Shame at Sharm Al Sheikh : How Manmohan succumbed to US & Pak blackmail?
What was India doing at Sharm-al-Shyakh? Attending the Non- Aligned Nations Meet (NAM). What was Pakistan doing there? Also attending the NAM. The basic questions are: 1. How can an American Client State be non-aligned? 2. How can a Chinese client State be a member of the NAM? Some wise cracks say that both the Giant Panda (Chinese national animal) and the Markham (hill goat-Pakistani national animal) can piss at the feet of a giant elephant-that is India. They not only can, they really piss every now and then and the thick-derma Pachyderm keeps on lurching helplessly in spite of being pissed at day in and day out. The USA also pisses, but its piss gives Skunky odour, very foul and soul sickening. And many Indians worship that white man’s Skunky piss, as the holy reservoir of World Bank, IMF etc Nirvana.
The Urdu meaning of Sharm is “shame>haya” etc. In Arabic the word Sharm al Shyakh denote a place name, probably after a notable person. The place is otherwise also known as City of Peace, as many peace talks had taken place in the past in the former fishing village at the tip of the Sinai desert. However, 2009 July NAM meet was marked not by peace talks but by a shameful, unwarranted, untimely and untidy Joint Statement by the Indian and Pakistani sides. What was the provocation for Manmohan (one who mesmerizes the minds), his External Affairs Minister Krishna, the Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Keralite compatriot, the NSA, M. K. Narayanan to be trapped by Pakistan and the USA into a dubious dialogue and a joint declaration?
The issue that the India PM wanted to sing chorus with Pak PM Gilani at shameful Sharm al Shaykh was never discussed in the MEA, MOD, MHA and inside the intelligence agencies. The PM had not felt it necessary to discuss the most important national policy issue with chosen leaders of the political opposition and some selected Pakistan watching intellectuals. How is it that at the NAM conference, where the Indo-Pak bilateral issues were not on the menu was cooked and served as poisonous cobra dish to the people of the country?
Who was the cook? The PM? The FM? The NSA and the FS? The country would like to know as dubious victory in one election has not entitled the ruling party and its doormats the entire fiefdom of the Nation. Why did it happen and what were the provocations? In fact, there were none, as far as national priorities are concerned. But the unseen presence of the USA and the spritely pressure exerted by its pretty Secretary of State was palpably felt by the Indian side despite the Skunky strings. This was more absurd for the Indian PM to bail out the Pakistani PM when he was straggling in a power-tussle with President Zardari. Gilani’s victory is also a victory for Gen. Kiyani, the US approved Army chief of Pakistan.
Those of you have not had the opportunity to read word by word the priceless Joint Statement may read it here. For tickling your senses key operative words are marked bold by the author.
“The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, met in Sharm-el-Sheikh on July 16, 2009.
The two prime ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting the way forward in India-Pakistan relations. Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard. He said that Pakistan had provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks and had sought additional information/evidence. Prime Minister Singh said that the dossier is being reviewed.
Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.
Pak PM Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Baluchistan and other areas.
Both prime ministers recognized that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated India’s interest in a stable, democratic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the elimination of poverty.
Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those factors which prevent our countries from realizing their full potential. Both agreed to work to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.
Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation.
Both foreign secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report to the two foreign ministers who will be meeting on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly.” Source Hindustan Times.
The main issue that arises from the JS is that the Indian and the Pakistani PMs had met on July 16, on the sides of the NAM. Was it a planned meeting for which the external affairs, home affairs, defence ministry and the intelligence agencies were consulted? Nothing sort of this. The JS was taken out of the hats of officials accompanying the PM and the EAM. Therefore, the initial sentence is misleading. The two PMs met was the correct formulation; as such on the side meetings are parts of diplomatic finger-nail stretching, if not a limp or a firm hand shaking.
The next formulations: “They considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting the way forward in India-Pakistan relations. Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries, are misleading and boringly repetitive. The same formulation was adopted in the NAM conference at Havana and was reiterated in speeches of both the PMs. Such noisy utterances are diplomatic and Statesmanlike requirements. These mean nothing when stated verbally; but carry all the weights and supports of the Nation and its comprehensive will, when put in black and white. Who had authorized the PM to put India in a meaningless bind by agreeing to sign this trash of agreement? By Entire Gamut what did the Indian side mean? Did it mean Pakistan’s proxy war against India since 1948 in different theaters?
