Daily Times

Just as Prime Minister Imran Khan conveyed to New Delhi how Pakistan had “been waiting for a long time to coexist as civilised neighbour,” the notorious RSS snapped back with a jeer directed at the kaptaan himself. It would have been one thing to gnarl at being called an impediment to peace. After all, such an accusation is a slap in the face of hyper-patriotism self-proclaimed by the RSS leaders. No questions asked. But sending the entire administration up the river for harbouring “poison” since 1947 is an abominably dirty trick. So much for taking pride in glasnost and an internal churning to break new ground with the Indian Muslims.

Nevertheless, the hate brigade is determined to burn all ground. Usually, hawks in Indian media are all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed whenever there’s the slightest mention of their twisted affairs from our side of the fence. Amid graphic footage, distasteful memes and aggressive shouting matches in television studios, the well-oiled machinery is always ready to shove its dramatised point down our throats. This time, however, some cat seems to have taken the aggressive mouthpieces’ tongue. Yes, Mr Khan’s statement and his entourage leaving the over-the-top journalist is running on a constant loop. Similarly, India is hell-bent on painting this encounter as a haphazard attempt to evade questions on Pakistan being in bed with the Taliban. But, there is a deafening silence as far as RSS and its twisting New Delhi’s arm are concerned.

That Pakistan is a bully, spreading terror in the Afghan playground could not be stressed enough. So what if we are leaving no stone unturned in raising the Afghan cause. May it be us hosting the second-largest refugee population worldwide or putting our foot down for Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace, we are trying tremendously hard to be on the right side of history. Still, facts don’t bring TRPs. Though the writing on the wall is crystal-clear about the Jai-Veeru duet of RSS and Mr Modi, Indian media would not dare drop a line on this bromance. Hence, the convenient whitewash!

PM Khan could not have been more eloquent in his referral to an organisation that continues to see Pakistan as a thorn in its left side. We have come a long way from Mr Vajpayee’s famous bus tour to Lahore. The RSS leadership of today is too preoccupied in its imperial pretensions of Akhand Bharat to spare a thought or two to the tales of the present. When the organisation is still fuming at the seven-decades-earlier “divi(sion of) Indians into two parts,” why. then, should the kaptaan have minced his words? You may sugar-coat an adversary with whatever master strokes you may like, but the ugly enmity remains. A rose by any other name, as they say.

No matter how loudly India may blare its “terror” horns, Pakistan is not stepping back from its Kashmir crusade. This is not to say we are against regional hegemony or a friendly neighbourhood. As has been exemplified by the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan, Islamabad still believes in extending olive branches. But peace offerings are, by no means, an inclination to be made a laughing stock. That too, in front of the entire world. A sitting premier of a sovereign state does not deserve to be harassed by pointless allegations on the sidelines of a global conference. Not only was the reporter’s haranguing uncalled for, but it also violated all norms of diplomacy and even decency. New Delhi would have launched a seemingly neverending stream of propaganda mouthpieces our way had it been the other way round. Make up your mind, dear Bharat. If you want us to follow “It is economy, stupid,” try returning the favour! *