Daily Times

India and Pakistan have been on the brink of an all-out war since the last few days. The attack in Indian occupied Kashmir about two weeks killed more than forty Indian soldiers. The consequences for the region have been drastic, to say the least. We are not out of the war hysteria yet, even after Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s repeated offers for peace, Indian leadership is out to risk millions of lives for tactical gains.

For the current Indian government, the death of its soldiers has done only one thing: given the party in power an election issue which can be played to the beat of the war drum with a neighboring state. The attack in Indian occupied Kashmir was another unfortunate highlight of failed Indian policies in the region which continue to alienate the young population of the valley. Clearly, the Indian government continues to ignore the growing voices for independence in Kashmir and blame Pakistan for all incidents instead.

Modi presented the death of more than forty soldiers as an episode which needed a serious response. For days, the Indian media hyped up the issue and Pakistan was presented as an actor which was responsible for the incident. The issue was scaled to an extent that Modi had no choice but to fake another military encounter: in which he claimed of killing more than 300 civilians dubbed as members of an organization which remains banned in Pakistan. It not only fell flat but has also been criticized domestically in India and internationally. Numerous reports have already been published rejecting Indian media and its government claims regarding the death of hundreds of people in Pakistan. However, India’s wasteful, unprofessional media continues to do Modi’s electoral biding by offering false reporting and presenting inaccurate commentaries on the event.

It’s ironic that Modi’s government which called for an all-out war in response to the killing of 40 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, forgot the initial agenda of war and started another campaign surrounding the captured Indian pilot

As claimed by Pakistan’s civil-military leadership, Pakistan’s response to India’s incursion in our territory was measured towards sending a strategic message to the Indian leadership: we do not prefer war but if that’s what India is interested in, we will have no choice except to offer a befitting retaliation. Pakistan’s Air Force successfully struck numerous targets in Indian Occupied Kashmir, downed two aircrafts and captured an Indian pilot. Unlike India, Pakistan has backed its response with credible evidence.

It’s ironic that Modi’s government which called for an all-out war in response to the killing of 40 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, forgot the initial agenda of war and started another campaign surrounding the captured Indian pilot. The hue and cry in India turned towards the capture of their pilot. The new media discourse which was fed to millions of Modi’s voters asked for the release of the pilot. Respecting back channel mediation from the USA, UAE, and KSA, Pakistan decided to release the pilot on humanitarian grounds to offer Modi a way out of this crisis. However, the vileness of Indian media and its government didn’t end with Pakistan’s conciliatory gesture of releasing the pilot and again offering assistance in the Pulwama attack if any credible evidence was presented to Pakistan. If one is to just look at the headlines which were put out by the Indian media after Pakistan’s announcement to release the captured pilot one cannot help but pity the ongoing state of affairs in India.

The so-called biggest democracy in the world has become a literal laughing stock in front of the entire world. Petty Indian journalist’s theatrical commentaries were anything but credible. Pakistan’s offer for peace has been dubbed as a weakness; Indian media in the race to support a despicable and vile Prime Minister, sold imageries and analysis which had nothing to do with reality on the ground. One cannot help but underscore that India and its current leadership is the biggest threat to world peace. After Pakistan’s announcement to release the Indian pilot, Modi was heard saying this in an election rally: “You are the people who spend life in laboratories. You have a tradition of first doing a pilot project. Later it is scaled up. So recently a pilot project was undertaken. Now the real one has to be done. The earlier one was a practice run.”

It’s high time that our diplomacy portrays India’s warmongering in its true colors and involves the world in exposing the leadership of India not only in the contest of this episode but also in Kashmir. Pakistan stands taller than ever on the international stage. If played smartly, Pakistan can turn the recent events into a strategic victory!

The writer is a freelance journalist and a correspondent for The Diplomat, based in Lahore

Published in Daily Times, March 4^th 2019.