There is a strange dichotomy in Delhi at the moment. If you read the headlines or watch the news on television, India and Pakistan appear headed for confrontation - what form, what shape is obviously hard to tell but the rhetoric is getting more and more menacing each day.
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani promised a matching response ‘within minutes” were the Indians to carry out precision strikes against camps of militants inside Pakistan, whom it blames for the Mumbai attacks.
And as if they were doing a dress rehearsal, Pakistan Air Force jets have been flying over Islamabad and Lahore for the past two days, prompting one blogger to report that some people had called up media outlets asking if the Indian Air Force was on its way.
Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor meanwhile went up to the freezing heights of Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield, to test operational preparedness.
And yet off the front pages, and on the street and in living rooms, it doesn’t seem like a nation preparing for war. Instead Delhi is in the full swing of the marriage season when the astrological stars are right and thousands upon thousands of young couples trailed by a veritable army of friends, families and neighbours get betrothed.
There are also the Christmas/New Year festivities where the conversation is not about the possibility of war but the economic meltdown that has spoiled everyone’s party, including India’s. To be sure, there is rage each time Mumbai is mentioned, and there are many who say “they will have to pay for this”. But war? No, that isn’t at the top of people’s minds yet.
So what’s really going on? Is the threat of a fourth India-Pakistan war real, not counting 1999 when India and Pakistan fought over the heights above Kargil on the Line of Control? Are the two countries inexorably moving toward conflict without their people realising it?
Or is this the Cold Start doctrine that strategists speak of, in which you don’t really mobilise troops and armour for weeks on a vast scale and then go to war like in ancient times, but instead go quickly into action from forward bases both in the air and on the ground for a short and sharp thrust ?
Your guess is as good as mine, but in another two days it will be a month since the Mumbai attackers struck. As far as India is concerned, that is time enough for Pakistan to have acted against the men and groups that it says are involved in attacks on India. Is there a clock ticking somewhere?
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Lot are being said here about Kashmir, India and Pakistan, many commentators have tried to highlight the fact that since Pakistan is also victim of terrorism , but the points to ponder that if your house is burning , shall you put your neighbours house on fire, since Pakistan is victim of terrorism, will that mean Pakistan will export terrorism to India, if Pakistan is victim of terrorism , for this situation Pakistan and its people are responsible , they were fighting proxy wars by creating various terror outfits on behalf of their clients in US, Saudi Arabia etc ,for this present mess in Pakistan, the sole responsibility lies with the people and govt of Pakistan . How Pakistan can justify the terror attacks in India by terror outfits based in Pakistan.
- Posted by Manishi really appreciate the comments by saif.i think ,amjad is still taking mumbai strikes as a india - pakistan issue. i agree there are extremists are present in india but they are present in any other country too.
- Posted by swarajwe indians would like to have a stable neighbour and not a neighbour under military control. for this we need to have friends like saif. pakistan should realise that they have turned to a “terrorist state” with larger areas not under government control. pakistan is now too a victim of terror and india and world have a right to defend themselves.
moreover a country which has the blessing of ram ,allah ,jesus ,gurunanak ,buddha has no fears. may good sense prevail in both country
Dear Sreehari So close to the point. Just few question away from the whole truth. Who will benefit from this war or current situation? Why when india and pakistan are getting closer something happens? Who was the real power behind gandhi family assassinations and why? Mark Twain said and i quot him”If you don,t follow media,you are uninformed and if you follow media you are misinformed.Banking system controls the world and media is their covert hit man. Check jfk,mlk,rfk and a lot of other assassinations in the world, and why they were killed?Go find the truth behind viet nam war,american mexican war, american spanish war and so on. There is no substitute for peace and love, if any one found it, let me know too. GOD BLESS YOU ALL…
- Posted by abdaliAmjad , which Kashmir are you talking about ? Under what authority are you talking about Kashmir? While talking about Kashmir, dear friend Amjad, we must not forget that Kashmir has so many divisions , whether you are talking about Kashmir under occupation of Pakistan or the part which has been gifted to China ? The recent elections have shown that all those people talking about plebscite in Kashmir should mind their own business. People of Kashmir are capable of solving their own problems. Whether plebiscite or no it will be decided by the people of Kashmir ,they have also shown to the world that they have not given any right to advocate or champion their causes .
