Ever since the vivisection of India the two neighbours, India and Pakistan, have met each other in the battlefield more than twice. Unlike those ‘quick triggering’ ones, but more like the major explosion of the Atom Bomb itself, a 4th war brings about an explosion of fear of the holocaust – as never before. It is amazing that when countries’ arms are twisted, the mighty destructive power of the Atom Bomb that has enticed global protests since Hiroshima, also brings about an equally powerful feather of peace.
The modes-operandi is simple. When that feather is seen dithering, the whole world cries out in unison STOP. No wonder, when a Pakistani minister offered a threat to use the dangerous bomb, it incited a global outcry. A 4th war between the two congenital enemies, India and Pakistan, is, therefore, not wished by anybody; and is unlikely. That is unless madness takes the supreme position.
Yes when provoked, the then Indian PM Mr Vajpayee did order his massive troupes to the nuclear powered Pakistan’s border, like before. But, it was this fear, reminding emperor Alexander’s troupe’s return from the edge of India that made Indian troupes aimlessly return back from Pak border without a fight.
In addition, tracing this and as if adding Gandhi’s ‘eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ and telecom’s ‘it’s good to talk’ all ask both the countries to talk and sort the Kashmir problem out. Both countries talk, yet terrorist attacks do happen in India. And when one happens, almost as an obedient nation India condemns the attack, does the needed investigations and prides itself in finding the responsible country – Pakistan. And when Pakistan doesn’t believe its dossier of findings and its TV debaters, almost reminding North Korea, cry out ‘united we stand with the government’, India just shuts up. As time goes by, the same cycle of events continue. Unlike Gulliver’s Travel’s two hostile kings who don’t talk, these two take a clue from today’s teenagers and do a ‘break up n patch up’.
While this alone makes Pakistan the luckiest among the nuclear nations despite facing a much more formidable enemy that has defeated it several times, almost like a child in its mother’s lap, it also happens to get the comfort of the Chinese lap. So much so that, denting even its own fight against terrorism and its international dignity, the dragon land refuses to regard globally recognized Masood Ajhar as a terrorist.
It is because of these factors that almost with impunity Pakistan, on its part, educates its denizens against India, ferments trouble there, accuses India of oppressing Kashmiri people, trains and supplies terrorists to attack Indian civilians and then just casually says ‘no proof is supplied’.
Why is animosity so important for Pakistan?
It may look pretty obvious but as aired below the actual answer is deep and far from clear. It’s because; yes ‘brotherhood of Muslims’ (ummah) can be argued as enticing affinity towards the Muslim majority in Kashmir, but then, neither East Pakistani (Now Bangladeshi) Muslims were treated properly by them earlier, nor the rape and genocide facing Baloch Muslims are treated with any dignity today.
Yes, nostalgia of Muslim Mughal rule in India is cited as ‘We Muslims ruled over the Hindus’; and the consequent necessity of an unfinished business of converting Indians to Islam, as was done in Persia and Egypt, is aspired for. But then, Hindu converts to Islam (most Pakistanis) didn’t rule over Hindus. It was the Mughal from Turkey, who did so. Instead, like the way Pakistanis are treated in the Arab countries today, the converted Muslims were treated like second class Muslims – almost like Hindus – by the Mughals. Almost akin to ‘man is what he thinks’, it’s strange that the people who called themselves Indians just 70 years ago now regard invaders like Ghori as their heroes, are closer to the Middle East and see India as the ultimate enemy!
But then, there is more to its ways than just ingrained hostility.
Being the most, or perhaps the only trusted institute in corruption ridden Pakistan, without popular resentment, the army takes a lion’s share of the nation’s budget. It’s elite, not only control various army regiments but the country’s 50 commercial entities too. There is a network of people which includes both army and civilian, that benefits from those franchises. With dependency thus glaring like the sun rays on earthlings, even the army chief alone cannot go against the mass interest. May be, Musharraf’s abrupt departure from Delhi talks is one of them.
