Pulwama reality

Pakistan is not wrong in asking the international community to call India’s bluff. For far too long has India blamed Pakistan for cross-border terrorism – to the extent of trying to pin false-flag operations on Pakistan too. For decades now, Pakistan has shown a commitment towards peace in the region, especially when it comes to bilateral ties between the two nuclear states. But India has unfortunately continued its proxy war in Pakistan. Modi’s India especially has adopted a hawkish policy when it comes to all its neighbours, in particular Pakistan. It was Modi who attacked Pakistan after the Pulwama attack without any provocation just to consolidate his domestic constituency. It didn’t matter that their pilot was caught by Pakistan, which sent him back as a goodwill gesture. It was only about chest-thumping just before the general elections in India. It was Modi who unilaterally took the August 5 decision by disenfranchising Occupied Kashmir and going against the international conventions. This is politics that is both hateful and dangerous.

Now, in an explosive interview with The Wire, former governor of Indian Occupied Kashmir Satya Pal Malik, has made some shocking – but only to those who had bought India’s line – revelations regarding the Pulwama attack. He has said that Modi, ill-informed and ignorant about Occupied Kashmir, told him not to speak about his government’s security lapses that led to the Pulwama attack in February 2019. Malik revealed that the lapses by India’s home ministry resulted in the attack, and how when it was raised by him directly with Modi, he was asked to keep quiet about it and not tell anyone. Indian NSA Ajit Doval also told him to keep quiet and Malik immediately realized that the intention was to put the blame on Pakistan so as to benefit the BJP in the general elections. On Sunday, responding to the interview, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that the revelations by Satya Pal Malik had once again vindicated Pakistan’s stance on the Pulwama attack and showed how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its victimhood narrative and Hindutva agenda.

When the Pulwama attack took place, Pakistan kept saying that it was an indigenous attack. The Modi government couldn’t provide any evidence but still went ahead with attacking Pakistan in retaliation for something that wasn’t even related to Pakistan. Back then, many observers had pointed out that Modi was doing this to win the next elections in the country. The world, though, must recognize precisely what India is doing, and how harmful this can be to the entire region and to the larger global community. India’s raid into Pakistan presented huge dangers in the two countries, which are both armed with nuclear weapons. Had Pakistan not responded with restraint and good sense, the results could have been catastrophic. Fortunately, Pakistan’s measured approach post-Balakot prevented the situation from accelerating. But it did expose the extent to which the Modi government is willing to go to try and show Pakistan as a terrorist nation and to discredit Kashmiri freedom fighters in the same way. What is perhaps most disturbing has been the open collusion of a hyper-nationalist Indian media with an openly fascist government. There is no more any excuse for anyone in the international community – and in particular the West – to turn away from what has been glaringly obvious for a very long time now: the Modi government is dangerous.