- Posted by ManishDear Amjad,
- Posted by PrithvirajI am sorry to say but you live in a make believe world which is also called “fool’s Paradise” ..so get educated. I have simply stated facts which are very much verifiable.
Dear Pirthivi,
I am glad to see different stories everyday from your side and your work hard to prove your points but my friend your points about Kashmir for UN resolution are totally wrong, UN resolution asked Indian to remove their forces from Kashmir and so on…..
I know you peoples are good trained for negative propagandas and this is a habit of every Indian to prove his points if its against Pakistan.
I have found one thing from our whole conversation that you guys are impossible, because your dramatic theories never ends and you always try to change the truth and hijack the situation like you are doing now with Mumbai attacks.
- Posted by AmjadAmjad
U tried to build a case against pakistant but my friend its a weak case for following reasons
1) U say since pakistan is fighting Taliban, therefore world is a safer place !!! Would u mind answering me who gave birth to Taliban?? I will tell you it was pakistan!! and let me tell you that even today your agencies dont want taliban to lose, because an unstable afganistan is in their strategic interest.
2) Read my post properly i had said ‘your’ media is speaking the language of your agencies and not Indian media. Media in India is free and they take on the Indian establishment also when its needed.
3) Last and most important point ,referundum on Kashmir in UN has certain clauses which are
Plebicite will take place when :-
a) Pakistan withdraws its forces to where they were before 1947
b) Indian troops will remain only to the extent of maintaining law.
and for your information UN sec general himself said that UN referendum on Kashmir is dead for all pratical purposes why, I will tell you
1) Pakistan never withdrew its forces
2) Pakistan supported terror outfits in kashmir
3)China occupied a part of kashmir
4) Pakistan illegally gifted a part of PoK (pakistan occupied Kashmir) to China
5) Due mass murder of Hindus and kashmiri pandits which was done on purpose to change the demographics of the region so that the vote doesnt swing in india’s favour .
6) and most Important, who is Pakistan to promote Kashmir’s independence ?? If u say Pakistan has no interest in kashmir then why at all you are bothered whether they are free or not ?? are you UN??
If you are so supportive of freedom struggles then why doesnt Pakistan support the freedom struggle of Tibet,??? where tibetians are fighting against chienese domination!!no you wont do that …
You are happy if US and UK want to mediate in kashmir issue but you object if they give you proofs of your involvement in mumbai terror attack, dont you think thats double standards ??
Amjad, Pak had a history of unstable govt, political assasinations and military unsurping the power. You should realize that its in your army’s interest to fuel hostility with india, because that way they can ensure and justify there being in power.
I will tell you why was mumbai attacked and all the war hysteria build by your army so that part of the forces from the afgan border can be moved to indian border and therefore USA’s war against Taliban suffers there and Taliban gets a chance to strengthen itself.
Today if you are suffering from terror then am sorry but you are suffering becasue of your own wrong doings and because of the terror outfits that Pak has created. Those outfits are now beyond your control. Its like a cancer which is engulfing your society because you were irresponsible and you created an infection for others, which is now turning against you as well. Because terrorist my friend have no religion, no value for human life, and the whole world is also suffering because of that.
and like I said dont depend on your news channels or our news channels do some independent research.Blaming Indians wont help you, recognizing and correcting your mistake certainly would.
- Posted by PrithvirajDear Pirthivi,
You said maybe some Indian channels dramatize the situation and right after you said our channels are speaking the language of our agencies. This is the reason what I am fighting for that by words you realize your mistake but again finding a point to blame on the Pakistani Agencies.
My friend you said you can’t believe our arguments and proofs from US and UK govt are supplied to Pakistan, but my friend do you feel that anyone can believe on proofs from these countries in Pakistan.
The recent example is IRAQ where they have proofs but after doing all the things they accepted that they were wrong, you said you invited some ex-army chiefs from Pakistan in channels and they were not able to answer your questions but my friend they answered as per there view and if you feels right answer is to support whatever you say then you are wrong, and by the way what is the definition of right Answer?
