IT is surprising that our media has not taken notice of a very strange and ominous phenomenon following the Mumbai blast. This phenomenon is the ‘swift’ convergence of intelligence services, all of them are surprisingly from those countries which are directly involved in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These are from the US, the UK, Australia and Israel. None has come from any Asian or African countries, notably, from Russia or China who have incidentally refrained from any doomsday comments.
Disregarding for a moment any hand of the countries just mentioned behind the blast one may safely assume from their alacrity that there is something more in their presence than meets the eye. Perhaps this is regarded as a golden opportunity to bamboozle India into quick commitment to aims and plans of Israel and the US for the Middle East, in particular, and for this part of our region, in general.
None of these countries showed any willingness to come to Pakistan to help investigate the blast at Marriott Islamabad. The damage and loss of life at Marriott were no loss than that of the Taj.
India is already very anxious to take on some kind of role in Afghanistan, in particular, and in the Gulf area, in general. India has already obtained facilities for docking and repair of its naval vessels on the Oman coast. The Indian navy very recently ‘arrested’ a ship on suspicion of its connection with the pirates which turned out to be utterly ridiculous!
There are other two sectors, among several others, which may benefit from the Mumbai blast. The Indian army is not very happy with the arrest of some of its personnel for involvement in terrorist acts. They would like to see the Indian government allow the army more say in defence matters, especially with regard to Kashmir and Pakistan.
The overreaction of the Indian government against Pakistan has only made it more dependent upon the army which may have come under increasing influence of the US following the ‘strategic consensus’.
In addition, the main opposition party, the BJP, has attracted a large number of retired army officers who are now very active on its behalf. The hue and cry by the Indian government will only strengthen the communal mindset of this section of the Indians.
The other sector which may not be unsympathetic towards the Mumbai blast are the Tamils. The Tamils are faring very badly in Sri Lanka; they may direct their fury and frustration towards someone which happens to be the Indian government which soon after partition held the dream of lording it over Sri Lanka, Nepal and other neighbours. The Tamil anger not very long ago took the shape of the murderous attack on Rajiv Gandhi.
The sanest policy is for India to line up with Pakistan against the spreading terrorism in this area instead of trying to be clever. It already has considerable problems in Bihar and northeast India which would be compounded by any internal strife as a result of coercion of untouchables and Muslim and Christian minorities. To this may be added the resistance by the leftist elements in India who will not easily agree to India becoming a western surrogate in this area.
The moral of Mumbai episode and similar others in the past is that regional instability if not corrected can engulf all and sundry. If India had cooperated instead of playing games with Pakistan, the metastasis of terror cancer starting in Afghanistan might not engulf India also. Conflagration in the neighbouring house affects without fail all the neighbours.
F. HASAN
Karachi
DAWN - Letters; December 08, 2008
India should be very careful if it (by any chance) cares for its ppl...
influlence of hindu extremists of indian army is increasing in india... india, actually, has always played in the hands of these elements...
These are from the US, the UK, Australia and Israel. None has come from any Asian or African countries, notably, from Russia or China who have incidentally refrained from any doomsday comments.
Disregarding for a moment any hand of the countries just mentioned behind the blast one may safely assume from their alacrity that there is something more in their presence than meets the eye. Perhaps this is regarded as a golden opportunity to bamboozle India into quick commitment to aims and plans of Israel and the US for the Middle East, in particular, and for this part of our region, in general.
None of these countries showed any willingness to come to Pakistan to help investigate the blast at Marriott Islamabad. The damage and loss of life at Marriott were no loss than that of the Taj.
India is already very anxious to take on some kind of role in Afghanistan, in particular, and in the Gulf area, in general. India has already obtained facilities for docking and repair of its naval vessels on the Oman coast. The Indian navy very recently ‘arrested’ a ship on suspicion of its connection with the pirates which turned out to be utterly ridiculous!
There are other two sectors, among several others, which may benefit from the Mumbai blast. The Indian army is not very happy with the arrest of some of its personnel for involvement in terrorist acts. They would like to see the Indian government allow the army more say in defence matters, especially with regard to Kashmir and Pakistan.
The overreaction of the Indian government against Pakistan has only made it more dependent upon the army which may have come under increasing influence of the US following the ‘strategic consensus’.
In addition, the main opposition party, the BJP, has attracted a large number of retired army officers who are now very active on its behalf. The hue and cry by the Indian government will only strengthen the communal mindset of this section of the Indians.
