Sajjad Shaukat
IN order to obtain its secret designs at augmenting Indian hegemony, India which has become epicenter of terrorism in South Asia is foiling the peace process between Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the entire region by managing terrorist attacks. Besides supporting dismemberment of Pakistan, New Delhi occupied Sikkim, subdued Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh—also sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule, India has accelerated meddling in the internal affairs of these countries. And Indian military and RAW have been given free hand to target these states through manipulation of political dissent, ethnic divisions and economic backwardness. On 5 August last year, New Delhi revoked Articles 35-A and 370 of the Indian Constitution which gave a special status to the disputed territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The act split the J&K which includes the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh area, into two federal territories: India also issued an infamous map on 31 October 2019 which displayed bifurcation of the J&K and identifies Pakistani side of Azad Kashmir as well as certain areas of Gilgit-Baltistan as an Indian territory. Besides Pakistan, China also rejected the Indian malevolent acts as “unlawful and void”. Despite the latest agreement to resolve the issue through dialogue, border dispute between New Delhi and Beijing, which remains unsettled, has increased tensions between the two countries.
In fact, Premier Modi and the BJP in connivance with other similar outfits have intensified anti-Kashmir moves. Implementing the ideology of Hindutva ((Hindu Nationalism), Indian extremist rulers’ various other measures such as continued lockdown in the India-occupied Kashmir (IOK), issuance of domicile certificates to 400000 non-Kashmiris to bring demographic change in the Muslim-majority area and intermittent shelling inside Pakistani side of Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC), which have killed hundreds of innocent villagers show India’s anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan policies. In this regard, reliable sources as mentioned in Pakistan’s media on August 18, 2020 disclosed that Afghanistan-based the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has merged with its splinter groups Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA) in Afghanistan. Their sole objective is to restart terrorist activity in Pakistan, while simultaneously sabotaging efforts to restore peace and stability in its war-ravaged Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security and RAW played a key role in their reunification. The agreement, reportedly, designated Mufti Noor Wali as the Amir (Chief) of TTP, making him responsible for all planned terrorist activities inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad has long accused Kabul of turning a blind eye toward TTP and other terrorists who fled to Afghanistan to escape counter-terrorist operations in Pakistan. According to the UN report of 26 July 2020, “The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) continue to target Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan…the significant presence of ISIL-K (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Khorasan) in Afghanistan”, which the UN warns “now pursues a global agenda”.
The UN report warns of “a strong presence of ISIL-India in Kerala and Karnataka. ISIL-K considers Afghan territory a base for spreading terrorist influence across the wider region…The investigators found links between Indian nationals and terrorist attacks in Sri-Lanka”. Notably, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met US special envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad at Islamabad on 01 July 2020. After the meeting, Qureshi said that “Pakistan is ready to cooperate with regional and international stakeholders for enduring and peaceful political solution to the Afghan issue…the development of whole region depends on establishment of peace in Afghanistan…India has been continuously trying to destabilize Pakistan to divert attention from its internal chaos…India is interfering in Balochistan province of Pakistan at the same time it is also adversely affecting peace efforts in Afghanistan.” As regards the recently-held intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha, Qatar, the US has appreciated Islamabad’s positive role.
Zalmay Khalilzad who, frequently, visited Pakistan and met country’s civil and military leadership admired Pakistan’s role in the US-Taliban peace dialogue. It was due to Pakistan’s key role in Doha that on 29 February, this year, the US and the Taliban signed the historical agreement aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan. In the recent past, India’s Home Minister Shri Amit Shah threatened to conduct air and surgical strikes inside Pakistan. Reacting to Amit Shah’s statement, Foreign Minister Qureshi stated: “Let me make it clear to Amit Shah that if India makes the mistake, we will give a befitting response…Amit Shah should tell…Why does India not launch a surgical strike on Laddakh? India has reached the extreme in committing atrocities in Kashmir…India wants to sabotage the Afghan peace process”. Earlier, the DG, ISPR, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said, “Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa warned India… [saying] “India faced great humiliation in military standoff with China… faced embarrassment in map issues with Nepal as well. India is meddling in issues [of countries] where it doesn’t even have a border. India is facing many internal challenges after the emergence of coronavirus and the 5 August 2019 move.
There is an emergence of Islamophobia in India…they think the best way is to divert the attention towards Pakistan”. On 13 August, this year, he indicated, “We are ready to fight even India may buy 500 Rafale fighter jets. India is involved in terrorism inside Pakistan. Peace in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan.” Addressing the ceremony of Defence Day on 06 September 2020, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa warned “the nation of the perils of fifth-generation or hybrid warfare”, saying that its aim is to “discredit the country and the armed forces… to spread chaos… Pakistan seeks peace in the region…the country’s key efforts in Afghanistan are a testament to the fact…India has adopted an irresponsible attitude…took the illegal step of ending the special status of occupied Kashmir. India has once again threatened peace in the region. The armed forces of Pakistan are fully equipped, vigilant and aware.” Nonetheless, India’s hegemonic designs are destabilising the region. So, India has become epicentre of terrorism in South Asia.
—The writer is freelance columnist based in Lahore.
