Daily Times

India seems to be running out of liquid luck as its rogue operations are falling flat on their faces one after another. As if Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeua’s unprecedented wrath and Washington’s sternly worded letter of caution were not enough, Pakistan has now joined an increasing list of countries that proclaimed: enough is enough. The last week saw Pakistan’s foreign office sit before a room filled with cameramen and slam before them naked facts of a top investigation into murders of its two citizens committed in 2023.

The twisted thriller doesn’t end there: Islamabad not only made bombshell revelations about the role of Indian handlers and facilitators in contacting target killers to spill the innocent blood of civilians on their own homeland but even provided irrefutable evidence in this regard. By contacting relevant authorities in Canada and the United States to share information relating to India’s transnational killing programme, Pakistan is ready – more than ever – to dispel any propaganda peddlers and their nefarious agendas to discredit its intel.

By contacting relevant authorities in Canada and the United States to share information relating to India’s transnational killing programme, Pakistan is ready – more than ever – to dispel any propaganda peddlers.

Much, much sooner than it is ready to accept, New Delhi would have to realise that it cannot go on killing people around the globe just because it believes they have the guts to speak against its draconian policies. While Islamabad is investigating at least 10 cases where RAW has been implicated in utilising criminal groups and operatives (said to be stationed in the United Arab Emirates) for carrying out assassinations of Sikh and Kashmiri separatists in Pakistan, the situation is crystal clear in the cases of Muhammad Riaz assassinated in Rawalakot last September and Shahid Latif killed in Sialkot a month later. Even though hawkish media outlets ran stories pertaining to their involvement in a terror attack on a military base, no such conclusive evidence was ever presented before the world. Because suitable international mechanisms exist with shining credibility to address such claims, New Delhi was in no position to take such drastic measures even if they had unearthed some connections. However, the fact that there was no shocking intel to begin with makes the rogue attitude all the more worrisome.

An uncanny similarity exists between what went down in Canada, the US and Pakistan. People who dared speak up against the Hindutva regime perpetuating fear and oppression through the stick of power were cherry-picked through RAW resources and were sought to make an example of them. Of the two earlier, Canada did not waste any time in asserting its sovereignty as it cut all diplomatic ties and assured the world that it valued its citizens well above any bilateral relationship. Although the US had begun with a gentle reminder, there’s a lot more to the scathing indictment than meets the eye. According to sources, President Joe Biden has recently rejected a state invitation from New Delhi. A report by Foreign Policy adds credence to the claims swirling around the world that India has cultivated a thriving network of terrorists and assassins in the guise of security operations conducted under the auspices of its top spy agency. It goes to the credit of Pakistan that it not only pulled the covers of such discreet operations but also has the courage and steadfastness to fight its case before the international community.

In addition to Pakistan raising this evidence at the diplomatic level, the intelligence services of friendly countries would also be pursued to adopt legal procedures to arrest and hand over Indian criminals involved in the murder. A murder is a murder no matter which country its perpetrators may belong to. An act of terrorism cannot become holy in the blink of an eye just because it is being orchestrated by a superpower. Indian authorities would have to be accountable for every gross violation of international norms and state sovereignty.

The writer is a freelance columnist.