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(Counter: “Indian embassy blast’ a ploy against whom”)
This article is an assessment of recent turmoil that is engulfing the subcontinent. Pakistan is stuck in a quagmire of controlling Taliban on its borders while muting imported insurgencies in its provinces. In such conflagration when intelligence is needed the most, its agency the ISI is becoming victim of a ploy, being sabotaged by blames and blemishes, Spiraling domestic turbulence has put Pakistan’s sovereignty at stake. But then we see the Indian embassy blast which took away her military attaché, series of explosions in all of major Indian cities, skirmishes on the Line of Control and surging violence in the valley of Jammu and Kashmir.
In regional context, there has always been a struggle of power and influence between these two adversaries. Deceit, blame game, act of derangement and behind the scene nihilism has always devoured the seemingly placate on-the-scene dialogues and confidence building measures. Recent spade of events on both the sides of border has put observers in an intriguing situation; they are in a fix as to blame who for what, the real players behind the deceptive veil and the distinction between victim and the suspect!
Pakistan is facing the worst crisis in its history, its military has never been stretched this far while operating on domestic front. It has now been seven years since it is fighting the American war on terror; it has made enemies out of its people while operating against them’ on dictates of western confidants. Instead of approval for its sacrifices, insurgencies and violence has been given in wrapped gift. Pakistan’s interior ministry has long been signaling complicity of foreign hand in flaring domestic crisis, which ranges from an all-out revolts, to bomb explosions in cities, particularly the high end military targets. In guise of Talibans, foreign hands are implicated in extending their own agendas. Both Iran and China has acknowledged this conspirational collusion and called for it to halt. Recent Pakistani statements openly declared Afghanistan and India behind this scrimmage.
But then after all the blows, Pakistan is still pressed to clamp its eyes and ears and ‘dilute’ its intelligence apparatus so that this country could be torn smoothly. Patience has run athin at both GHQ and Intelligence secretariat, and a need for response is strongly felt.
It had to be told to intriguers in a different yet clear language that they are not out of harms way either. They won’t have clam borders if ours are set blazed, their cities won’t breathe normal if ours are suffocated, their states won’t be at peace if ours are subverted and their personnel won’t be safe if not mend their ways. Thus there lies high probability that this time Indians are true about latest accusations! That is Pakistani agencies might really be involved in the recent spade of border clashes to Indian embassy incident, from bomb blasts in cities to soaring fray in Kashmir. ‘Warning shots’ to their Indian counterparts that any further footprints of their involvement in subverting country’s internal security would be backfired with an equal even larger blow, making lives in New Delhi thorny. If this is true indeed, it would be first time in recent decade that Pakistan has taken such drastic step to caution Indians of its dipping patience, it also point towards the severity of situation at home front that prompted it to take such measures.
Muhammad Shafqat
August 2008
