Askari Raza Malik
India continues to blatantly indulge in unrelenting ceasefire violations, all
along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary. In its recent frenzy
it seems to be possessed of a demon crossing all the limits of sane human
behavior. Scores of civilians have been unnecessarily killed including women and
children and many more wounded with colossal damage to civilian property.
In 2003, the ceasefire agreement between the two countries was hailed asa ‘Key
Confidence Building Measure’ in the quest for a durable peace. But since the
arrival of Modi, a proven religious fanatic, Pakistan-India relations have taken
an obvious nosedive.Ceasefire violations have seen an unprecedented spike both
in numbers and intensity.
Pakistani civilian population has been the main victim of Indian indiscriminate
heavy weapons and artillery fire. India has not only disregarded an agreement
between neighbors, it has unashamedly violated the international norms and
ethics to spare the civilian population the consequences of military
confrontation.
India pretends that it is only producing a ‘befitting response’ to Pakistan’s
‘nefarious designs’, a preposterous contention it has never been able to
substantiate. The Indian home minister, another diehard fanatic, justifies the
ceasefire violations; to stop the so-called infiltration of the terrorists into
the Indian occupied Kashmir.
India has effectively fenced this part of the border. The fence apart from being
electrified is also heavily manned with search light towers to facilitate
observation at night. If the terrorists can still cross the fence with impunity,
India has to seriously reevaluate the efficacy of its security apparatus.
The hue and cry about terrorists’ crossing over from Pakistan has also proved to
be a complete hoax. Elias Davidsson’s latest book, “Betrayal of India,
Revisiting the 26/11 Evidence”, proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Mumbai
terrorist attack of September 26, 2008 was planned and executed by no one other
than the Indian intelligence itself. All the venomous allegationsdirected at
Pakistan at the time were readily believed by a gullible world. Davidsson seems
to believe that it was the Indian intelligence acting on its own that had
brought discredit to the Indian government. But the same drama enacted again and
again proves that the Indian government is deliberately involved in sinning
against its own people for insignificant political gains.The Indian mania
reached its pinnacle when the Bollywood style “Surgical Strike into Pakistan”
fantasy was released out of nowhere. One wonders how a highly professional
soldier like the Indian Army Director General Military Operations could be a
party to this ridiculous claim of carrying out a surgical strike into Pakistan
with nothing to show on ground. It is a sad commentary on the professional
ethics of a high-ranking military officer.
According to Pakistan FO, India committed over 1300 Ceasefire Line (CFL)
violations in 2017 alone as compared to 11 in 2003 and 6 in 2004. Since Modi
took over 7000CFL violations have been committed resulting in the martyrdom of
over 300 civilians and injuries to another 1121. The graph shows this
spikebetween 2003 and 2017 with the dangerous trending predominant after Modi
takeover.
India cannot eternally confuse the issue of an indigenous Kashmiri movement for
independence with bogus terrorists’ attacks from across the border. The Indian
occupation forces’ beastly handling of unarmed civilian protesters, brutal
killings, ruthless firing of pallet guns and gang rapes further worsens the
situation. It adds to the Indian government exasperation that finds catharsis in
firing at Pakistani civilians across the border. The myth that Pakistan is home
to all sorts of terrorists’ outfits may last for a while as a superpower is
working hard to keep it alive, for its own bad reasons; the myth cannot endure
for ever;as honest journalists like Elias Davidsson will continue to shakethe
international conscience out of self-induced slumber.
The Kashmir problem is not an internal issue of India. It started with Indian
invasion of Kashmir on October 27, 1947.The Kashmiris gallantly fought the
Indian army and were later joined by the tribesmen from Northern Pakistan to
help their brethren against a foreign aggression. India with the defeat staring
in its face had rushed to the UN begging for a ceasefire. The UNSC Resolution
number 47 of April 12 1948 asking for plebiscite in Kashmir under international
supervision remains to be implemented. That makes the UN a serious stakeholder
in the conundrum. China is also directly affected as it occupies over 9000
square miles of Kashmiri territory.Since 1972 Simla Accord, India has found
another excuse to evade the issue by calling Kashmir dispute a bilateral matter
between Pakistan and India. That amounts to closing eyes to the historic and
prevailing ground realities.Indian stubbornness is the biggest hurdle in
creating good neighborly relations between the two nuclear neighbors that is of
paramount importance for peace in the region.
One reason for the excessive Indian chauvinism is the prevailing geopolitical
situation, in which the unnatural US presence in the region and its farfetched
regional ambitions seem to place India in a fallacious advantage. India is being
pampered to act as a regional answer to the growing Chinese power and eventually
a close Western ally in the global tug of war. This wishful thinking is of no
practical consequences.
The ‘Purchasing Power Parity’ alone does not determine national power criteria.
There are a host of factors that distinguish a developed from a developing
nation. India is no match to the Chinese and will never be as indicated by the
vast differences in power potential of the two countries. Whether the West would
ever realize the fallacy of their assessment, China betrays no doubts about it.
China keeps making subtle gestures to suggest that India stands nowhere in it’s
reckoning. The Western belief in India is in for a big disappointment.
The second reason for India’s delusion of grandeur is itswell-equipped military
that has a definite quantitative edge over Pakistan and going by the numbers
alone should stand to gain in a near future conflict. On the qualitative plane
India does not seem to appreciate the harsh current realities. Pakistan’s
military is a battle hardened fighting machine, one imbued with the indomitable
spirit of fighting. According to Brian Cloughley, “man-for-man it (Pakistan
Army) will hammer any opponent, no matter if the skies are filled with (enemy)
bombers”. According to aNew York Times editorial assessment, despite India being
a bigger country, it stands to lose much more in any future war with Pakistan.
It is not to brag about Pakistani military’s superiority. It is just to warn
India not to be carried away by superficial content and take a plunge into some
expansive misadventure endangering the peace of the entire region. Nothing is
worth taking that risk.
Modi and his party can win elections on their ‘hate everything non-Hindu’
philosophy. But the incalculable damage being done to the Indian nationalism is
bound to one day destroy the delicately hinged fabric of Indian unity.
War has no logic. India continues to play with fire. The balance is precariously
poised. A war between two nuclear capable antagonists will spell disaster for
the entire region and far beyond. It is high time the international community
woke up to the impending disaster and stopped Indian madness.
(Major General (retd)Askari Raza Malik is the author of recently published book
“Pakistan in Search of a Messiah”)