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Pakistan: Now or Never?

Perspectives on Pakistan

September 7th, 2008

A decisive moment : India, Pakistan on different paths

Posted by: Sanjeev Miglani
Tags: Pakistan: Now or Never, , , , , ,

The irony is hard to miss. Just as Pakistan is struggling with the fallout of the first known breach of its territorial sovereignty by U.S. ground troops and all the odium associated with it in a proud nation, India has been welcomed into the nuclear high table, almost entirely at America’s behest.

Two unrelated events but coming days apart seemed to underline the divergent paths the two nations are embarked upon.  One has a gun pointed to it; the other is being wooed.

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On Saturday, America railroaded whatever opposition there was from smaller countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to civilian nuclear trade with India, despite its refusal to give up nuclear weapons and sign the NPT. As far as New Delhi is concerned the approval is a momentous decision as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, because it ends 34 years of sanctions and isolation following the first nuclear test in 1974.

I remember an Indian defence scientist telling me way back that the sanctions were so pervasive that some institutions blacklisted by the United States on suspicion they were involved in the nuclear weapons programme couldn’t even import a toothbrush from there.

In one stroke, and in line with the way in which the Bush administration has gone about remaking the world in its own image, all that has changed. India’s nuclear weapons aren’t a problem any more as America builds a new strategic partnership that many see as aimed at balancing China.

And what of Pakistan ? A seat at the nuclear table is probably the farthest thing on anyone’s mind including perhaps Islamabad’s as it struggles with  more fundamental issues of territorial integrity at this point. The raid this week by U.S. forces may signal an even more intense attacks as this report says.

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But the Pakistan government, says Gary Leupp, a history professor at Tufts University, has provided more assistance to the United States than any other as it pursues its goals in southwest Asia. No country has been more dramatically destabilized as the price of its cooperation.
 
“But not only does the U.S. political class take this disastrous compliance for granted, it wants to further emphasize Islamabad’s irrelevance by attacking the border area at will,” he writes. And ominously it’s not just the Bush crowd; Senator Barack Obama has been saying that the United States must do more to press Pakistan to act against the Islamist militants as an earlier post on this blog pointed out. 

65 comments so far

Pakistanis:
Ask yourself. India and you became independent at the same time. While India decided to bite the bullet and remain independent, you decided to be a beggar for ever and a cronie of the Brits and the USA. When I say “you” , I mean you, the power mongers of Pakistan who continually screwed your own people in a million ways: destroying any semblance of democracy; killing your own in the hundreds of thousand as you did in Bangladesh; becoming and remaining a beggar for over 60 years living off the alms thrown at you by the US for being a mercenary; becoming a terrorist state with no control over your own military and covert groups.

So, rather than crying at being treated differently by the world, be happy you are being treated the way you should. In fact, you need to be ostracized by the entire International community and thrown to the stone ages as is Burma. May be that will wake you up as a nation.

You want to be treated as others. Then emulate them. Become responsible to your own people and to the rest of the world. Live by norms that responsible sovereigns are expected to live by. Put your poor citizenry before your unscrupulous, dishonest power elite. Learn some self respect and a well deserved sense of shame at the shameful plight you guys are in due to your own making.
Change !!!!!!

- Posted by V. Ramaswami

Our forefathers were same, influx of foreign religoious philosophies in India/South Asia and political boundaries separated the once common genetic pool, Spirits of our ancestors will feel bad if we keep figting. India/Pak/mankind/Earth may perish, but only the Truth shall remain.

- Posted by R Arora

Pakistan is there to live forever
Written By: Amjad Malik

As long as India keeps dreaming the disintegration of Pakistan, it will survive as a viable state as the very negativity serves the purpose of knitting this crowd of 170 million people into a nation, whenever it is confronted by its arch rival. Editor of Indian Defence Review, Mr. Bharat Verma writes that ‘new Delhi is its own enemy, when it permitted the creation of a pure Islamic state on its borders,” I for one disagree as this state emerged as a result of a successful struggle for independence by millions of Muslims of India who felt that two nation theory is the only viable option to preserve and protect each other’s identity and core values. Indian Hindus too got liberated after remaining under Moghuls for over 6 centuries and then British Raj through the same process due to Gandhi’s vision. Independence was neither granted through diplomacy, nor as a charity. It was snatched on the basis of fundamentals of the modern day democracy, one man one vote’ principle and majority of muslim populated areas vowed to join the newly established idea of ‘Pakistan’ where they saw security, identity and a peaceful enjoyment of civil and political rights, and a freedom of religion, culture and values.

