Prof Dr Muhammad Khan
In a recent interview, the former Governor of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) Satya Pal Malik, exposed the Indian secrets behind the Pulwama attack of 14 February 2019. As a result of this attack on an Indian military convoy in Pul-wama area of IIOJK, 44 Indian soldiers were killed while dozens were injured. Immediately after the attack, Mr Pal contacted the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Modi as Governor of the occupied state. It is worth mentioning that there was Governor Rule in IIOJK at the time of attack and the Indian Army was controlling the state and its administration. India immediately accused Pakistan for this attack whereas it was a deliberately planned event.
As per the revelations of Mr Pal, the former Governor, Modi and the Indian RAW-cum-Military had planned more than one strategic target through this attack. Mr Pal said that Modi planned the event to achieve three main objectives: a) all the onus of the attack will be put on Pakistan to defame it and declare Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism, b) to win the public support within India for winning the general election which was successfully implemented and c) to attack Pakistan in the garb of this false flag operation was a failure, since Indian violation of Pakistani space was responded very severely on 27 February, 2019.
Pal believes that Prime Minister Modi and Ajit Doval had the same view about the Pulwama attack, since both told him to stay quiet for attaining above-mentioned objectives. In fact, disclosure of former Governor shows that “how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains.”
The immediate fallout of the Pulwama attack was quite up-setting for Pakistan since, sabotaged the high-profile visit of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS). This visit intended to bring a new dimension in the Pak-Saudi relationship at political, strategic and economic levels. The Pulwama attack put Pakistan into a political disadvantage at the regional and global level, which was enough evi-dence that no one from Pakistan or loyal to Pakistan had planned and executed this attack, as India tried to implicate Pakistan. Pakistan even offered its co-operation in the investigation process. On its part, India launched a massive media campaign to implicate Pakistan and Pakistan-based organizations in the Pulwama attack and created war hysteria among the Indian masses.
This all ended at the Indian Air Force physical incursion into the Pakistani aerial space up to Balakot which was responded by Pakistan by shooting two Indian aircraft in Nowshera sector of IIOJK. One Indian aircraft fell in Azad Jammu and Kashmir whose pilot was also arrested. From the planning to its conduct phase, India wanted to achieve a political and strategic mileage from the Pulwama attack. Politically, India wanted to tell the world that whatever is happening in IIOJK is sponsored by Pakistan. Through this strategy, India wanted to conceal its own massive human rights violations in the IIOJK where it uses its military to kill, brutalize, blind, paralyse and rape the women folk.
Strategically, India wanted to prove its military ascendancy over Pakistan and in the broader region, surrounding South Asia which Pakistan countered befittingly. The Pakistan retaliation and shooting of Indian aircraft have put India into a humiliating position, with a strategic disadvantage. In order to cover its humiliation, the Indian Prime Minister asked for better equipment and new aircraft like the Rafale, which India later procured from France in 2021. Since then, squadrons of Indian Rafales could not do anything against Pakistan.
Indeed, the Pulwama attack and the post-Pulwama Indian military misadventure put India into a strategic disadvantage. It exposed Indian alle-gations, strategy and fabricated claims, it has been levelling against Pakistan. On the other hand, Paki-stan today stands at a higher pedestal with a strate-gically dominating position in and around South Asia. From 2000 to 2019 over a dozen false flag operations were conducted by India and blamed Pakistan and Pakistan-based organizations for all of these. In 2000, India stage-managed a drama of killing 36 Sikhs in IIOJK on the eve of the visit of former US President Bill Clinton. Later investigation proved that RAW was behind killing these Sikhs to defame Pakistan. In 2001, the Indian spying network conducted a false flag operation on the Indian Parlia-ment and blamed Pakistan. Similarly in 2008, it conducted the Mumbai attack and blamed Pakistan.
Through the Pulwama attack-2019, India wanted to pave ground for strategic and military domination over Pakistan and broader South Asia which Paki-stan effectively countered. The latest revelations of Mr Pal clearly support the Pakistani point of view. Today, Pakistan demands India to answer the ques-tions raised by former Governor Mr Pal Malik. “It is time India should be held accountable for the actions that imperilled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack.” Pakistan also hopes that the international community would take cognisance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations, based on lies and deceit” Indeed, Modi and broader Hindutva agenda of India is very dangerous for South Asia in particular and world in general.
[The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at IIUI]
