Sajjad Shaukat
Since October 6, this year, India
accelerated cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working
Boundary (WB) and killed several innocent persons including their animals
inside Pakistan. It compelled tens thousands of the residents of the villages
to migrate to safe areas, with their livestock and other belongings.
In this regard, spokesman of the
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-General Asim Bajwa said that
Pakistan Rangers and troops “befittingly” responded to “unprovoked firing” by
Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) and military troops. He also clarified that
Pakistan’s Armed Forces are fully prepared to meet any aggression. Regarding
these constant violations, Pakistan government has lodged a strong protest, and
also raised the issue with the UN Military Observers Group in India and
Pakistan, asking for a visit of the observers to the affected areas. Meanwhile,
in India where Pakistan is accused of starting the skirmishes, leader of the
fundamentalist party BJP and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi is reported
to have given a free hand to the Indian forces to go on aggressively with the
violations. While, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff convened a meeting
of the National Security Commit¬tee on Oct 10, this year, and discussed the
recent ceasefire violations by India at the LoC and WB.
It is notable that by acting upon a
preplanned scheme, Indian soldiers crossed over the LoC in Kashmir on January
6, 2013 and attacked a Pakistani check post, killing one Pakistani soldier and
injuring many troops. Contrarily, on December 24, 2013, New Delhi agreed for
the meeting of Directors-General Military Operations (DGMOs) of both the
countries, who met in Pakistan, and discussed specific measures strengthening
the bilateral ceasefire mechanism across the LoC. While, Islamabad and India
had on November 25, 2003, agreed to observe ceasefire along all areas of WB,
LoC and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir. However, Pakistan
military indicated that Indian hostility has gradually increased since 2010
making lives of civil population living in closer vicinity of the LoC and WB
difficult. Indian troops committed 86 ceasefire violations in 2011, 230 in 2012
and 414 in 2013. But, Indians have again resorted to unprovoked firing for
about 224 times on both LoC and WB and killed several people on the Pakistani
side this year. In this context, military officials further elaborated that
Indian perennial escalation across the LoC and WB is according to a deliberate
plan. So question arises as to why India continues cross-border shelling inside
Pakistan.
In fact, by promoting Hindu chauvinism
on the basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans, extremist party, BJP won
a landslide victory in the India elections 2014 by defeating the Congress. Now,
BJP-led Prime Minister Modi has been implementing its party’s agenda against
Pakistan. In this context, recent upsurge in skirmishes across the LoC and WB
is also linked to upcoming elections in Indian occupied Kashmir, as BJP again
wants to make Pakistan a scapegoat. Therefore, the border violations,
accompanying hostile statements by Indian leadership are aimed at motivating
support base before the elections, and even the expected delay in polls in
Kashmir would provide more time to the Indian side to hype up sentiments at the
cost of Pakistan. The BJP government is looking at winning a majority in the
Kashmir assembly so that it could fulfill its manifesto pledge of revoking the
special status, given to Kashmir under Indian constitution’s Article 370, and
to strengthen its measures to annex the area. As regards Indian covert aims,
BJP rulers are trying to divert attention of international community from the
Kashmir dispute, while, Kashmiri leaders and Pakistan have been keeping this
issue in limelight. In this connection, terming the support and advocacy of the
right to self determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmi (J&K), Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing 69th session of the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA), stressed for settlement of the Kashmir issue, and
offered Pakistan’s readiness to endeavor for the same through negotiations. He
also reminded the international community of its pledge for holding
“plebiscite” in the Indian-held Kashmir, and resolves the issue in accordance
with UN Charter. The speech generated appreciations from the political circles
of Pakistan and Kashmir as well. It is also acknowledged that the speech is
true reflection of sentiments of the people of Pakistan, who believe that peace
and prosperity in south Asia is inter- linked with solution of core dispute of
Kashmir between Pakistan and India.
Islamabad’s successful attempt at the
UNGA seems to have irked Indian political, diplomatic and journalist circles.
