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| Holy War: Islamabad and L-e-T working in tandem | | RUSTAM | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 2: Will Islamabad ever change attitude towards India? Is Islamabad really interested in maintaining good and friendly relations with India? Will Islamabad take action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack like Hafiz Saeed of Lashkar-e-Toiba and help New Delhi nab those involved in the 13/2 Pune German Bakery terrorist attack? Will Islamabad dismantle terrorist-related infrastructure and destroy terrorist-training camps? Will Islamabad respect its 2004 solemn commitment that it will not allow the Pakistani territory to be used by extremists and jihadis for launching anti-India operations?
The answer to all these questions is a big no. In fact, the Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Rashid had made the Pakistani intentions public when he interacted with media persons in New Delhi after his talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Roy on February 25. He had made several controversial and provocative statements and his objective was to tell the Pakistanis that he had played the required role and that he hit India hard by raking up such issues as Kashmir, Baluchistan, water, Siachen and Sir Creek and Kashmiri separatists' participation in the talks on the Kashmir issue whenever held.
Earlier on the eve of India-Pakistan talks, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had gone to Beijing to hand over a blank cheque to China so that it could play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan.
Such was the nature of provocation caused by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary that the Indian Foreign Office had to issue a strong statement to set the record straight and inform the Indian nation that whatever the Pakistani Foreign Secretary had said was far from correct and that whatever he said was what the Pakistani Army told him to say. It was indeed a scathing attack on the Pakistani Foreign Secretary, in effect, on the Pakistani establishment, which doesn't represent the national will, notwithstanding the fact that the bulk of Indian public opinion has taken the outcome of the talks as a great diplomatic victory of Pakistan over India.
That Islamabad would under no situation change its policy towards India and that it would go on hobnobbing with such terrorists and jihadis as Hafiz Saeeed became evident on Sunday, just three days after the Indo-Pak talks, held in New Delhi on the insistence of New Delhi.
In an interview to a correspondent of a private Pakistani TV channel on February 28, Hafiz Saeed once again asked the jihadis to launch jihad against India and Indians. He talked of "holy war according to Shariat". "Pakistan will have to fight against India" and "in case the Pakistani state doesn't do so, then decision will be taken by the Pakistani ulema", he also told the correspondent. Was this not enough proof for Pakistan to take action against Saeed?
It needs to be emphasized that Saeed poured venom on India not in Muzaffarabad or any other town or city of the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. He did so from the Pakistani soil and under the very nose of the Pakistani political establishment.
The threat administered by Hafiz Sayeed should not surprise anyone in India. Nor should the hobnobbing between the Pakistani establishment and Hafiz Saeed alarm anyone. For, the Pakistani establishment and the likes of Hafiz Saeed are two sides of the same coin. The fact of the matter is that Hafiz Saeed is an integral and most powerful part of the Pakistani establishment.
The Pakistani Foreign Secretary had, it needs to be noted, not minced words when he told New Delhi that Islamabad could not act against Hafiz Saeed on the ground that he had made certain statements or on the grounds indicated by the Government of India. It may be mentioned that he had described the dossier containing information on the involvement of Hafiz Saeed in the Mumbai terrorist attack as a mere "piece of literature". Pakistani complicity is obvious. Islamabad is a partner in the industry of terrorism.
This is the situation. The Government of India must take cognizance of it and act accordingly. The Prime Minister's and the External Affairs Minister's February 27 statements that there is no other alternative but to continue the dialogue process and the February 25 India-Pakistan official talks were a good beginning do send a weak signal. Similarly, the Prime Minister's March 1 Riyadh statement that "India ready to walk extra mile if Pakistan acts" doesn't match with what Islamabad has been doing. Talks are Okay, but these should be held only after Islamabad proves by words and actions that it is committed to addressing the Indian concerns.
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