- They should think twice before entertaining any thought of a military action
In the backdrop of suicide attack on Indian security personnel at Pulwama last Friday, the ties between Pakistan and India — which have been quite strained since Narendra Modi became prime minister of India — hit a new low in view of the Indian government and media going berserk in their attempts to hold Pakistan responsible for the attack. Though Pakistan has condemned the attack, rejected the insinuations regarding her involvement and offered to cooperate in the investigation if India provides any credible evidence in support of her claims but there has been no let up in the tirade against her. The Indian government has not only threatened to retaliate but also hinted at starting a vigorous campaign to isolate Pakistan. Reportedly the Indian government has authorised its army to prepare for a retaliatory strike against Pakistan. It is ostensibly on a war path with Pakistan.
The Indian government and media which is one step ahead also continue to come up with bizarre claims in regards to the incident. However the revelations that the alleged suicide bomber was in the custody of the Indian security forces since 2017 and the reports by the Indian media that Ghazi Abdul Rasheed is the mastermind behind the suicide attack, reduce the Indian claims to a farce. Ghazi Abdul Rasheed was killed in an operation against the militants at the Lal Masjid Islamabad nearly ten years ago. It is typical of what India has been doing in the wake of similar incidents in the past. It even raised the hoax of surgical strike in the backdrop of the Uri incident.
The stance taken by Pakistan conforms to her declared policy of condemning terrorism in all its manifestations, zero tolerance against terrorist entities and the determination to take the fight against it to its logical conclusion as is amply demonstrated by the indiscriminate action taken against terrorist outfits by the security forces of Pakistan. As a frontline state against war on terror it has suffered the most in terms of men and material; a reality widely acknowledged and appreciated across the world.
Indian accusations of Pakistan supporting terrorism, in fact, pale before the Indian state terrorism as corroborated by the confessional statement of the Indian spy Jadhav who was captured in March 2016 and ultimately sentenced to death by a military court. He confessed having sponsored acts of terrorism within Pakistan at the behest of Indian RAW and extending support to the Baloch insurgents. Indian involvement in terrorist acts within Pakistan in collaboration with Afghan intelligence NDS through their support to Tehrike Taliban Pakistan as corroborated by TTP leader Lutfullah Mehsood who was caught by the NATO forces in Afghanistan, is also an irrefutable reality. The pogrom of Kashmiri youth that is being carried out by the Indian security forces on daily basis also testifies to that reality.
It was probably the right time for the world community and the UN to take notice of the Indian belligerence and facilitate an independent probe
Indian attempts to isolate Pakistan have neither succeeded in the past nor would prove to be of any consequence now. It will have to think twice before entertaining any thought of a military action because Pakistan was more than capable of mounting a befitting response as is also evident from response of the Pakistani security forces to the violations of the ceasefire by the Indian forces along the LOC and working boundary for the last two years. Pakistan like India is a nuclear power and cannot be cowed down by threats. The best course for India would be to revisit her bellicose blustering and consent to the investigations duly participated by Pakistan to unearth the reality. In the event of India not agreeing to this proposition, perhaps it would be desirable for Pakistan to call the Indian bluff by proposing an international probe into the incident.
It is unfortunate that the South Asian region is hostage to the Indian desire for hegemony and her improvidence in trying to suppress the freedom struggle in the Indian Held Kashmir with the barrel of gun and resort to brazen violation of human rights. History is witness to the fact that freedom movements cannot be suppressed with military muscle. The Indian oppression in IHK has actually fuelled the freedom movement and more and more Kashmiri youth are joining the struggle to liberate Kashmir from Indian subjugation.
India and world community have pledged a plebiscite to decide the fate of the state as enshrined in the UN resolutions. Indian somersault on the commitment has neither been accepted by the UN nor the world community. There can be no peace and economic prosperity in the region unless the Kashmir conundrum is resolved in conformity with the UN resolutions. Indian attempts to deny the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir will ultimately harm the Indian interests.
The Indian propaganda against Pakistan and portraying her in dismal colours might divert the attention of the world community from the killing spree that the Indian security forces are carrying out in the Indian held Kashmir for a brief period but the truth will ultimately triumph. Taking the animosity against Pakistan to a higher level might also be useful in the short run in view of the internal political expediencies but they can undermine the strategic interest of India in the long run. The saner elements within India and the former chief ministers of IHK including Farooq Abdullah have repeatedly urged the necessity of dialogue with Kashmiris and Pakistan which they believe is the only way of ensuring resolution of the Kashmir dispute and ensuring peace and tranquility in the region. The current Indian army chief in an interview with The Economic Times in last June while admitting the indigenous character of the freedom movement had also advised the Indian government to give the dialogue a chance, though he is going along with the decisions of the Indian government to the contrary.
It was probably the right time for the world community and the UN to take notice of the Indian belligerence and facilitate an independent probe into the incident before it is too late. The US must also refrain from endorsing the Indian claims without any evidence as well as abandon the streak of looking at the things from the perspective of her strategic and commercial interests.
