Its getting hot in South Asia!
Posted by anas on Nov 30, 2008 in Pakistan | 19 commentsBlaming Pakistan, directly or indirectly, for the terrorist attacks in India is nothing new and not something to become a cause of concern. Similarly, blames have been directed from Islamabad for the unrest in Pakistan, and it is as banal as waking up in the morning.
The major contributor this time in the escalation of tensions is the Indian media and the government of Pakistan, to an extent.
Analysing the situation that emerged immediately after the deadly attacks, the Indian PM and army hastily labelled Pakistan as the culprit. Now this was expected for some reasons:
1) Governments are always wary of the public sentiment and what better way to diverge attention by blaming it on archrivals?
2) Elections are approaching in India and the Congress is being portrayed by the BJP as overly firendly towards Pakistan. So this can easily benefit the Congress politically. (Politicians will NEVER miss an opportunity to gain)
3) The unrest and the known presence of terrorists in Pakistan can easily explain the influx from Pakistan and hence hides the fact (as some analysts say) that Islamic extremism is growing in India (for whatever reasons).
4) The failure of intelligence agencies to uncover the attacks can also be hidden by taking a tough stance against Pakistan.
The Indian media went to great lengths in claiming that India possesses solid proofs against Pakistan which can’t be denied. There have even been talks of potential battles and cutting off diplomatic ties. Were these confidence building measures in the previous years so shallow? I do think so!
The government of Pakistan loves to be good to everyone. So when the distressed PM of India requested our PM to send the DG ISI, Gilani immediately agreed, without even thinking the implications of such an action in a country ruled exclusiuvely by the army. Manmohan Singh was blaming the ISI, which the dummy PM of Pakistan didn’t even realise!
Even if the Pakistani PM made this decision as a gesture of goodwill, the news that came out was that “ISI chief summoned to India.” What does that sound like?
When the decision was reversed, probably after Mukherjee used some strong language, the obvious news was that “Pakistan U-turns on ISI commitment.” So that almost looks like accepting the blame. There are certain diplomatic norms of handling such situations and clearly the newly (not so new) elected government is unaware of them.
Temperatures have already gone up. The deciding factor may, as always, turn out to be US intervention. Indian government can benefit from the escalating tensions but this will force Pakistan to move its troops from Afghan border to the Indian border which the ISI has already mentioned. This can hurt US’s war against terror. Barack Obama may be the one person wondering the most at the moment. He will be having some tough jobs ahead. Similarly, Zaradri’s presidency will also face a tough test of character.
Meanwhile, the next 2 or 3 days will be very crucial. I hope the two countries learn to live with peace and harmony.
An interesting news item:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5259622.ece
And as if the external threat isn’t enough.. Karachi seems to be experiencing an ethnic clash which is similar to what happened in the eighties.. :S
Its the same story all over again… Only yesterday, around 7-8 people were killed .. 80 or something injured..
They’re mad .. all of them. This is the time to UNITE…
And what do we do?? We spread weirdo rumors about this “qaum” and that “qaum”… indeed, halaat here are worse than ever!
the problem is escalating because of the irresponsible behavior of indian media. earlier today the indian media was claiming that indian govt had decided to stop the peace process with pakistan and deploy more troops on the border. both of these were later denied by the govt officials.
@ Uni
i dont know why wen anything happens in india, the blame is on pakistan (by default) and now that things are going bad in pakistan, not a single person is blaming india!
Hindu Extremism at its very best!
My father tells me that it’s impossible to sneak ammunition into the Karachi port area as they check your pass at least ten times around the place.
And was the Indian Intelligence sleeping? Where was their bloody Navy? Why was the security at the two hotels so lax? And 1200 commandos couldn’t kill 12 men for 60 hours?
Man, do their forces suck or what!
Salaam Anas,
An intelligent commentary. I do agree that both the Indian media and the Pakistani government handled this episode rather foolishly. But let’s also have the Indian government share part of the blame. Don’t you think?
Welcome to my blog Saadia!
Indian government’s fault can be the intelligence failure. But in the current escalation of tensions, Indian government is compelled to do what it is doing to gain politically in the crucial elections build-up. From our point of view, we can hold them responsible. But from their point of view, they hardly have a choice.
Anas, the Indian government might have acted in a politically correct manner. But don’t you think we should argue for right and wrong, in this case, on ethical measures? More than a hundred were killed, and it was completely uncalled for, by the Indian government, to start the blame game. At times, there is grace in accepting weakness. Truth is a stronger ally than most of us give it credit for.
P.S. You are on my Blogroll. *hint hint*
It wasn’t politically correct, but there may have been no other option given the pressure on Congress. They always blame it on Pakistan, and so the people will demand some action.
I only wish these people cared about the lives of ordinary people who are the real sufferers.
I’ve added you on my blogroll too.
@Uni: There’s something fishy with this ethnic clash. It just doesn’t look like the usual ones that happened before.
@karachiwali: That’s what the media always does. They are behaving like they themselves have the proofs against Pakistan.
@Ammar: not too sure about that
@SAWJ: Exactly, I saw on NDTV that they also received information in Sept and Nov this year of possible terrorist influx from the sea. How can men with SO MUCH ammunition possibly escape the radars? And enter the hotels which are usually equipped with metal detectors. The Indian officials have a lot to answer.
Read this:
http://jawwad.0fees.net/blog/?p=170
Well, history tells us that when went to war with India, we started it through something similar to what happened in Mumbai. I personally think that Pakistan is not that innocent in this matter and ISI might be involved. Saying this, you’d expect a better response from the Government/Army/ISI/whatever to the Indian accusations. But then again, we have a dush-bag for Prime Minister….
@Talha: The response from Pakistan was crap. The only reason I don’t suspect Pakistan’s involvement here is that Pakistan isn’t the beneficiary by any means, unless tension escalates to a very high level and Pakistan is forced to move its forces from Afghan border and find an excuse out of US’s war on terror.
Otherwise, Indian government has gained lots from it, and can cash on this opportunity for the upcoming elections.
@SAWJ: Interesting read. There are many discrepancies in their story.
@ Anas: Yes I agree with you. I have had a change of opinion as well. The only party getting any benefit from this fiasco is the Indian Government. Also, the evidence so far gathered gives a completely different picture. Another 9/11 may be, or may be the Indians thought that affairs with Pakistan were getting a little boring.
26/11 could have been stopped
wow! they knew everything
doob marna chahye!
apna hi plan tha…they just executed it
then the execution failed badly….phr bhi doob k mar jana chahye!!
when were the Indians good at planning anything???