How could Shivshamnkar Menon and M K Narayanan agree to the formulation “Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries?” In case of Menon the case is clear. At Havana NAM congregation the Indian PM had taken with him the Foreign Secretary designate Shivshankar Menon and not the serving FS. Diplomatic circles are aware that the Indian PM was persuaded by the USA to tag along their protégé. At Havana also Menon drafted the same formulation. Leave aside US-tainted Menon and US hued Manmohan and the understudy EAM S. M. Krishna. M. K. Narayanan, twice Director IB, an accomplished intellectual intelligence analyst should have not been trapped by the US lobby. As IB chief he handled US counterespionage on Indian soil and he does not require sermons on US’s geostrategic policies in South Asia; particularly Indo-Pak relations and dubious US roles in supporting its surrogate-PAKISTAN. One expected Narayanan to take a firm stand on the folly of putting India and Pakistan on the same pedestal as being equal victims of terrorism. Why did his spine melt?
Menon, Krishna, Manmohan & Narayanan & co are not required to be told that Pakistan engineered terrorism, ISI created jihadi tanzeems and the ISI-Army-Politician backed jihadi groups were created under US dictate to fight its Cold War in Afghanistan. US is aware that Pakistan had backed the Sikh terrorists in all possible manner and since 1990 Pakistan declared proxy war in continuum of its “grab Kashmir by open and secret war policy.” Yet, India took exactly 11 years, after 9/11, to convince Washington that Pakistan was involved in the dastardly attack and out of 10 Islamist jihadists 7 are from Pakistan or have Pakistan links.
Only recently, during her India visit Hillary Clinton said that Pakistan was the hub of terrorism. Events between 1980 and 2001 prove beyond doubt that Pakistan had turned itself as the main factory of manufacturing bacterial colonies of jihadists. Markaz ud Dawa, Harkat ul Jihad al Islami, Harkat ul Ansar, Harkat ul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, al Badr, Zandullah and Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi etc tanzeems were created by the ISI in collaboration with fanatist madrasas and secret niches of Deoband, Ahl-e-Hadith Pakistan and Jamait e Islami and Jamait ul Ulema of Pakistan etc bacteria culture breeders. All these tanzeems were financed by the State, private persons, Arab charities and liberal donation by the anti-Hindu public in the name of fluttering the parcham of Islam on the Red Fort of Delhi and creation of more Muslim homelands out of “Hindu India.” Pakistan, especially the ISI was tasked to recreate another “Hindu Kush” (massacre of Hindus) in Kashmir and in the heartland areas of India.
The Indian IB and RAW are fully aware of these facts; so also are the Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs. These nodal ministries and agencies are also aware that the ISI jointly operated with the DGFI of Bangladesh in fomenting ethnic insurgency in the Northeast and LeT, HuJI, JMB etc acted under joint operations directives of the ISI and the DGFI. Only recently Mufti Obaidullah an Indian jihadist of LeT, cohort of Dawood Ibrahim, ISI operator in J&K and a collaborator of HuJI and LeT confessed to Bangladesh police that he worked under the guidance of LeT leaders in Pakistan and ISI operatives in Bangladesh. It is hoped that Sardar Manmohan Singh has access to these reports supplied to him by the MEA and the RAW. How is it possible that a person of intellectual integrity like Manmohan was led the garden path by his retiring Foreign Secretary (a hereditary diplomat) and Gandhi family confidant M. K. Narayanan? At least he should have opposed this cynic formulation that India and Pakistan are equally affected by acts of terrorism.
If Pakistan is now plagued by terrorism only the State of Pakistan and its agencies are to be blamed. Pakistan, as the Cold War partner of the USA, especially Gen Zia ul Haq contrived the creation of several jihadi outfits to fight America’s was in Afghanistan. The FrankenSheikh-Osama bin Laden is also a creation of the USA, Royal Saudi Intelligence and the ISI. Later Pakistani madrasas and mosques churned out Talibs to join the ranks with Mullah Omar, who was invented by Pakistan as the Taliban leader for securing trade route to Turkmenistan etc countries and to remove the ragtag Rabbani government in Kabul (pro-Indian) and to install a Taliban headed government, thus allowing Pakistan to expand its unofficial borders beyond the Durand Line. That the Talibanis went sour and teamed up with al Qaeda is a different story that had forced Pakistan’s guardian father the USA to declare war on the Taliban regime and President Musharraf was rather blackmailed to support US invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11.
