Modi: a blessing in disguise

History shows that a single incident sometimes gives birth to great human tragedy. History also teaches us that war is not a solution to any problem.

In the presence of weapons of mass destruction, no sensible leader would dare trigger a conflict that could lead to an apocalyptic war. But unfortunately, sometimes leaders create a hostile environment for their own vested interests without anticipating the consequences. They then become hostage to that self-created emotional environment and public opinion. In such a scenario, things get out of control and result in great tragedies.

For the last two weeks, hostility between Pakistan and India has reached an alarming level. While it seems that the situation is going back to normal, there is still a possibility that the Indian leadership could miscalculate and commit a blunder of irreversible consequences. As a precaution, we must prepare for every kind of eventuality.

But there is no need to worry a lot about Narendra Modi’s jingoism. In the past, we have seen such drama and blackmailing tactics many times. Modi created the current war hysteria for electoral gains, something that has backfired for the time being. The Indian leadership is highly intelligent, prudent and experienced. It knows well the meaning of war with Pakistan.

It is not clear yet that how much the war-mongering of Modi will help him in the coming election. However, what is clear is the fact that Modi has become a blessing in disguise for Pakistan. For this, we must be grateful to him and his hawkishness, which have helped Pakistan in many ways.

First, the internal unity of Pakistan is directly proportional to India’s hawkishness and war hysteria. Whenever India starts hostilities and creates a war-like situation, our bitterly divided nation (on political, institutional, ethnic and sectarian grounds) comes closer, gets united and stands like a rock in front of India. Irrespective of their bitter political, ethnic and sectarian differences, the nation and all the political parties stand united and extend full support to the Pakistan forces. And the credit for such unity indeed goes to Modi’s hawkishness.

Second, like the Pakistani leadership in the 1970s and 1980s, Modi is busy sowing the seeds of extremism and hatred within Indian society. Pakistan paid a heavy cost for fixing its past blunders and uprooting extremism. But instead of learning from Pakistan’s worst experience, the Modi government has encouraged extremism and is turning Indian society into a fanatic mob. Surely, future generations of India will pay a heavy cost to fix these blunders.

Third, in the past, India honoured democratic values and respected freedom of expression which helped the country stabilise politically, prosper economically, advance diplomatically and shine culturally. On the contrary, democracy and freedom of expression in Pakistan were strangled for a long time, which hampered economic prosperity and democratic stability.

But, today, Modi’s India is on the same path of self-destruction. Indian media has become a hostage of Modi’s fanaticism, and a tool of war hysteria. There is no room for any sensible voice in Indian media and if anyone dares to speak out they get a certificate of treason. Modi’s policies have been undermining the basic pillars of Indian society. India needs no external enemy; one Modi is enough to compromise India’s political stability and economic prosperity.

Fourth, Pakistan was blamed for extremism and its alleged support to non-state actors in Afghanistan and Kashmir in the past. The Kargil adventure of Musharraf branded Pakistan as an aggressive state. On the other hand, India was considered a seat of democracy and a symbol of secularism. But thanks to Modi’s post-Pulwama hawkishness, the true face of the biggest democracy has been unmasked in front of the world. The mature, sensible and responsible response of Pakistan to Modi’s jingoism enabled the world to recognise Pakistan as a responsible state and peace-loving country.

Fifth, India has sold itself as the biggest secular democracy in the world. The Indian media and film industry played an important role in showing the world this manufactured soft image. However, the Modi government’s atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir have badly distorted this image and exposed the true face of Indian secularism and democracy.

Sixth, Pakistan is a nuclear power. This enables the country to defend itself against a belligerent neighbour. But anti-Pakistan forces used to blackmail Pakistan for nuclear weapons by propagating that our nuclear arsenal could fall in the hands of extremists. Extremism in Pakistan is almost on the verge of extinction due to effective military operations. Moreover, Pakistan has behaved very responsibly in front of Modi’s current belligerence. Now maybe the world community should worry about India’s nuclear weapons, which are in the hands of a religious fascist. Modi has given Pakistan a chance to show the world that Modi’s India and its nuclear weapon is a serious threat to the peace and stability of the world.

Last but not the least, Modi helped our ruling party become realistic and understand diplomatic limitations. When in opposition, the PTI created a furore over the reconciliatory gesture of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif towards Modi. Nawaz was branded a friend of Modi (‘Modi ka Yaar’). But now that it is in government, the PTI is requesting Modi for negotiations. Similarly, the ruling party even recently called Nawaz Sharif a traitor for not effectively dealing with the Kulbhushan case. But the PTI government did not keep the Indian pilot in Pakistan for more than two days. I am sure that by now, the PTI will have realised the role of diplomatic limitations in decision-making. I hope that they will now end the culture of quickly branding someone a ‘traitor’ solely for political interests.

In conclusion, one can say that Narendra Modi has been a blessing in disguise for Pakistan to unite internally, and expose the true face of India to the world community externally. We now need to stay strong for the country’s defence, keep internal unity and diplomatically focus on exposing Modi and his fanaticism to the world community.

The writer works for Geo TV.

Email: saleem.safi@janggroup.com.pk