Under the growing frustration, a notoriously controversial journalist
affiliated with the Indian NDTV namely Barkha Dutt engaged Pakistan’s prime
minister’s special advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, and managed to
create a controversy through aggressive posture to make him concede that
Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s meeting with the Kashmiri leadership
in New Delhi was ill-timed, and affected secretary level engagements with
Pakistan. No doubt, Barkha-Aziz episode has been projected, because under the
pretext, India cancelled secretary level talks with Islamabad. Moreover, Indian
media created an impression that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by highlighting
Kashmir issue made an effort to improve relations with military establishment
in the backdrop of the protesters of the sit-ins led by PTI and PAT. It also
generated controversy of gray relations between political and military echelons
of Pakistan. By increasing cross-border shelling, New Delhi also wants to
create pressure on Islamabad and the Armed Forces in wake of present political
turmoil—and military operation Zarb-e-Azb which successfully continues against
terrorists in North Waziristan Agency.
It is of particular attention that BJP
leader Dr. Subramaniam Swami stated on July 12, 2014 that India needed only two
years to defeat Pakistan militarily, and the only solution of Kashmir was war,
as “there is no peaceful, democratic solution. Responding to the withdrawal of
the US-led NATO forces from Afghanistan, he remarked, “Americans will hand over
Afghanistan to Taliban and go…India should send at least 200,000 troops to
Afghanistan.”
In these terms, Indian hawks think
that in the aftermath of the withdrawal of NATO, they will keep their
anti-Pakistan network in Afghanistan by harming the genuine interests of
Pakistan which shares geographical, cultural and religious bonds with the
former, and is determined to bring peace and stability there. Now, as part of
its blame game, India has intensified unprovoked firing at the LoC in Kashmir
and WB in Sialkot to delay the Pak-India peace process, without caring for
latter’s nuclear weapons. Undoubtedly, every Indian government due to
international pressure found it easy to make false pledges that it was willing
to engage in peace process to resolve all issues like Siachen, Sir Creek,
Wullar Barrage, Water and especially main dispute of Kashmir with Islamabad.
But, New Delhi earnestly endeavored to find excuses and pretexts to cancel
peace talks, while shifting the blame to Pakistan. For example, in 2002, under
the pretension of terrorist attack on the Indian parliament, India postponed
the dialogue process. Again, in 2008, India cancelled the ‘composite dialogue’
on the pretext of Mumbai terror attacks.
Particularly, on May 27, 2014 Prime
Minister Modi’s meeting with Prime Minister Sharif in the oath-taking ceremony
proved faultless, because Modi raised baseless issues of terrorism as
pre-conditions to advance the Pak-Indian dialogue. He said that slow pace of
trial against the terrorists of the Mumbai 26/11 terror case; being held in
Pakistan is main hurdle. But, Indian prime minister ignored the fact that on
July 19, 2013 the Indian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer
Satish Verma disclosed that terror-attacks in Mumbai in November 26, 2008 and
assault on Indian Parliament in January 12, 2001 were carried out by the Indian
government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws. Notably, in the recent past,
United Nations Military Observer Group India and Pakistan in New Delhi was
asked to vacate official accommodation, claiming that its role had become
irrelevant.
It
is also mentionable that Pakistani business community is agitated by the High
handedness of Indian authorities in India, whenever they participate in trade
exhibitions. As per visa protocols of year 2012, both India and Pakistan are
bound to give business visa “Exemption from Police Reporting.” Recently, Pakistani
delegation members were fined $ 40 per participant for missing Police reporting
during trade exhibition (Alishan Pakistan), held at New Delhi from 11-14
September 2014. Besides this, no relaxation is being granted by Indian
authorities in issuance of visa to Pakistani businessmen. Element of
non-cooperation and aggressiveness towards Pakistan is significant in conduct
of Indian authorities after the arrival of Modi regime in power. Nonetheless,
we can undoubtedly conclude that India continues cross-border shelling inside
Pakistan so as to obtain multiple designs against the former.
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