By Asif Haroon Raja
Indo-Pakistan relations have remained strained since the inception of two states in August 1947. Some of the reasons of undying animosity are the Hindu-British nexus during the British rule in India which persecuted the Indian Muslims and played a perverse role while dividing India. Pakistan was loaded with innumerable complex problems so as to extinguish its life during infancy.
Kashmir was annexed forcibly by Indian forces in 1948 and the dispute has not been resolved to this date. Throughout 62 years of its history, Pakistan has remained the victim of Indian machinations. Even after truncating it in 1971, it continued with its expansionist and hegemonic policies to subdue Pakistan and to extract peace on unequal terms. Indian political leaders have been winning elections by castigating Pakistan and beating war drums. Pakistan being small in size and militarily weak has all along endeavored to normalize relations with India but its efforts were either rudely spurned or subjected to deceit.
Fixated by its ardent desire to be accepted as a regional power, it has been incessantly building up its military muscles and has employed covert means to keep Pakistan politically destabilized and economically weak. Pakistan's refusal to accept its hegemony has kept Indian leaders on a war path. It considers Pakistan to be the sole stumbling block in its path to attain regional ascendancy and big power status. Nuclearisation of Pakistan has frustrated its evil designs since it can no more bully or blackmail Pakistan by threatening to wage a war. It has therefore once again resorted to covert operations coupled with propaganda warfare at a massive scale to achieve its objectives. This time it has aligned itself with USA, Britain, Israel and Afghanistan and is using Afghan soil to launch clandestine operations in Balochistan, FATA and NWFP including Swat. Since India has already made deep inroads in Sindh, it is therefore concentrating on other regions.
In pursuant of their common objectives, foreign powers have been extending a helping hand to India for the last eight years despite the fact that Pakistan has been nominated as front line state to fight US war on terror and has rendered maximum sacrifices. During this testing period in which Pakistan suffered immensely at the hands of so-called friends, the two antagonists came close to war twice.
Having inflamed greater part of Pakistan through sabotage and subversion, India has the brashness to cry out that it is victim of Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Hypocrisy of India can be judged from its habit of blaming Pakistan for the crimes it commits against Pakistan. Any act of terror, real or fabricated, taking place in India is promptly pasted on Pakistan without even carrying out preliminary investigations. It bellows and bawls loudly to gain sympathies of the world and to portray Pakistan as the culprit. It had done so when it cooked up a terrorist attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001 and termed it as another 9/11. Media hype was created and every Indian bayed for blood of Pakistan. Biggest ever troop mobilization was carried out and its forces stood in eye ball to eye ball contact for ten months. Its subsequent in house inquiry could not find any clue to substantiate its allegations blurted out at the spur of the moment but by then the damage had been done.
India behaved in similar audacious and babyish fashion when Mumbai incident occurred. Indian leaders removed the mask of friendship, called off composite dialogue in a huff and reverted to their obdurate and cantankerous posture. They are duplicitous, unprincipled and shameless. While falsely blaming Pakistan of terrorism without evidence, they haven't felt even pinch of embarrassment after Pakistan unearthed heavy involvement of RAW in all its troubled regions. Likewise, India and its partners remain mum on wide scale terrorism going on within India.
Indo-Pakistan antagonism did not cause any anxiety to USA as long as US-Nato forces were keeping Afghan security situation within manageable limits and India was conducting subversion against Pakistan right under its nose. Once security conditions in Afghanistan deteriorated and Afghan Taliban gained an upper edge over occupation forces from 2008 onwards, US leaders started preaching peace between India and Pakistan. They are vainly trying to convince Pakistan that extremist forces and not India pose an existential threat. Pakistan is being continually pressed to shift bulk of its forces from eastern border towards western border to defeat terrorists and to forget about Indian threat. While giving verbal assurances, the US has not taken any practical steps to allay fears of Pakistanis nor has India brought any change in its attitude. US efforts are at best superficial and lack sincerity of purpose.
India at the cost of 70% poverty stricken people is spending large chunk of its budget on its military to enlarge and modernize its forces. Indian Army has 34 combat divisions, three armored divisions, seven independent armored brigades, five RAPID divisions, two airborne brigades, two artillery divisions, independent artillery brigades, over 200 nuclear bombs and wide variety of ballistic missiles. Besides, India has formidable air force and navy. Out of thirteen Corps, seven Indian Corps are poised against Pakistan. India refuses to shift its bias of military force away from its western border on the silly plea that it is vulnerable to terrorist threat from Pakistan. It has now deceptively expressed its readiness to shift some forces from occupied Kashmir under fond hope that it would impel Pakistan Army to shift its centre of attention towards FATA. Gen Deepak Kapoor is eagerly awaiting such a move so that his forces could exploit the imbalance at an opportune time.
India has become largest nest of terrorism where Hindu terrorists and insurgents are on a rampage. In all terrorist acts taking place from 2006 to 2008, in which 40-60% victims were Indian Muslims, Pakistan was blamed but it transpired later that Hindu terrorist groups duly patronized by RAW and Indian Army were responsible. Apart from Hindu terror, dozens of separatist and insurgent movements are raging in various parts of India and shaking the very foundations of Indian Union. All its nuclear and missile sites are located within the Red Corridor in eastern India where uncontrollable Maoist movement is reigning supreme. Indian Army is deeply involved in criminal activities including racism, arms and nuclear fissile material smuggling. These ground realities do not vex US and western leaders. Instead of declaring India as hub centre of terrorism and most dangerous country in the world, biased western leaders have given these titles to Pakistan and are hounding it under the mantra of do more. Pakistan has been taken for granted and made into a sacrificial lamb to cover up Indian subversive activities and to hide failures of US military in Afghanistan.
Successes achieved by Pakistan Army in Waziristan as opposed to dismal performance of US-Nato forces in Afghanistan have flummoxed our detractors. To cloud the spectacular achievements, US leaders have come out with absurd allegations that Osama led Al-Qaeda is based in FATA since 2002 and Mullah Omar led Afghan Shura is in Quetta. To overcome discomfiture of Helmand operation fiasco, frustrated Gordon Brown stated that Pakistan should highlight its military successes modestly. He forgets the exultations and megalomaniac behavior of Bush and Blair after occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. We have also not forgotten their exclamation 'we've got em' after Saddam was nabbed. Reality is that Pak Army is playing its part commendably without blowing trumpets. It is now the actors on other side of Durand Line who have to do a lot more. If Obama sincerely wants to soothe Indo-Pakistan antagonism and convert Pak-American relations into meaningful friendship, he and his cronies should come out of superficial mode, stop meddling into Pakistan affairs and earnestly work toward finding an amicable solution to Kashmir dispute.
- Asian Tribune -
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