Daily Times

In his June 7 address to the audience at Dhaka University during his Bangladesh trip, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said: “Pakistan aaye din (every other day) disturbs India, jo naako dum la deta hai (creates a nuisance), terrorism ko badhawa (deta hai)…ki ghatnaayein ghatthi rehti hain (promotes terrorism and such incidents keep recurring).” Since these remarks, Pakistan is still flabbergasted and the Pakistani people are trying to figure out the rationale for this discourse.

There are several unresolved and contentious issues that have been lingering between Pakistan and India. However, it is not certain what exactly made Modi choose Dhaka as the place to issue such animadversion about Pakistan. Terrorism may be an issue between Pakistan and India but Bangladesh is not involved in this issue. By uttering such words, why did Modi want to provoke Bangladesh and gain its sympathies? One possibility could be that Modi tried to exploit anti-Pakistan sentiments in Bangladesh. But then the question is: does Modi want to make an anti-Pakistan bloc in the region? Rationally, it should be Bangladesh exploiting anti-Pakistan sentiments in India to gain political and economic benefits from its powerful neighbour and not vice versa. However, Modi might be more intelligent in fanning hatred against Pakistan in Bangladesh to gain certain advantages in the future.

One school of thought holds that it is sheer frustration on Modi’s part to use every chance to malign and deride Pakistan. There are certain reasons for this. First, the countries of South Asia are amenable to India and acquiesce to its demands, except for Pakistan, which is considered a deterrent to India’s designs in the region. Second, Modi has come to power in India on the right-wing wave of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism). Modi might have thought that it was important to remind his voters back home that after becoming the PM, he had not become an apostate and is still as anti-Pakistan as he was during his election campaign. Modi might believe that exploiting Hindu nationalism was the prime reason for his ascent to power and that the same spirit must be sustained at all cost. Third, it may have been the failure of Modi’s visit to China that caused him to utter such words. On his recent visit to China, Modi failed to convince his Chinese counterpart of India’s misgivings about the land route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Fourth, the Kashmiris have recently waved the Pakistani flag and reminded India of their pro-Pakistan sentiments. India resorted to coercion and suppression but the flag was unfurled again. Modi might be thinking that brandishing the flag was the job of Pakistani proxies in Kashmir. Fifth, Modi might think that by being spiteful he can pressurise Pakistan to get certain concessions in the future.

However, another school of thought holds that Modi wanted to up the ante against Pakistan to assure the voters of his anti-Pakistan stance before he enters into peace negotiations with Pakistan and makes concessions. This school believes that Modi knows that the reason for his ascent to power was his economic success in Gujarat and the same must be replicated at the national level. Modi is not the kind of person who would forgo the chances of economic gains from Pakistan. Modi may also be eyeing the agriculture resources of Bangladesh for Indian industries — the rationale for spewing venom in Dhaka.

Generally, it seems that Modi is not a good student of history. He does not understand the possible repercussions of words uttered by the PM of a country like India. The vehemence of Modi’s anti-Pakistan stance in Dhaka must have also surprised the Bangladeshis. Modi made an interesting comment while referring to the 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of the 1971 war: “If we had a diabolic mindset, we don’t know then what decision we would have taken. We thought of Bangladesh’s progress and we sent back the 90,000 soldiers.” Modi was saying that if he were in the decision-making position at the time, India could have harmed those prisoners of war. He laid bare to the Bangladeshi audience that returning Pakistani prisoners was to help Bangladesh’s progress. In this way, Modi shrewdly attributed the credit of Bangladesh’s progress to India and declared India its benefactor. For the benefit of Pakistan, Modi also revealed that he was part of the Mukti Bahini operation in the “liberation of Bangladesh”, without realising that Bangladesh was East Pakistan at the time. In a way, Modi confessed that he was physically involved in the dismemberment of greater Pakistan, which had both eastern and western wings. This is a new disclosure for Pakistan about Modi’s past and a political gaffe for India to defend in the future. Certainly, this exposé is bound to give Pakistan an edge over India both regionally and internationally and strengthen its case that India is hell bent upon dividing Pakistan.

It is now obvious that Modi has the potential to reveal his true self publicly; he has no control over his sentiments and he can bedevil diplomacy. Furthermore, he is prone to fits of revelation that may be embarrassing for India. Certainly, Modi should be studied more, not only by the Pakistani intelligentsia but also by the Indian intelligentsia. To become historically accurate, Modi should also study history more. However, as the trend goes, it is expected that in the coming days Modi will reveal more about the dark aspects of his past, making historians rewrite the history of South Asia.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com