Daily Times

India continues to indulge in blatant, unrelenting ceasefire violations, all along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary. In its recent frenzy, it seems to be possessed by a demon crossing all the limits of sane human behaviour. Scores of civilians have been unnecessarily killed including women and children and many more wounded. Not to mention the colossal damage to civilian property.

In 2003, the ceasefire agreement between the two countries was hailed as a “Key Confidence Building Measure” in the quest for durable peace. But since the arrival of Modi, a proven religious fanatic, Pakistan-India relations have taken an obvious and predictable nosedive. Ceasefire violations have risen both in numbers and intensity.

The Pakistani civilian population has been the main victim of the indiscriminate heavy weapons and artillery fire from India. The Modi government has not only disregarded an agreement between neighbours, it has unashamedly violated the international norms and ethics by targeting the civilian population in Pakistan.

India pretends that it is only acting to give a ‘befitting response’ to Pakistan’s “nefarious designs”, a preposterous contention it has never been able to substantiate. The Indian home minister, another diehard fanatic, justifies the ceasefire violations; to stop the so-called infiltration of the terrorists into the Indian occupied Kashmir.

India has effectively fenced this part of the border. Apart from being electrified, the fence is also heavily manned with search light towers to facilitate observation at night. If the terrorists can still cross the fence with impunity, India has to seriously re-evaluate the efficacy of its security apparatus.

The hue and cry about terrorists’ crossing over from Pakistan has also been proved to be a complete hoax. Elias Davidsson’s latest book, Betrayal of India, Revisiting the 26/11 Evidence, proves beyond a shadow of doubt that the Mumbai terrorist attack of September 26, 2008 was planned and executed by the Indian intelligence apparatus itself. All the venomous allegations directed at Pakistan at the time were readily believed by a gullible world. Davidsson seems to believe that it was Indian intelligence acting on its own that had brought discredit to the Indian government. But the same drama enacted again and again proves that the Indian government is deliberately involved in deceiving its own people for insignificant political gains. This Indian mania reached its pinnacle when the Bollywood style ‘Surgical Strike into Pakistan’ fantasy made it into international headlines. One wonders how a highly professional soldier like the Indian Army Director General Military Operations could be a party to this ridiculous claim of carrying out a surgical strike in Pakistan with nothing to show on the ground. It is a sad commentary on the professional ethics of a high-ranking military officer.

Modi and his party can win elections on their ‘hate everything non-Hindu’ philosophy. But the incalculable damage being done to Indian nationalism is eventually bound to destroy the delicately hinged fabric of Indian unity

According to the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO), India committed over 1300 Ceasefire Line (CFL) violations in 2017, as compared to 11 in 2003 and 6 in 2004. Since Modi took over 7000 CFL violations have been committed resulting in the martyrdom of over 300 civilians and injuries to another 1121.

India cannot eternally confuse the issue of an indigenous Kashmiri movement for independence with bogus terrorists’ attacks from across the border. The Indian occupation forces’ beastly handling of unarmed civilian protesters, brutal killings, ruthless firing of pellet guns and sexual violence against Kashmiri women further worsens the situation. It adds to the Indian government exasperation, that finds catharsis in firing at Pakistani civilians across the border. The myth that Pakistan is home to all sorts of terrorists’ outfits may last for a while as a superpower is working hard to keep it alive, for its own interests; this myth cannot endure for ever; as honest journalists like Elias Davidsson will continue to shake the international community out of its self-induced slumber.

The Kashmir problem is not one of India’s internal issues. The UNSC Resolution number 47 of April 12 1948 asking for plebiscite in Kashmir under international supervision remains to be implemented. That makes the UN a serious stakeholder in the conundrum. China is also directly affected as it occupies over 9000 square miles of Kashmiri territory. Since 1972 Simla Accord, India has found another excuse to evade the issue by calling the Kashmir dispute a bilateral matter between Pakistan and India. That amounts to remaining wilfully blind to historical facts and prevailing ground realities. Indian stubbornness is the biggest hurdle in creating good neighbourly relations between the two nuclear neighbours.

One reason for the excessive Indian chauvinism is the prevailing geopolitical situation, in which the unnatural US presence in the region and its farfetched regional ambitions seem to place India at a fallacious advantage. India is being pampered to act as a regional answer to growing Chinese influence in the region and eventually a close Western ally in the global tug of war. This wishful thinking is of no practical consequences.

The ‘Purchasing Power Parity’ alone does not determine the national power criteria. There are a host of factors that distinguish a developed from a developing nation. India is no match to the Chinese and will never be as indicated by the vast differences in the power potential of the two countries. Whether the West would ever realize the fallacy of their assessment, China betrays no doubts about it. Beijing keeps making subtle gestures to suggest that India stands nowhere in it’s reckoning. The Western belief in India is in for a big disappointment.

The second reason for India’s delusions of grandeur is its well-equipped military that has a definite quantitative edge over Pakistan. Going by the numbers alone should stand to gain in a near future conflict. On the qualitative plane India does not seem to appreciate the harsh current realities. Pakistan’s military is a battle hardened fighting machine, one imbued with the indomitable spirit of fighting. According to Brian Cloughley, “man-for-man it (Pakistan Army) will hammer any opponent, no matter if the skies are filled with (enemy) bombers”. According to a New York Times editorial assessment, despite India being a bigger country, it stands to lose much more in any future war with Pakistan. It is not to brag about Pakistani military’s superiority. It is just to warn India not to be carried away by superficial content and take a plunge into some expansive misadventure endangering the peace of the entire region. Nothing is worth taking that risk.

Modi and his party can win elections on their “hate everything non-Hindu” philosophy. But the incalculable damage being done to the Indian nationalism is bound to one day destroy the delicately hinged fabric of Indian unity.

War has no logic. India continues to play with fire. The balance is precariously poised. A war between two nuclear capable antagonists will spell disaster for the entire region and far beyond. It is high time the international community woke up to the impending disaster and stopped the Indian madness.

The writer is the author of recently published book Pakistan in Search of a Messiah

Published in Daily Times, February 25^th 2018.