How did this come about?
The answer isn’t difficult though. Being a country that was surreptitiously created on the behest of the West to restrain USSR from reaching the southern seas and to keep India restrained through a split, but then overtly doing so under the stewardship of Jinnah – who just wanted to be the first executive of a country – Pakistan had to bring areas with different ethnicities, cultures and languages to form an artificial nation. That too hurriedly before Jinnah’s TB induced early death! Disunity was real and Pakistan had the need for unity right at the start.
Despite Jinnah not knowing written Urdu, Pak had to enforce the elite alone understood artificial language Urdu. This at least created an uneasy common language, right at the start. And conversion of Sanskrit worded Hindu written national anthem to a Muslim written Persian worded one, did help. But then, like the taking out of local languages (Punjabi, Sindhi etc.) from its schools, subsequent annexation of an independent Baluchistan that added land, added disunity too. Pakistan cried out for unity and an external enemy, as has always been done for political needs, would solve its internal problems. While a Hindu India gave a default enemy that it made sure interred into its school texts to create a ‘man is what he thinks’ character, it needed to put that into action to get more. Incidentally a conglomerate of a week Nehru, a slow maharaja and a quick Pak army brought about half of Kashmir and the needed convincing cause for hostility. But then, with India’s reaction being inert at best, it needed more. While the vocal minority in Kashmir infused life into the needed hostility, almost producing a golden egg laying goose ,’We morally support Kashmiri people’s struggle’, brought about the needed perennial animosity.
With the threat thus confirmed, unlike for Nepal, Bhutan or Sri Lanka, Pakistan needed a defense force; and that too continually. With the external enemy thus guaranteed, its army’s prestige and need was guaranteed internally too. With guys graduating from school with an anti India anti Hindu thought, creating fighters wasn’t that hard.
That wasn’t enough though. Having created the defense need and a trusted institution, cash needs of the army was understood and people didn’t mind a lion’s share of the budget reserved by the army. Being congenitally involved in its creation, and with the purpose of making Pak strong militarily, West’s aid wasn’t far. As if duty bound, latter supplied the hardware. The profiting Pak’s elite were just lucky. And when the soviets descended on Afghanistan, their luck ascended. Almost like cheap Chinese goods, Taliban flooded the land of the Bamyan Buddha.
But then, after finishing off the Godless ones (communist Russia) the Taliban turned their guns towards the God’s message distorting ones (Christian USA). The great Satan needed Pak’s help again. The elite’s luck seemed to increase by the day. As brilliantly as less religious leaders use religious zealots for their mundane gain, its elite created religious Jihadists to use as pawns. In fact, when a pork and alcohol consuming, prayer disliking, Mullah disliked, fully westernized Gujarati Ismaili Jinnah could amazingly use Muslims to muster Pakistan albeit with the blessing of the British, its elite could surely use religious zealots to die for them too. In fact, yes, Ambani’s Indian stock share valued at more than Pakistan’s total stock market may not be surprising, its machinery creating Jihadists as a product, using them in the eastern and the western fronts pleasing both the West and its people, and then killing them with impunity – is certainly so.
Despite being corrupt, the British had mustered huge respect from the locals. Similarly being seen as less corrupt in the land where corruption is a culture, and having seen to have done so much for the country the army is revered in Pakistan. So much so that, an army takeover may be frowned upon outside but not inside its borders. When the US cleaned its showing teeth and passed a law to automatically stop aid if the Pak army took over, it showed its own showing teeth. As ingeniously as hiding Bin laden in front of its own barrack, it simply elected a subordinate prime minister. Airing that, although, ‘whom to talk to in Pak’ is cited for the talk lethargy in India, there is more to the futility of talks than meets the eyes.