The US war in Afghanistan had forced several Taliban groups to shift their operations in Pakistan and the al Qaeda also shifted in the inaccessible areas of Pakistan-Afghanistan borders. Several Pakistani tribal leaders and their jirgas joined the Afghan Talibanis and al Qaeda to protest against US presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Virtually converted to a vassal country of the USA, Pakistan was again forced to declare war on the Talibanis. That was a phony war. After tall claims of clearing of Swat, Buner and Waziristan the Tabanis are back with vengeance and Pakistan is now faced with jihdists in every nook and corner of the country. The jihadist breeding country Pakistan has now fallen victim to that very bacterium. How can Pakistan and India be put on the same pedestal by the Indian Foreign Secretary and the much hyped NSA? At least the NSA should have had the spine to stand up and protest. Did he do so? It is rather reported that on the VVIP flight itself the NSA had thrown a gala party to bid farewell to his Kerala compatriot, Menon. A real celebration time it was! Poor India, it has to suffer such experts and pundits!
The next sharmnak formulation at Sharm al Shaykh was “Pak PM Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Baluchistan and other areas.” According to Dawn newspaper Pakistan did not waste time to hand over a dossier to India “substantiating” RAW involvement in Lahore attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, in Balochistan and other tribal areas in Pakistan.
Let me better quote from the devastating news item, “Quoting sources, Dawn said on Wednesday a dossier containing proof of India’s involvement in “subversive activities” in Pakistan was handed over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during their meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh last week…
The evidence has also been shared with the US and Afghanistan, with Kabul being asked to prevent the use of its territory for disruptive activities against Pakistan.
“Although the information given to India is being kept highly secret, broad outlines of the dossier available with Dawn reveal details of Indian contacts with those involved in attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Manawan police station,” the newspaper said.
“Operatives of RAW who remained in touch with the perpetrators of the attacks have been identified and proof of their interaction has been attached,” it added.
A description of Indian arms and explosives used in the attack on the Sri Lankan team has been made part of the dossier, besides which the names and particulars of the perpetrators, who illegally entered Pakistan from India and joined their accomplices who had reached Lahore from Waziristan, have been mentioned, the report said.
The dossier is also said to list the safe houses being run by RAW in Afghanistan where terrorists are trained and launched for missions in Pakistan. “The dossier also broadly covers the Indian connection in terror financing in Pakistan. A substantial part of the shared material deals with the Balochistan insurgency and Indian linkages with the insurgents, particularly Bramdagh Bugti, Burhan and Sher Khan,” Dawn said.
Photographs of their meetings with Indian operatives are part of the evidence, which also describes Bugti’s visit to India and the meetings he had with Indian secret service personnel, it added. The dossier also mentions an India-funded training camp in Kandahar where Baloch insurgents, particularly those from Bugti clan, were being trained and provided arms and ammunition for sabotage activities in the Pakistani province.” Courtesy, IANS. July 22, datelined Islamabad.
If the report is correct (India has denied receiving any such dossier) it is really horrifying to note that the Indian drafters of the Joint Statement had allowed Pakistan to force inclusion of the reference of Balochistan and Lahore incidents. It is shameful, if the IANS report is correct that the India PM had bowed down to the wishes of Gilani and Obama. What were his compulsions to allow this particular formulation to be included in the JS? The country deserves affirmative replies on the floor of the Parliament from the PM and Foreign Minister. Especially the NSA should explain to the country as to why he lost his spine and allowed such a formulation to be included in the JS.
Another sharmnak formulation to which India agreed is, “Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.”
Manmohan Singh had all along been saying that “composite dialogue” could not be taken up till Pakistan dismantled all terrorist outfits in Pakistan, which operated under State and ISI patronage against India. By merely taking up the investigation and preliminary trial proceedings in the 26/11 attack on Mumbai Pakistan has not done any great favour to India. It has been acknowledged by the world that Markaz ud Dawa’s Hafiz Ibrahim and his LeT suborns were responsible for recruiting, training and arming the LeT operatives to mount seaborne attack. Similarly ISI/DGFI operatives facilitated HuJI, JMB, LeT and JeM operations against India that resulted in at least 80 fatal explosions killing nearly 800 Indians.
In addition the Pakistani tanzeems and State apparatuses systematically subverted Indian Muslim youths trained the SIMI cadres and spawned the Indian Mujahideen and 12 other jihadists tanzeems all over the country. These ate Pakistani and Bangladeshi and Ummah Fifth Columns who are already in collaboration with foreign forces that aspire to vivisect India again.
Under these known circumstances and having in its bag much more live evidence of daily sabotage-subversion and terrorist actions of Pakistan in J&K how could the Indian PM agree to these formulations? Manmohan is a known US sympathizer. Shivshankar Menon is the other confidants of the White House, as far as media speculations go. These assumed facts of their US connectivity do not give them leverage to bargain India’s sovereignty and integrity at the international market. If this was done to facilitate defence equipment purchase with “inspection right” and “end user” strings and supply of nuclear materials with “as and when wanted by the US” right to inspect India’s nuclear facilities than all Indians irrespective of political colours and all conscious Indians must condemn the Congress and its government. Never was such big sell-out of the country even during Indira-Rajiv regimes.
