VIJAY CHAUTHAIWALE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hit three birds with a single stroke when he uttered the ‘B’ word in the same breath as Pak-occupied Kashmir. First, is of course Pakistan itself. For a state that would face existential crisis if it tones down its anti-India rhetoric, Balochistan is the issue which hits Pakistan the most. The record of atrocities, rapes and murders of civilian population in Balochistan by two principal state actors in Pakistan, namely the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan military is well documented and need not be repeated here.
These intellectuals wish to conveniently ignore cross-border material support to separatist elements in J&K. Instead they argue that success of India as a state should be determined only on the basis of the ‘Kashmir test’, even if it means succumbing to the pressure of Jihadi elements. Digvijaya Singh has already uttered the term, “India-occupied Kashmir”. Nothing more can be expected from this class that is rapidly losing its clout due to loss of plum posts they are occupying simply due to their allegiance to 10 Janpath.
What is important to emphasise is an unchallenged submission by the democratically-elected Nawaz Sharif Government to the ISI and the military for its own existence, and their joint mission to escalate cross-border infiltration and active material support to anti-India elements in J&K. In the process, they presume that they can divert global attention from what’s burning in their own backyard.
The second is the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress. On the issue of Balochistan, the Congress is on a sticky wicket due to its historical baggage of the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani. Hit by a hat-trick of continuously depleting ammunition in Parliament, the PoK-Balochistan issue and the FIR against Amnesty International India under the sedition law by its own State Government in Karnataka, theCongress is in total disarray. The main job of Congress spokesman RS Surjewala is not to attack the Government or the BJP but to distance the party from the statements of likes of Digvijaya Singh, Salman Khurshid, P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal.
During the UPA regime, the same coterie put forward the “zero loss theory” in the 2G Spectrum scam, accused the RSS for 26/11 Mumbai attack and criticised security forces for the Batla House encounter against hiding militants.
Today, history is repeating itself. The number of voices within the Congress on these issues exceeds the total number spokespersons in the party. Still, no one knows what the official stand of the Congress is.
One example will suffice to explain the extent of disarray with the Congress. When Surjewala, distanced the Congress from the statement of Salman Khurshid, Khurshid said, “But that’s not the party line. I am a senior spokesperson till I am sacked from the Congress. And I am saying that is not the party line.” Of course, from a party, whose External Affairs Minister reads out the speech of some other country’s envoy on the United Nations platform, nothing more can be expected.
But one should understand Khurshid’s pain. All his co-members of the UPA ‘think tank’, namely, Sibal, Chidambaram, Jayaram Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh have got Rajya Sabha seats; he has none. No wonder he is talking about being sacked.
The Third one is the Left-liberal intelligentsia. There are three main arguments when they oppose the ‘B’ word. First, they think that it will encourage Pakistan to talk about Kashmir. They also argue that Pakistan (and other countries) would raise unrest in the other parts of country, like the North-East. Both these arguments have the basic wrong presumption: That is, if we don’t talk Baolchistan, these forces will stop talking about Kashmir and the North-East.
The next argument is of lack of support for these issues from the international community (meaning the US and NATO countries). However, the latest statement of the official spokesman of the US State Department Mark Toner, that the US is concerned about human rights situation in PoK and Balochistan, debunks this apprehension. Similarly, the ‘high moral ground’ theorists need to tell that moral ground cannot be a cover for our vagueness and weakness and that anyone will respect our moral ground only if we are talking from a position of strength.
These intellectuals wish to conveniently ignore cross-border material support to separatist elements in J&K. Instead they argue that success of India as a state should be determined only on the basis of the ‘Kashmir test’, even if it means succumbing to the pressure of Jihadi elements. Digvijaya Singh has already uttered the term, “India-occupied Kashmir”. Nothing more can be expected from this class that is rapidly losing its clout due to loss of plum posts they are occupying simply due to their allegiance to 10 Janpath.
Coming back to the issue of Balochistan, the fact remains that there are well-documented atrocities against the Balochs by the Pakistan Army, including mass murders, abductions and rapes. Very few Governments in the world would have carried out such atrocities against their own citizens. India has done the right thing by raising this issue and brought attention of entire world.
Finally, assertiveness to protect and propagate our geo-political interests is an integral part of the foreign policy of this Government. While peaceful coexistence with Pakistan is a desirable goal, it largely depends on Pakistan’s desire (or lack of it) of reciprocal goodwill measures. Stopping overt or covert support to separatists in J&K, end using terrorism as a state apparatus to achieve diplomatic goals, and halting human rights violations in PoK and Balochistan are three essential elements for to emerge Pakistan as a credible democratic state.
The ball is essentially in Pakistan’s court. Modi’s reference to PoK and Balochistan only reinforces sensible voices. Unfortunately,sections in our own country are so blinded with Modiphobia that they are even willing to risk broader national interests. It’s time to expose the hidden agendas of these elements.
(The writer is Head of BJP Foreign Affairs Department)