I watched so many Indian channels and I know what they ask to all Pakistanis either its politician, army man or anyone, one Indian anchor asked one politician from Pakistan that we have evidence but Pakistani govt is not doing things the way Indian want, then he replied that here we are talking about cooperation between both countries and we already offered joint investigation where no one can blame anyone and they will have full right to act as independent investigation. The Indian anchor said but we have the proofs and need that Pakistan should act as per the evidence provide, the Pakistani politician said but we need to know and need to check the source of evidence and the authentication and she replied but we need Pakistan should hand over the list of the peoples provided by India. Now my point is if this is the way to find the cooperation then I am not sure anyone will be happy to cooperate.
The second interview was on last Tuesday on NDTV one lady anchor asked one Pakistani politician that we have evidence but your govt is not acting responsibly and while he was replying the answer she argued with him 7 to 8 time and asking continuously different answer and then politician replied I feel that I am the anchor and you are talking more than me, let me to have my point of view and then she said thanks for your talking. If this is the way to get answers then I don’t think it’s a right way.
There are many interviews I have seen and never found any single interview without this behavior, when your member of parliament said we have some doubts on the Himanat Karkary murder(the ATS chief killed on attack) and he said that we should investigate, everyone in India said he is with Pakistan and he is talking the language of Pakistan, why you have problems with investigations, why your agencies are fearing from his murder investigation, he is the one who captured one serving Indian military officer found guilty in killing more than 50 Pakistanis on Samjhoota express and they burned the entire train because there were Pakistanis.
His killing proves that there are some elements behind his murder and maybe behind the whole attack on Mumbai.
Now coming back that US asked Pakistan to handover LeT chief to India, first of all that the govt has no idea where he is, he is banned in Pakistan from 2001 and they are also looking for him.
Secondly, suppose if we found him there is no agreement between Indian and Pakistan to handover prisoners and it needs to be trail in Pakistan with your provided evidence.
Coming back to the coverage you have seen training camps in Pakistan are in TV videos only and our agencies are not allowing any training camps.
Talking about Dawood Ibrahim in Karachi and our govt is denying, my friend if u know where he is please tell us the full address not just he is in Karachi and capture him. Your govt always come up with clues without proof , give us details other than using these names to blackmail us internationally. If Russian intelligence knows ask them where he is and give us full details not by media.
You said that Pakistan is becoming a ground of terror activities but my friend you know how we are suffering from the terror activities and our army more than 150k is fighting with Taliban’s and extremists. Everyone is safe in the world because of us and specially your country because if we not fight against them the first country to enter for them is India. We are fighting bigger operation then 1971 war between India and Pakistan but at return we have attacks from US, blackmailing from your govt and so many problems but we are not giving up and are fighting for everyone, we have lost more soldiers then any country in the world against this fight.
My friend, if anyone from NWFP asks for independents from Pakistan I swear to God that Pakistan will not keep them and the truth is we will not be able to keep them with us without their will and I am sure you have no idea about the peoples from that area. For your information most of the peoples in our military are from NWFP and now decide how they feel about their own country.
On Kashmir issue your point is irrelevant, because there is UN resolution passed by UN to have referendum in Kashmir to allow them what they want. We don’t want Kashmir but we need you to have free and fair referendum in Kashmir under UN to see what they want, let kashmiris to decide what they want.
For your information your Prime Minister Mr.Nehro went to the UN on Kashmir Issue and UN passed the resolution against India. You should remember how you cheated on Kashmir on 1947 and take over the area so you have no right to say that it’s a part of India.
At the end you said the entire terror source in India is from Pakistan and we have the same feeling and some examples are SARABJIT SINGH who found guilty and said he is from RAW doing bomb attacks on early 80’s, we have proofs about RAW interference in Balochistan and many more.
This is what I want to say, you peoples are only watching Indian media to believe on, I am not arguing with you but I am here to clarify about your wrong propaganda against my country.
- Posted by AmjadPrithviraj,
your latest post is a good initiative. The link below gives a good idea of the media hysteria.
http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn %20Content%20Library/dawn/news/pakistan/ the+medias+role+in+war+and+peace–il
- Posted by saf