Manmohan’s readiness to discuss all “outstanding issues” with Pakistan is an undefined contour- less matrix that is too vague. This phrasing has encouraged the Pakistani PM to announce that composite talks would also include the Kashmir issue. This clever intrusion was facilitated by Menon-Narayanan clique’s worse drafting of an international protocol. A better draft would have been made by any Under Secretary to the GOI; it did not require senile decaying grey-materials of bureaucrats. Fortunately Menon has admitted as after-thought that “One can argue how good or bad the drafting was…you can say it is bad drafting, but the meaning is clear,” he said responding to criticism of the joint statement issued from Egypt after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani. Such admission before some Indian parliamentarians may assure Menon a plum post-retirement posting. But, why should the country suffer an incompetent FS and NSA? If they are not good at drafting they should have borrowed the services of an Under Secretary or a Deputy Central Intelligence Officer to draft the JS. We only pray that the NSA would not come out any other interpretation.
Did Menon-Manmohan-Narayanan point out to Gilani that as far as Kashmir was concerned India would not settle for anything till Pakistan vacates illegal occupation of so called Azad Kashmir, the Gilgit-Skardu-Balti areas and the areas conceded to China in flagrant violation of UN Mandate. Readers may like to have a look at the map. This will give a clear idea that the Manmohan led Congress government was preparing to sell out the country to Pakistan and if necessary to China (in Aksai Chin areas). This map should create anger in public mind that a worthless government in India is ready to surrender what is India’s de jure sovereign right, simply because the country was unwilling and perhaps unable to wage war to liberate those forcibly occupied areas. Would the FS and the NSA please speak out on these issues? The NSA, being a seasoned intelligence technologist should not forget his professional integrity simply because he is loyal to a family. Loyalty to the Nation is more important than loyalty to a family. An intelligence technocrat is not supposed to have any political loyalty; we hope Narayanan is loyal only to the country and not to any persona.
For the Indian PM most important outstanding issues are dismantling of all terror mechanism in Pakistan, total cessation of proxy war in Kashmir and the Northeast, handing over to India of Dawood Ibrahim and 25 of his consortium members, handing over to India of about 35 Sikh militants housed by the ISI in Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan and Islamabad. These include leaders of International Sikh Youth Federation (Lakhbir Singh-nephew of Jarnail Singh), Satinderpal Singh Gill, Babbar Khalsa leaders, Khalistan Commando Force, Bhindranwale Tiger Force and Khalistan Zindabad Force and Khalistan Council etc organisations. There are reliable reports that Indian and Diaspora Sikh youths (150) are being trained by the ISI in camps near Peshawar, Changa Manga etc places. Hopefully the Indian PM and the EAM would have enough courage to deliver tough talks to Pakistan through diplomatic channel and would not entrust the job to Professional Track II wining, flirting and dining retired IFS officers and some pet intellectuals. The NSA may, this time at least, perform penance by forcefully reiterating the Indian demands and convey to his Pakistani counterparts that nothing short of expectations of the Indian people would be acceptable; be there War or Peace. The USA should be bluntly told that it was time for the White House to pressurize its client that India would not settle for anything less.
As far as Pakistani allegation of RAW interferences in Balochistan is concerned India should have summarily rejected the allegation and should have declined to accept the dossier. Mere acceptances prove that the Indian side was ready to open its bed room and soul for Pak occupancy. On Balochistan India should have reiterated that such allegations are very old and hackneyed.
Pakistani media and political personalities aligned to the Musharaff junta had often blamed India and Afghanistan for aiding the Baloch rebels. According to Daily Times of Pakistan (09.01.06) president Musharraf clearly blamed India for backing the Baloch militants, “There are lots of indications, yes indeed… There is a lot of financial support, support in kind being given to those who are anti-government, anti-me and to those feudal people who are anti-national.”
Musharraf told a visiting Indian CNN-IBN team that he was “annoyed” and “disappointed” by Indian government statements and alleged actions in Balochistan. “It’s a direct interference in our internal affairs.”
Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam also responded by accusing India of “an unacceptable proclivity to interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbours…Such tendency is contrary to efforts aimed at building an environment of trust, peace and stability in South Asia.” Federal Information Minister and the president’s chief spokesperson Sheikh Rashid had said that good relations with neighbours had restrained Pakistan from making public evidence of the involvement of foreign countries in the Balochistan insurgency. Speaking to the Reuters, he commented in Peshawar, “We have evidence that foreign countries are involved…but we don’t want to spoil the good relations we have with our neighbours.”
