. He proliferates that the media persons will perceive the world with jaundiced eyes and affects the perception of others. Shukla stresses that thus the military has captured the entire narrative and does not tolerate anyone trying to fiddle with it. He concludes by stating that “in any democratic country, a civilian tells military what national security is but in Pakistan, it is Military that tells the civilian.”
Indian opinion makers must realise that for Pakistan national security is of paramount importance. During the last seventy one years of its existence, Pakistan has fought three wars, been on the brink of many more, lost its eastern wing and for the last seventeen years, it has suffered tremendously in the war on terror. The military takes national security very seriously. It is the last bastion of defence against the nefarious designs of the enemy, externally and internally; thus the concerted effort by India to besmirch the military of Pakistan. By conducting national security workshops, the National Defence University, which is not a purely military institution but a degree awarding school of learning governed by the HEC, attempts at familiarising average Pakistanis about the seriousness of the threat to our national security. The institution invites national and international luminaries to share their experiences and opinion on the subject and even the military minds gain from the exchange of ideas. After the catastrophe of the Army Public School massacre of 142 students in December 2014, the twenty point National Action Plan (NAP) was devised to boost national security and ensure that such a heinous act is never repeated. Unfortunately, only the actionable items on the NAP by the army were acted upon while the rest were ignored. It is not that civilians are ignorant but there is an urgent need for decision makers in every field including the politicians, bureaucrats and media to be cognizant of the depth of the problem and take effective measures in their sphere of influence.
