Salahuddin Haider
BY annexing Kashmir into Indian Union,
premier Modi has not only caged himself in self-imprisonment, but picked a suicide bomb to kill his career, and create unbearable problems for his country as well. India’s image as secular and world’s largest democracy stands tarnished, whether beyond repair difficult to predict for now, but will definitely will be a difficult, task. It could well be a Herculean task for his own Bharatya Janta Party, and his extremist allies, the Rashtariya Sewak Sangh, and Shiv Sena.
Arguments from pro-India elements that Modi’s decision to stand firm on his decision will ultimately pay him off, for, even opponents will stand by his side, defies logic. The simple question to ask is time-tested. Old phrase that regular army can fight a known army, but can never win against unknown enemy, who could be their own people, walking in groups, attired in simple, ordinary dresses, and suddenly explode a bomb to cause casualties. Can there be an answer to that? Like-wise the vintage point that mightiest of armies can be defeated, but human determination, and will to be free citizens of State, can never be overpowered.
India and Pakistan, now nuclear states, fought three major wars since gaining independence from the British in 1947, but situation is drastically changed now, holding no comparison after the 1998 atomic tests by Delhi and Islamabad Tensions are running high between India and Pakistan following a suicide attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy last month, which killed 42 soldiers in Indian-held Kashmir. The suicide attack, the deadliest in 30 years of Kashmir conflict and claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), escalated into a massive standoff between the two neighbours.
In muted form though, anger has still been displayed over UAE decorating Premier Modi with Sheikh Zayaed award, but critics need to be reminded that similar honour was bestowed over ex-President General Ziaul Haq, and a similar honour for Modi by Saudi Arabia, was conferred on Ziaul Haq, Musharraf, Raheel and three more military heads of Pakistan. No need to be emotional about that. UAE economy is heavily dependant on Indian investment, and India itself is a massive market of 1.3 billion people.
If Indians decide to withdraw their capital, UAE economy would worse victim, let us not mind what others are doing, all we should, and we have been doing it since August 5, is to awaken the world opinion about brutalities and trampling of human rights in Occupied Kashmir. The world, Security Council, and United Nations, human rights organizations, European Union, in fact the world at large has come out against it. Donald Trump may have his own reasons to play a mediatory role, but consent of the two parties, India and Pakistan, is pre-requisite for that. Modi has turned it down, but full marks to Trump for reminding Modi in last week meeting that if India and Pakistan can settle their bilateral issues, without outside interference, then why haven’t they tried that so far? Trump’s was million dollar question.
Tilted heavily in Pakistan’s favour. Situation is getting from bas to worse for India as Kashmiris would never like to be part of India, Their desire to be Independent State, is a naked reality. No point living in fool’s paradise that Kashmir will be part of Pakistan. Good slogan for domestic exploitation, but reality must be preferred, howsoever bitter and difficult to swallow. India’s demand that Pakistan must take hard steps to stop terrorism, is hard to digest, for being hollow in nature, and aimed at misguiding the world. It is equally important to understand that no country would condemn India for its latest action, but rising criticism against open violation of human rights, and turning Kashmir into a jail of 80 million souls, can not be overlooked either.
Pakistan’s satisfaction for its efforts gain strength from harsh criticism of Indian atrocities in Kashmir in Western media, America, European especially. This was unforeseen until before August 5. Similarly, Muslim Ummah too would come closer to Islamabad viewpoint gradually, A glaring example of that as prime minister Imran Khan pointed out was genocide in Bosnia. Indian habit of spreading lies are too well known to recount Days after India said its warplanes hit a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp on the site of a religious school in northeastern Pakistan, killing a large number of fighters, the site appears undamaged and deserted.
A Reuters news agency team saw the madrasa, or religious school, on Thursday from 100m away at the site of a crater where two Indian missiles struck. BBC documentaries have forcefully been unmasking the tuth, exposing India’s real face. High-resolution satellite images reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday also showed the JeM madrasa appears to be still standing and virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility. Reuters says it was not allowed to access the madrasa site from a different road as Pakistani security officials cited security concerns for keeping the area clear.
