From heralding pistols made in Turkey as evidence of a new spate of information war in the occupied Kashmir valley to seizing “empty” boats in Maharashtra along with the tried-and-tested interception of Whatsapp plots, hawks in New Delhi never tire of smearing mud on Pakistan’s reputation. However, in a pleasant surprise, our foreign office is in no mood to let their adversaries peddle this propaganda anymore. The swift dismissal of these nasty allegations was, therefore, a much-needed initiative and kudos to the ministry for hitting back at the malicious agenda of “raising the terrorism bogey” while patching unrelated incidents to further India’s sinister designs. Pakistan has loudly and clearly denied its involvement in any cross-border infiltrations but does not intend to step back from its advocacy of the Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom. Before pointing fingers at our intelligence agencies for hatching schemes in its backyard, it would be more useful for our dear neighbour to take a peek within for a reality check. RAW’s adventures in fuelling instability in Balochistan, tainting any human rights crisis with nationalistic hues and more importantly, emanating fake news about Pakistan’s changemaker economic collaboration with China are secret to none. In the recent past, its incurable obsession with seeing Pakistan on the FATF grey list as well as brushing the dire implications of its unabated military siege, and indiscriminate use of force in the valley under the rug of the Pakistan-sponsored Jihadist network are signs of the desperation to paint us as evil reincarnated. Bursting the golden bubble, Pakistan does not need to light any kegs of kerosene when PM Modi’s communal politics is fast breaking the fabric apart. Giving Indian soldiers the right to vote in a territory whose special status was stripped under Article 370 may get his party access to the red carpet but would it actually water down the flames of anarchy ready to burn down the glorious citadels? India may huff and puff all it wants but it does not need any help from “enemies” to create a dent within. The kitchen has already been on fire for far too long now. *