Looking at secular India’s state and its treatment to its minorities, the wisdom of Mr. Jinnah’s decision is obvious seeing the situation of Muslims of India. Demolition attempts on Babari mosque, and Hindu fundamentalists attempts to erect Ayodhia Mandar satirically smile on the claims of Indian democracy, equality & secularism. Kashmiri Muslims are at war with the state since its occupation, and are demanding for an implementation on UN Security Council Resolution 47 (1948) where India agreed with the World that question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir should be decided through a free and impartial plebiscite. Kashmiris, instead, are facing bullets and worst genocide, than to have an opportunity to vote in a referendum. Riots in Gujrat exposes the treatment of Indian majority to its minority where thousands were burnt alive. Above all, latest October 2008 episode in Hyderabad where Hindu rioters killed six members of a Muslim family by setting fire to their home in the village Vatoli, amongst was a 2-year-old child. Muslim leaders called for better protection for minorities, and Asaduddin Owaisi, who sits in the lower house of the Parliament said that “Despite our repeated pleas and appeals, the government has failed to provide protection to the Muslims who live in remote areas and who have a very small population in those places.” This small episode exposes the state of those unprivileged in India and depicts the mind set of Hindu majority and answers all the critics of two nation theory as to why Pakistan came into being. I confess that it was as a result of a failure of Mr. Jinnah to secure equality & respect for the Muslims of India from congress.

Mr Verma further wrote in his thesis that, “many conveniently propose the myth that a stable Pakistan is in India’s favour. This is a false proposition. The truth is that Pakistan is a bad news for the Indian union since 1947-stable or otherwise. ” I agree with Mr. Verma that stable Pakistan may not suit India but stress that it is conducive to the region and the world in general which takes precedence. Nuclear armed & secure Pakistan is a guarantee of stability and a bridge between right thinking powers and ancient civilizations. When President of Pakistan in his interview with Wall Street Journal says That, “ India has never been a threat to Pakistan,” or that “I, for one, and our democratic government is not scared of Indian influence abroad,” it transpires an individual thinking, but may not b a majority view. This view is quite identical to that of new US policy which is being imported into Pakistani mind set. In my 8 October meeting with US diplomats at London, I heard the same voices that USA insists that Al- Qaeda, Taliban and rising insurgents are a real danger to Pakistan’s internal stability and the World, and Pakistan should perceive that threat as real other than that of India. USA is hopeful that unlike Pakistan army, civilian leadership will cooperate and will share US sponsored view. In response to unilateral Presidential desire of peace, India has answered by blocking ten thousands cusecs water at Chenab river in violation of Indus Water treaty which may act as a set back for an agricultural country and will affect its crops production capacity. India is also heavily interested to play dirty at the rear border of Pakistan, and it is sending thousands of troops in Afghan Pak border and already has a settled presence, interfering capacity and intention which has a potential of escalation to a small skirmishes in near future. In any event India has responded its lovers in a befitting manner.

Pakistan rightly quests for peace and stability in the region. It has played twice a major role in the region once to stop Russian invasion against Afghanisatn which resulted in Russian disintegration and secondly, as a non NATO ally against Al-Qaeda, an unfaced menace to the world. Its liberal & conservative mixture is its beauty which has a capacity to house many languages and cultures within an interesting heritage. Disintegration of one state, will be followed by others as it will set a principle that no components can survive in a Federation in the region, in return in the world. The world saw Russian disintegration as a result of an unlawful invasion, which is a lesson for all. Economic stability is not the only key to survive in a statehood, as trust, treatment and neighbors guarantee the future sovereignty of any state. Both India and Pakistan are at a crossroad, they must learn to live with each other, if not friends, as past enemies. They should live fairly keeping their own strategic positions intact on ‘live and let live principle’ as a little shift in equilibrium, will guarantee the disintegration of both. Sometimes, warming one’s hands in enemy’s fire can cost a lot and India is just doing that by meddling in Pakistani areas in difficult times and by sending its troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan is there to survive and is ready for its enemies at their waterloo.

Amjad Malik is a Solicitor-Advocate of the Supreme Court of England & Wales

15 October 2008

- Posted by amjad malik

Its really funny, how most bloggers / commentators from Pakistan, only have rhetoric and little or no fact, forget about intellect to compare the situation. I guess, its the sheer burden of shame, that after having made a strong case of an Islamic country, they have produced a country that’s worldwide known for producing terrorists. Its a shame, that is displayed, all over the world, any airport, any immigration desk, Pakistani’s get treated like criminals, and Indians in comparison, get awe and admiration from the western world. They FEAR India’s competitive spirit, and its growing clout. Current US debate for the election is, who helped conclude the Indo-US deal. And accross the whole democratic world, Pakistan is treated as a problem, an ill concieved idea, that it truely is. Well wake up , Pakistan has sold itself, its image, its stolen technology, its present and its future to US and the western institutions like World Bank and IMF. Wake up, and realise , your country is in DEBT, your institutions don’t function, your reputation is tarnished, your country has already been through a partition, home of alquida, best known for export of terrorism…. and you still want to compare favourably to India? Shocking

- Posted by SK

@Vikram Singh
Video watching by Faithfuls is haaraam. Please do not post
guidance to haaraam happenstance.
Salam.

- Posted by Abdul Salim Gadhan Khan

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