Pakistan Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain in an interview to the Outlook India magazine said (16.04.2006), “RAW has established its training camps in Afghanistan in collaboration with the Northern Alliance remnants. Approximately 600 ferraris, or Baloch tribal dissidents, are getting specialized training to handle explosives, engineer bomb blasts, and use sophisticated weapons in these camps.”
Similar allegations have been made against the Afghan government. Some Pakistani leaders went to the extent of alleging Russian proxy involvement through Karzai government. They forget that Karzai is a USA and not Russian surrogate.
It would be futile for India to rebut Pakistani allegations. It is better to fall back on the US sources to contradict Pakistan. The US sources have refused to accept ‘involvement of foreign hand’ in Balochistan. Khalid Hassan, writing in the Daily Times on April 04, 2006 reported that The Karnegie Endowment for International Peace report authored by Frederic Grare concluded that, “Almost six decades of intermittent conflict have given rise to a deep feeling of mistrust towards the central government. The Baloch will not forget General Pervez Musharraf’s recent promises and the insults hurled from time to time at certain nationalist leaders. The projects that were trumpeted as the means to Balochistan’s development and integration have so far led only to the advance of the Pakistani military in the province, accompanied by the removal of the local population from their lands and by the intense speculation that benefits only the army and its henchmen.”
The Grare report argued that Baloch nationalism was a “reality” that Islamabad could not pretend to ignore forever or co-opt by making promises of development that were rarely kept. “For the moment, with little certainty about the conclusion of an agreement between the central government and the nationalist leaders, the province is likely to enter a new phase of violence with long-term consequences that are difficult to predict. This conflict could be used in Pakistan and elsewhere as a weapon against the Pakistan government. Such a prospect would affect not only Pakistan but possibly all its neighbours. It is ultimately Islamabad that must decide whether Balochistan will become its Achilles’ heel.”
According to the Carnegie report, in the last 30 years the conflict in Balochistan resulted in 8,000 deaths, 3,000 of them from the army. The province seemed to be heading for another armed insurrection. The report identified three separate but linked issues that keep alive Baloch nationalism: Pakistan’s strategic evaluation of Baloch territory, centrality of the role of Army and promotion of Islamism to recapture lost bases in Afghanistan. In the process, Pakistan has criminally neglected the genuine aspirations of the Baloch people.
The Carnegie Foundation report summed up the international reactions to Pakistan’s criminal activities in Balochistan; “Today’s crisis in Balochistan was provoked, ironically, by the central government’s attempt to develop this backward area by undertaking a series of large projects. Instead of cheering these projects, the Baloch, faced with slowing population growth, responded with feat that they would be dispossessed of their land and resources and of their distinct identity. In addition, three fundamental issues are fuelling this crisis: expropriation, marginalization and dispossession…. Since India reopened its consulates in Jalalabad and Kandahar, it has been suspected of wanting to forge an alliance with Afghanistan against Pakistan. At the least, it is thought to want to exert pressure on Pakistan’s western border to force it to give up once and for all its “terrorist” activities in Kashmir, and, if possible, to bring the “composite dialogue” to an end on terms favouring India. India may also see the Chinese role in the development of the Gwadar port as a potential threat to its economic and strategic interests in the area. Pakistanis, Grare added, also suspected Iran of supporting Baloch activists to counter a Pak-US ‘plot’ to make Balochistan a rear base in a future offensive against Iran. Iran also wants its Chah Bahar port, renamed Bandar Beheshti, as an outlet for Central Asia at Pakistan’s expense. The Carnegie Foundation report believes that Pakistanis, including the Baloch, see the US as a potential troublemaker.”
The pains of the Baloch people cannot be diagnosed by brief narration of their heroic struggle and international strategic power play in the region. Something must be told about blatant Human Rights violations.
Wahid Baloch (31.01.2006) of Baloch Society of North America, USA, drew attention to appalling human rights violation in Baloch territory. According to him ‘Pakistani dictators have started the 5th military operation against the innocent Baloch people, using US gunship helicopters and F-16 jets, to crush their peaceful struggle against the occupation of their land and exploitation of their resources by Pakistan.”
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a January 2006 report accused President Pervez Musharraf’s military-led government of “gross human rights violations” in Balochistan. The HRCP rejected government claims that it was not using regular armed forces in a crackdown in the province launched last month after rocket attacks by tribal militants battling for greater autonomy and control of natural gas fields. The group said it had “received evidence that action by armed forces had led to deaths and injuries among civilians” and that “populations had also been subjected to indiscriminate bombing”.