The other sector which may not be unsympathetic towards the Mumbai blast are the Tamils. The Tamils are faring very badly in Sri Lanka; they may direct their fury and frustration towards someone which happens to be the Indian government which soon after partition held the dream of lording it over Sri Lanka, Nepal and other neighbours. The Tamil anger not very long ago took the shape of the murderous attack on Rajiv Gandhi.
The sanest policy is for India to line up with Pakistan against the spreading terrorism in this area instead of trying to be clever. It already has considerable problems in Bihar and northeast India which would be compounded by any internal strife as a result of coercion of untouchables and Muslim and Christian minorities. To this may be added the resistance by the leftist elements in India who will not easily agree to India becoming a western surrogate in this area.
The moral of Mumbai episode and similar others in the past is that regional instability if not corrected can engulf all and sundry. If India had cooperated instead of playing games with Pakistan, the metastasis of terror cancer starting in Afghanistan might not engulf India also. Conflagration in the neighbouring house affects without fail all the neighbours.
F. HASAN
Karachi
DAWN - Letters; December 08, 2008
India should be very careful if it (by any chance) cares for its ppl...
influlence of hindu extremists of indian army is increasing in india... india, actually, has always played in the hands of these elements...
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3 comments:
I wonder and doubt seriously the Pro-Pakistani Moderator wont ever allow this message to publish , yet am writing with the last hope that some goodwill of Journalism still isn’t extinct in Pakistani media.
I read several times the comments and what came up again and again are Pure allegations that are totally fanatic, baseless and worst, dangerous for any nation to pursue further. Mr Hasan though helplessly tried to put all the blames on India itself post Mumbai 21/11, though he himself knows pretty well who behind the whole episode, I won’t elaborate to prove that(the whole world know with minute details from the verdict of the lone survivor terrorist and the following Pakistani army effort to curb the gang following US pressure). What’s more serious is the issue of an ongoing hatred for India and Indians and his agenda for Hindu terror attacks. Well Mr Hasan knows very well that India houses 14 millions Muslims! And we co-exist together. Does he know what’s the Hindu population in Pakistan?? It’s completely wiped off ! and no one makes any comment of that, we in India has thousand of roads still named on Muslims , how many Hindu names are there in Pakistani towns? Muslims celebrate Haz, Id ,Ramzan with full glory in India and as a Hindu we go and share their delicious sweets , Mr Hasan wont even name any Hindu festival celebrated on Pakistani soil, leave aside the government even granting a national holiday. Mr Hasan knowledge on Hindu Majority dominating India is absolutely old rusty and wrong. India in a pure sense not a Hindu Majority country, it’s a land of MINORIY, we all Hindus are all separate religion in a way, there is hardly any similarity between a Tamil and Bengalee or a Bihari and Maharasthrian, we worship different gods, follow different doctrines and speak different language ! in a way I should say that the 15% (14 million ) Muslims are majority as they has all in common . So India is a land of Minority and please remove from your ill-informed knowledge bank that Hindus dominates Muslims there. There are definitely incidents of extremist groups (Hindu) , but think from a socio-politoco-historical viewpoint , Hindus were ruled for past 1000 yrs by Muslims invaders , looters who terrorized and robbed all the Hindu temples, destroyed the Hindu deity and still there had been no Hindu protest again all those barbaric acts. Today if certain groups act indifferently (not to forget that Muslim extremist were also 100% involved), it’s certainly a right to defend the self. The same done by Muslims gets a Jihadi acclaim and applause , and for a Hindu its extremist and bad? Isn’t that sheer third class hypocrisy. If Kashmiri movement is a right for freedom, why isn’t the Balochistan liberation and establishment of a sovereign Baloch government good? Why Mr Hasan plays a double game ? Well problem lies in these way amongst the elite and educated peoples like you who cant look beyond a limit and play the narrow game plan. So stop accusing India(India may not be ideal place in the earth) but it still the home to a 14 million Muslims who would never share your un - realistic and obsolete views about India.
Subhra we are open to such comments... only those comments are rejected which contain inappropriate words... ur doubt was wrong :)... cheers!
Subhra, you seem very upset coz in ur opinion Hasan has 'accused' india and u criticized him for this reason. But unfortunately u urself ended up in accusing pakistan and thts it. I m not sure how will u differentiate Hasan's 'un - realistic and obsolete views about India' from ur similar views about Pakistan.
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