The partition of the subcontinent was really a great pyrrhic victory for the denizens of Pakistan and India because Muslims and Hindus have different political, social, economical, psychological, religious and cultural rituals. The partition was not a bad idea but the planning involved by the British in territorial division created havoc in the region. Actually the British were successful in dividing Hindustan the way they wanted. They wanted to reduce the power of the region so they did their best to create enmity between Pakistan and India, and made the reason of enmity, Kashmir.
After partition till to date, Pakistan and India have been at each other’s throats. There is a dire need to combat the conflict between Pakistan and India to bring peace, prosperity and safety in the region. If it happens, then the region will become so powerful and economically stable that other great powers will not be able to influence them anymore.
The countries which are stockpiling nuclear weapons and think to use them to destroy and deter their rivals, are deceiving their own people and creating the image that the world is dangerous.
Nuclear technology cannot prevent wars but it can change its nature and influence the way its conducted. In order to keep nuclear technology for being used in warfare, it is important to wisely and intelligently judge a rival’s nuclear capability and to attune one’s own response to it.
Since the partition of Pakistan and India from British India, both the countries have been implicated in various conflicts. In 1974, India first tested its nuclear weapon and Pakistan tested it in 1998, that made both countries nuclear powers. The first major war between Pakistan and India was the Kargil war after they became nuclear powers. After Kargil, many small scale insurgencies have occurred.
Kashmir dispute has been the real bone of contention from the first day of partition. The Kashmir issue was created intentionally at the time of partition just to create chaos and unrest between Pakistan and India. The real goal of British was to weaken the power of the region. From their inception, the line of control between Pakistan and India has remained ‘hot’. This is again the result of Kashmir dispute. Both Pakistan and India have their own vested interests in Kashmir, but the important thing is what the Kashmiris want. The global peace organizations and NGOs have been earning dollars on the killings of masses so how can we say that this issue will be resolved by the role of those organizations. The role of UNO is almost equal to nothing in this region because UNO works under the rules of superpowers and the powers need to sell their weapons. It is mandatory for the powers to create conflicts and small wars to sell their weapons. These powers are not concerned about humanity, they are capitalists and their objectives are to sell their products.
Kashmir dispute has been the real bone of contention from the first day of partition. The Kashmir issue was created intentionally at the time of partition just to create chaos and unrest between Pakistan and India. The real goal of British was to weaken the power of the region
The international community and particularly the ‘Muslim Ummah’ can play a useful and influential role by exerting pressure on India and Pakistan to put a permanent and visible end to cross border terrorism and to resolve the Kashmir dispute. But the Muslim Ummah is itself scattered and has no vision to be united. Unity of the Muslim Ummah has become the need of hour to resolve conflicts like the Kashmir issue and the Palestine issues.
However in the era of globalization and economic liberalism, the powers do not want a nuclear war. They simply create threats to sell their weapons. Thomas Friedman has theorised that ‘no two countries with a McDonald’s franchises have ever gone to war. It reflects the economic strength of the country.’ Pakistan and India both have the Mcdonalds so according to this theory; there is no chance of war at all. Both are simply making a fool of themselves and their public. The two powers, the US and Russia are the key players trying to exaggerate the conflict just to sell their weapons to these poor but resourceful countries.
Now a days, conflict is on the rise because of the upcoming elections in India in April. Modi’s government is creating chaos to get the sympathy from the public and to get maximum votes in the name of religion and hate. India and Pakistan must recognize that both the countries are nuclear powers and it is quite obvious that there is no space for war between them.
It is interesting to know that in case of war between Pakistan and India, an all-out war is possible. If war breaks out, a problem will be created from the Gulf to Malacca Strait, the entire trade and oil transportation of countries like Japan, Australia, Korea and China etc will be disrupted So how is it possible that these powerful countries will allow war?
If war happens between Pakistan and India; India will lose Mumbai, Bangalore, Surat and Jaipur etc with Pakistan’s nuclear strikes. India will have to face a huge loss of economy in the fields of IT, agriculture, and entertainment industry. Expected casualties in India are expected to be around 50 crore and the rest of population will be affected badly. Pakistan will also have to face great losses. The entire Punjab, Sindh, KP and half of Baluchistan region will be destroyed and expected casualties will be around 12 crore. We can simply conclude that after the war between India and Pakistan, there are chances that both countries will be wiped off the world map.
The writer is a (Ph.D. Scholar in Media and Crime, CSS Coach and author of different books on International Relations, Criminology and Gender Studies)
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2019.