The HRCP report said that up to 85 percent of the 22,000-26,000 inhabitants of Dera Bugti had fled their homes after paramilitary forces shelling repeatedly hit the town. “There were alarming accounts of summary executions, some allegedly carried out by paramilitary forces. The HRCP received credible evidence that showed such killings had taken place…Across Balochistan, the HRCP team found widespread instances of ‘disappearance’, of torture inflicted on people held in custody, and on those fleeing from their houses.”
Asma Jahangir, Chairperson of HRCP said, “I have a very different view. It is not a matter of Indian government or Pakistan government. My view is that human rights issues are universal…And I think when our government takes out the issue of the massacres that took place in the Indian Gujarat, not only our government but all governments of the world should make India accountable for what they did…And therefore, it is just right that when systematic human rights violations are taking place as they took place in Gujarat and what is taking place in ‘Baluchistan’, that the world community does pay attention to it. India is part of the world community and India is part of the region and I hope that not only India but other countries do pay attention…so what is happening in ‘Baluchistan’ is grave enough to take notice of.”
The Baloch fault line is wider than the East Pakistan tectonic gap was. No amount of scholarly research can sum up the pains of the Baloch people, no strategic consideration can heal the wounds and no amount of armed attack on the Baloch people can subdue them. Mr. Najam Shethi has spoken the sanest words in his Daily Times editorial on 04.10.2006. I quote him, “ In short, one can say that Pakistan itself emerged from a separatist nationalism that could have subsided had the All India Congress handled it well. But after becoming a state Pakistan quickly developed further separatist symptoms, which point to a future of many mini-states in the region. Let us accept that all sub-nationalisms aspire to a national state but are thereafter incapable of applying closure to the process of fragmentation…
Balochistan must stay inside Pakistan and the federation must learn to mould itself to the need of the federal units to be as autonomous as possible without actually destroying the state. There were times when we thought that Awami National Party’s (sic) Six Points were not negotiable; today hardly anyone will disagree that they could have been accommodated. These days, states do not come to an end easily. In fact many states in the recent past reached the “black hole” status and stayed like that without changing their morphology. There are many “failed states” in our world, which are on the map because the international system doesn’t allow annexations any more…
Pakistan was the result of Muslim separatism. It runs the risk of splintering under the weight of the regional demands for autonomy. To prevent the emergence of mini-states in place of the federation, it must nurture its provinces into mini-states by consent. Balochistan has to stay within Pakistan to become autonomous. Once outside, it will succumb to further fragmentation and chaos.”
To a conscious Indian a question pops up: Has Delhi worked on any Baloch strategy? The pundits and trusted friends of the Establishment might answer gorgeously. A common man’s view is: Delhi has very little time beyond daily political survival angst. But how Manmohan and his aides are going to formulate replies on latest Pakistani charges? Hope the MEA archives and RAW files have more records than what I recorded in this small space.
To conclude, it appears that the Italian carved Indian leader, Mother of the Congress and Leader of the Nation, Shrimati Gandhi has had time to take stock of the blunder committed by his one eyed pro-US PM and his sycophant deputies. The Congress party has visibly distanced from the sharmnak and shameless Sharm al Shyakh blunder. Hopefully she would try to retrieve the situation by taking into confidence the important opposition leaders, key GOI ministries and agencies and would advice her NSA to be more loyal the rotund parliament edifice and its soul than to the White House. Would she agree to give another plum assignment to her blundering and retiring Foreign Secretary? Hopefully she would not agree to accommodate another blundering hereditary IFS and alleged US friend in the PMO. Sonia is not of unsound mind as the PM appears to be. We still have some faith in her strategic sanity.
August 1st, 2009 at 7:35 am
Dear Sir,
I have read your piece with great interest. You are aware of the tragedy of the Baluch people and the way Jinnah had forced Qalat and other parts of Baluch independent homelands to join Pakistan. Now we want Azadi and we want India’s help. Please write another piece on the plight of the Bluch people.
August 1st, 2009 at 8:57 am
Thank you Dhar,
You had earlier written an epic piece on Balochistan. I would like to live with pigs rather than a Punjabi. Our homeland was annexed by Jinnah through tricks and military might. Now that Pig Gilani has brought up the Baloch issue please write again to convey to the world what the Baloch people want. Let Pakistan be a Punjabistan. But Baloch people would be independent.
Ajmal, Washington DC.
August 1st, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Well sir, it is a befitting expose. They committed blunder and now try to pass off as dip;omatic victory. They are fooling the country.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 am
I am sick and tired of immigrants who have been given shelter in my homeland i.e. India coming over here and questioning the loyalty my loyalty to a country my ancestors crafted and built. Ever wonder Dhar why the Mughal System of Administration is a must study in some of the Civil Services Papers. Your silence on the contributions of the Muslims of India and tarring of a whole community as disloyal is geniuinelty dishonest.Organizing a conference between the community and intelligence personnel and heads does not absolve you of the responsibility Mr.Dhar. You were a responsible officer of the Union of India, please dont try to weaken it with hysterical nonsense. Please go back to Bangladesh where you came from and please drop off Mr.Advani in Karachi, his ancestral homeland while you are at it.