Yes, with it offering a trouble-free existence of a newly formed nation, lucrative hardware from the West, an elating prestige from the locals, control of political and economic institutions of the country without a revolt, an un-opposing dependent network of beneficiaries and the fulfillment of religio – ideological emotions, and its absence giving a fear of being irrelevant ;Pakistan simply cannot afford to prefer peace. Thus, while its hostility as an engraved national policy is perfectly natural, if natural emotion is let loose it will want to see Kashmir, if not the whole of India burning. It is such that even if whole of Kashmir (including independence seekers) is offered to Pak for peace, it will reject it – lest it be another Baluchistan anyway. It will rather take 95% of the state and continue its struggle for the remaining 5%
But Why Does The US Support Pakistan?
With India being the cause of hostility and America the supplier of its defense, almost fooling both and treating Jihadis like a factory product, it recycles (forms, uses and kills) the latter with impunity. In doing so, its elite benefit all the way. But then, USA is neither innocent nor unaware of this double role.
America befriends Pakistan to do the dirty work of flushing out Islamic fundamentalists from that area. But then, a country that knows all the eastern terrorist training camps and was able to sniff out Bin Laden from under its army’s nose, rather offers Pakistan military hardware like F-16. Surely, F- 16s are for wars and not for flushing out terrorists. What makes America do so? Why do Americans like ordinary Pakistanis, become the victims of the Pakistani propaganda?
The answer is simple. If not the American taxpayers and the Pakistani poor, elite from the two countries certainly win. The modes-operandi isn’t hard either. While the US siphons part of its tax payer’s money to its buddy Pakistan as an aid for fighting the jihadists, as if completing the loop Pakistan returns it back by buying its military hardware. Both countries seem to win. However, with the payment returning to the American elite who have multiple states in the arms industry and not the public; the elite benefit, unaware voting public lose.
Pakistani public don’t get much either. But in a land that cherished Sr Bhutto’s ‘we will eat grass but get the Atom Bomb’, the imported hardware certainly enhances the pride of all Pakistanis in relation to India with a, ‘we will beat India’ feeling. But, unlike the poor, its elite enjoy major kickbacks too. Therefore, almost saying ‘Elite of the two countries unite’ both beneficiaries would not say no to its continuation. While this union explains the chronicity in dealing with a bunch of terrorists in its territory despite the advanced technology, aid to enhance the unhindered animosity towards India needs more words. Yes Pakistan at times gets the backfire (terrorist attacks) but the elite remain unscathed. They instead get an opportunity to broadcasts ‘we are the victims of terrorism’.
It’s not that the West’s fear of USSR’s expansion into the southern seas alone that made it split India by eulogizing Jinnah and sacrificing Edwina/Mountbatten duo; parallel to the Hindu phobia in the Western academia brought about by India’s past glory, it feared an unwanted global competition from a united Hindu India too. Almost as a double whammy, while the partition weakened that India as a future power, the raising of sentiments of hostility even brought about two military hardware buyers! For Pakistan clearly yes but even for the US, Pakistan has to remain intact and strong, remain hostile to India and has to keep on buying arms. It knows all, but lets things happen.
In this context, Hilary’s ‘You can’t have two types of snakes in your back yard’ and Obama’s ‘seek urgent action against the Mumbai attackers’ are the showing teeth. In fact, despite the deaths of its own citizens in the Mumbai attack it says ‘We will not let down the integrity of Pakistan’ – as biting teeth. And of course for the ‘oldest democracy’ in the world, Pak’s integrity is much more important in the bite than the rapes and deaths of many in Baluchistan.
Of course the US voters want peace, but with the elected rulers merging with the elite in the elite/public split capitalist country, it’s the elite who decide; and Hillary or Trump’s victory matters less. So, for Trump, Pak could easily be what Guantanamo was for Obama. Therefore, unlike its inclusion in Kuwait’s banned list, the exclusion of Pakistanis in the banned list of the fundamentalist disliking Trump comes with an arrow airing just that.
(Please don’t forget to leave a comment below)
