“Army is with me”

Shiban Khaibri
Religion is the prism through which Pakistan sees politics and exploiting which, it thinks to have all its problems and issues settled. It was religion alone and the associated hate, parking at absolute exclusiveness, that Jinnah snatched a separate country from out of India which came to be known as Pakistan. It is this very religion exploiting the feelings of which, it could admittedly succeed to a larger extent, in reducing Kashmir from its pristine and spotless characteristics to the present position of violence which is rife and extreme radicalisation conspicuous by its ubiquitousness. It is that detestable mindset which caused the hounding out of the entire ethnic minority of the Kashmiri Pandits which although serving the interests of Pakistan , smeared the face of whatever was left of the concept of mutual co-existence prevalent in Kashmir. It is again the religious card which Pakistan played very callously and unmercifully that decimated the Hindu population in Pakistan from 22% in 1948 to less than 2% as on date.
While laying the “foundation stone ” for the historic Kartarpur corridor linking two esteemed gurdwaras on both sides , Imran Khan tried to take jibes at India while in fact, he became a centre of ridicule himself and proved as an immature Prime Minister and an upbringing politician. He made it known and fairly that, it was the Pakistani army which was nursing him politically and could not move hither and thither without the proper acquiesce from the men in Khaki there. While extending the olive branch to India and repeating the narrative of “two steps by Pakistan in response of one from India” , he lay bare his and Army’s real intentions by the unwarranted and avoidable presence of the Army chief and parading of Khalistani activists on an occasion which was solemn and for purpose of allowing access to pilgrims to visit the famous and historical shrine .
One would ask Pakistan and the parallel fountains of authority in that country as to what business had the Army Chief Bajwa to be there as it was purely supposed to be a an apolitical occasion for a cause that touched the feelings of crores of Indians. Imran Khan’s speech on the occasion, created more layers of mist and haze than clearing any, by raking up Kashmir and openly declaring that “The Army is with me ” in normalising ties with India. In fact, it is this Army that keeps escalations and tensions on the borders going on, unabated. It is this Army that has, on record been torpedoing, any process towards normalisation of relations with this country. It is this very army and its various agencies in disguised forms, including the ISI, that has been actively supporting, arming and training its mercenaries and sending to this side and promoting terrorism in the valley . While writing these lines, one of the most active Pakistani terrorists involved in numerous acts of violence was killed in Kashmir in an operation. It is to be seen whether Pakistan accepted the dead body of the slain terrorist or as usual, feign innocence as a face saving recourse.
That the Army was with Imran Khan, the “elected” Prime Minister of Pakistan as he himself spoke on the occasion , was a signal to India that if at all, there were to take place any parleys or any deescalating colloquies , this country had to talk to the Government and simultaneously with the Army bosses or any agreement reached at between the two Governments, had mandatorily to be got “ratified” and acquiesced by the Pakistan Army . Was it an announcement in veiled form by Imran Khan that India must talk to Pakistani Army’s higher hierarchy political matters concerning the two countries even if the office of the Pakistani Prime Minister was sidelined or bypassed? Can Indian Prime Minister or any Head of any Government in the world openly declare in sycophantic manner that the Army was him? Can the Prime Minister of Nepal, a neighbour of both the countries, openly declare that the Army was him ? That fairly answers those peaceniks and Pakistan apologists in India including some politicians as also some design journalists, about their parroting of “Talk to Pakistan”, start and sustain “Confidence Building Measures” etc . Let them be asked as to what happened to the most hyped and ‘historical’ Shimla Agreement?
Trying to solve “Kashmir Problem” by means of proxy war and spilling innocents’ blood was no clause put in the said “Agreement” by Z.A. Bhutto and his team accompanying which, was his daughter Benazir Bhutto who later became Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister in 1988 after a military coup overthrew her father’s Government. During her Premiership, terrorism in Kashmir had gained its ugly deep foothold which she, on account of the avowed continuous policy of Pakistan , an article of faith, to incessantly keep harming and troubling India, could not control as whosoever shows or proves to be more ruthless and bigoted towards India, earns the goodwill of Pakistani Army and the fundamentalist elements calling the real shots in that country.
India needs to be cautious and watchful and must read between the lines the attempt of Pakistan to pump the pilgrim corridor with hyped political content. It was all pre-planned to show to India that to trouble it, there were enough arrows in Pakistan’s quiver like parading anti Indian elements propagating secession , again on dictated lines and then, Minister of Punjab Government Navjot Singh Siddhu doing a photo-op with Gopal Singh Chawla and then feigning back home ” took 15000 photos in Pakistan, don’t know Chawla or Cheema”. The deliberate goof of protocol made by Pakistan to ostensibly embarrass the Indian Union cabinet Minister by allowing Siddhu to speak first and later alter the list by adding the name of the Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur and allow her to speak after Siddhu, revealed volumes of “sincerity” of Pakistan towards normalisation of relations with this country. Siddhu did not rebut Imran, his “Dildaar”, his “Farishta” and his “jaan” nor protested about choosing the occasion for ranting Kashmir which could never be separated from India being its inalienable part. Siddhu should have spoken for the victims of 26/11 and asked Pakistan right on its soil for speedy trial, at least now, of the mastermind of that terror attack on innocents , men women and children in Mumbai. He did not- which speaks more than hides any, both of his political leadership as a patriotic Indian as also the directives of his new find Congress Party. He has done justice to neither. It is also quite unfortunate for Harsimrat Kaur and Hardeep Singh Puri in not having walked out of the function in protest against parading Khalistani activist and ranting Kashmir issue on an occasion which was for purely religious purposes.
It is equally shocking that as many as 31 press reporters and media personnel, selectively invited by Pakistan , from this country to witness the function kept mum and adopted stoic silence over Imran raking up Kashmir issue or there being secessionist elements present, all managed and deliberately done to embarrass the representatives of the Union government. Was the hospitality of Pakistan so much cosy that these “fearless and liberal” media persons chose to pocket national insult by reportedly remaining mute spectators? They, ,otherwise, are very vocal and “professionally” sanguine if not more fearless, in their country often questioning and criticising the government even in matters of reigning in “intellectuals” very sympathetic towards and supporting Maoists and their activities.
India has reacted to all this claptrap of Imran’s overtures on and following the Kartarpur corridor function by saying that the same should not be linked to talks and the terror on Indian territory perpetrated by Pakistan and her agent saboteurs must totally stop. Not only this, India was going to boycott SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Pakistan must act and appear to be so, now, concretely and seriously towards bringing to book the masterminds of 26/11, Pathankot and Uri attacks before even thinking of any talks to take place.
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