And by the way, I agreed with your assesment that the Pakistani state is hypocritical when it annexes the Baloch state on the basis of religion of the people and discards the people like trash when it doesnt suit its purposes. What can you expect from the system when a robber becomes the ruler of the country just because he married into the ruling political dynasty. It kind of gives you an insight into the psyche of the society.
August 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 am
Hello Ali,
Dhar and Advani are the original Indians. They are not immigrants. They migrated from their own homes to a new India because of separatist Muslim crave for a homeland.
Who told you and from where you learnt that your ancestors crafted this country of Bharat? You came as invaders and overstayed and ruled us for 800 years. It is time you to get out and go from where you came. What is there to learn from Mughal admn? The trash medieval system persecuted the Hindus. People of India do not trust the Muslims. You are a race of 5th Columns. We do not trust you.
We trusted damn Pakis and they created Kargil and 26/11. Now they are dragging us to Blauchistan. You people are the migrants and invaders and not Dhar and Advani. You get out and go to Karachi, the home of the Mohajirs.
August 2nd, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hello Ali,
So, scratching of the skin has brought out your real colour, a separatist Muslim. Why blame Dhar? Because he tells the truth. As far as I know Dhar is one of the very few Hindus who support Muslim causes. If you lose him you will be imperiled. This man, as I know, is equally a strong builder and demolisher. I had seen him in different theatres of action. Good luck the Great Mughal.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Dear Mr. Ali,
I am from Dera Bugti, in in a western country. I thought you have not read Dhar’s Balochistan: Cruces of History. You would find that that was the first authentic account by any Indian about my land under occupation of the Punjabis.
You are a India separatist Muslim. Your place is in Lahore or Karachi. Dhar is a friend of the Baloch people and you are a friend of Paki Punjabis. Emigrate to Lahore you traitor of Indian integrity.
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Hey Ali,
It appears you are a petty minded minority mind-blocked Muslim. Why drag in Hindu-Muslim issue in matters related to two nations? Are you a hurt Congressi thug? Your Goddess Sonia Gandhi has not been abused. Why so much upset? Cool down yaar. We Muslims have also liked this analysis.
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Hey, I was not moderated/censored out. That shows you can take it Mr.Dhar, well done! Hey, I am being attacked by everybody, it shows that I must be doing something right Mr.Dhar. Seriously, intelligence operations analysts are the unsung heroes of any nation, defending it in the shadows and often not getting any credit and even losing the best years of their lives, even facing death unacknowledged. This is what gives guys like me an inherent respect for these professionals and drives me mad when they, I am presuming inadvertently, strike at the very bedrock of the cause that they have spent their whole lives for and taken serious risks.
Growing up reading about the various heroes who have defended the nation, I was most thrilled when I saw for the first time the Indian Military Academy Auditorium named after Arun Khetrapal, a gentleman officer who died fighting for his country in 1971. I doubt that there will be anything named after Ravinder Kaushik, an Indian intelligence officer who died under torture and who has not even been acknowledged by our government. Thus, it gets even more puzzling when people from that stream of work can spout these views, especially since they previously have acknowledged the need for national unity among different communities of the nation.
Mr.Dhar, you are 68. In a few decades, you might be even remembered as a hero and a legend. I would imagine that you would want to leave behind a better legacy who would like to follow in your footsteps. Thanks again and keep those articles coming, apart from some previous jarring views, especially regarding some of our malayali friends, you are keeping an excellent resource of disseminating information. Hey the Bangladeshi immigration problem cant be that bad if we can get some guys like you in the process right…:).
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Mr.Narendra modi, save us from ths jackals who are trying to eat our peoples and betraying out nation.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:54 am
For friend Ali & others,
Please do not create a raucous around me. Only information I want to share with Ali is that I did not migrate from Bangladesh. I migrated from Pakistan to a new India from my old India. I feel insulted & owe an apology when I am termed a Bangladeshi. When my book Train to India-The Story of Other Bengal is released by Penguin in Nov 2009 please read that and try to understand under what circumstances we were forced to leave our own homeland and come to a new India after our old India was sacrificed by scheming politicians.
Please put an end to recrimination around me. I am insignificant. Thanks to you all for liking some of my dissertations.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Sir,
It is your humility that you have pardoned a stupid like Ali. Please carry on without caring f or the howlings of irrelevant people. We are benefited by your books and essays.
Regards,
Anita, New Delhi
August 4th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I agree Mr.Dhar, I would imagine people would agree that a person is a full fledged citizen of the place where he chooses to be a citizen of instead of some foreign country which he had only heard of or read in newspapers and others want to ram it down our throats. Please also appreciate the fact the comment was made in the context of this reader having a high regard for you and the disappointment when reading some words in your article. Maybe I read something into words where no harm was intended. We all know what kind of risks you took for our country and what kind of work you did in the Northeast and in the Punjab(did I read somewhere that you were also posted in Toronto as well?) . I guess nobody is perfect and we all should be careful in our words and the impression one makes, intentionally or unintentionally.
I am glad you came to this side, wouldn’t want Bagladesh or for that matter Pakistan to claim our real life James Bond anyway…:). You are setting a good example for all youths of India, bar none mind you(especially the ones with a rebellious streak). Thanks again for enlightening us with your views and look forward to your next article about Balochistan.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Respected Soniaji,
I am an ardent Congress member from West Bengal. I hope you have read this column by Dhar. Disregard some of the angry expressions. But take into stock the blunder committed at Sharm al Sheikh by the PM, Foreign Secretary and the NSA. I hope you would prevent further awarding of credit and posting to the former FS and inspire the NSA to be pro-active on such matters. Our party has received black-eye due to their blunders.
I use this column to express my views as I cannot reach you by any means.
Regards,
Jahanra. Kolkata.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Dear Sir,
We wait for your article on Baluchistan. In the meantime I want to say that your present angry article represents anger of the entire conscious country. Irrespective politics and religion, I feel, a great harm has been done to India by its officials.
Kamal,
Badaun
August 5th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Dhar, Youe essay is an oracle. Today Pakistan has said that No Kashmir on agenda No Talk. Earlier Gen. Kiyani said Baluchistan is very much an agenda with India. How could our PM and his officers make such a Harikiri?
August 6th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Sir, You are the first one to make this prophetic angry attack. Now the pieces are falling in place. Pakistan is betraying again. Why should India trust an international whore called PakistaN?
August 6th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Nation’s crumble when Kings lose vision.
Peoples get destroyed when fools rule
These are sayings of Kautilya.
Has India under CONGRESS reached that stage? Would Manmohan and Sonia answer?
August 6th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Your article has created an intellectual earthquake. The small coterie of Congress may find you inconvenient. I have talked to many MPs. They are of the view that had you been in the Parliament you could have ripped apart the Manmohan government and no prevarication could save them. Please keep it up. We require people like to to prick the conscience of the country.
Regards.
Yaran, Hyderabad
August 6th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
A MKN acolyte accosted me to say that the BOSS was very annoyed with you. Some of his M friends are mighty annoyed and may make pickle out of you. Hopefully you would ignore the MKN stooges and carry on the war: the war of telling the truth.
August 6th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Why we have to bother about BALOCHISTAN?It is pakistans problem? We have nothing todo with that.I am not clear & I’m confused.Can Mr.Maloy Krishna Dhar clarify this?
August 6th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
For INDIAN,
Balochistan is very important for India. In our proximity it is the playground of China, USA, Iran, Arabia and Pakistan. Even Russia is a keen oil plyer in the region. Technically Balochistan is a part of the “Great Power game.” India cannot ignore Balochistan.
Please read part I of the Balochistan: Cruses of Civilisation in my site. And wait for part II on 10th Aug. Our interests spread outside our country. That is the rule of statecraft.
August 7th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Come to our Cochin home Dhar. We won’t make pickle out of you. We remember you fought valiantly on the ISRO espionage case and the PM had victimised you. We would serve nice Kerala dish you with with plenty of fish. Don’t fear MKN. He is a small time sycophant.
August 8th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Sir, A last word on Shame. How is it that Manmohan Kohli is still the Premier is about to preside over a country where onion would cost Rs. 50 a kg? A greater shame
December 24th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
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January 25th, 2010 at 1:49 am
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March 27th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Dear Mr Krishna Dhar;
Hats off to you. You should have been in place of those shameless leaders. India needs lots of people like. It looks like there is only a mere 0.001% of patriot and determined people like you in india, The rest like just to watch cinema, Otherwise India would have been a great country and not considered underdeveloped till now.Everybody’s only dreaming of becoming heroes and actors nobody concerned with the country’s future. Perhaps people living there are used to it, But its a real shock for anybody who first land in india, with so much of poverty and dirty all around.Its beyond our imagination.Compare india to any other country with same natural resources.Any other country with those potentials and resources would have been a world giant.