Redrawn map of South Asia?

Mohammad Jamil




In November 2008, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Nicholas Kristoff said in an article published in the New York Times: "There is an increasing belief among Pakistanis including members of the armed forces, that what the US really wants is the breakup of Pakistan, the only Muslim country with nuclear arms". But such an idea is fraught with dangers beyond the comprehension of the big powers, and could make the world a very dangerous place to live in. At the Brussels Forum conference, US representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Hollbrooke said: "The heart of the problem for the West is in Pakistan. The militants are operating out of bases in Pakistan, where a fragile government has recently taken over and the army is focused more on fighting India than insurgents in lawless tribal areas".




Holbrooke has to understand the simple logic and fact that every country takes measures to defend its borders with a view to safeguarding its integrity and stability. If the US can conduct operations thousands of miles away from its borders for the safety and security of America and its citizens, Pakistan is well within its right to defend its borders from the next-door hostile neighbour. To make Pakistan's security perilous, India's RAW has covertly been supporting centrifugal forces in Balochistan. Killing and kidnapping of Chinese, a and also made inroads in militants' organizations in Pakistan.




Take the case of terror attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, the rocket launcher and other arms and ammunition were the same as used by Indian army. The objective is to prove that Pakistan has failed to rein in terrorists. India and the US are also opposing any peace agreement in FATA or Swat with tribal elders, so that impression can be created that Pakistan army is either incapable or is not willing to crush militants and terrorists. To cover up the real designs, President Barack Obama has said US objective is to ensure that Afghanistan is no more a safe haven for Al Qaeda operatives, and attacks against the American homeland or American interests do not take place. But to tarnish Pakistan's image, a top adviser to the US Central Command, David Kilcullen who advises CENTCOM commander General David H Petraeus on the war on terror said that Pakistani state could collapse within six months if immediate steps are not taken to remedy the situation. In an interview to The Washington Post published on Sunday, he warned that if things spin out of control in Pakistan it would 'dwarf' all the crises in the world today.




Asked to explain why he thought Pakistan was so important, Kilcullen said: "Pakistan has 173 million people, 100 nuclear weapons, an army bigger than the US Army, and Al Qaeda headquarters sitting right there in the two-thirds of the country that the government doesn't control". The same day, Indian Home Minister Chidambaram in an interview to Karan Thapar on 'India Tonight' said: "Pakistan is pretty dysfunctional and perilously close to becoming a failed state". UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown also joined the chorus with Americans and Indians. Writing in The Observer he said: "There is an Al Qaeda core in northern Pakistan trying to organize attacks on Britain, as we know there are a number of networks here". The outgoing US ambassador to Kabul William Wood told the UK's Sunday Observer that America would be prepared to discuss the establishment of a political party, or put up even election candidates representing the Taliban, as part of a political strategy that would sit alongside reinforced military efforts to end the increasingly intractable conflict. Other ideas being discussed include changing the Afghan constitution as part of potential negotiations, taking senior Taliban figures off UN blacklists to establish dialogue and possible prisoner releases. Recently, there was a meeting between Afghan government and representatives of Gulbadin Hikmatyar to explore the option of bringing Pushtun on board. And of course this is the right way of doing it because by ignoring the majority, there can never be peace in Afghanistan or for that matter in the region. It has to be mentioned that America could explore other options but they are blaming Pakistan of great sin if it negotiates with the tribal elders or militants.




It would be appropriate to look into the circumstances in which Pakistan had been sucked in the big-power game. First World War had provided an opportunity to Communist Party of Russia for completing the socialist revolution. After the end of World War II, socialists of Eastern European countries were facilitated by the Soviet forces that were present in those countries to form socialist governments. On the other hand, the US had influence over the western European countries to form a capitalistic bloc. Thus Cold War era started whereby the world was divided in two camps - Western and Socialist. In 1950s, British-trained bureaucracy convinced the then Pakistani leadership that the US could help build Pakistan's army and also other infrastructure therefore they decided to go with the West and become its camp-follower. The government did not pay heed to Quaid-i-Azam's advice that Pakistan should maintain good relations with all the countries of the world, and joined military pacts with the US and the West. Some call it an error of judgment while others call it inaptness of the bureaucracy.




During 1965 war with India, people of Pakistan understood the meaninglessness of the defence pacts because nobody came to Pakistan's rescue. In fact, Pakistan's so-called allies stopped all military and economic aid. In 1971, our so-called allies played the role of silent spectators when Pakistan was disintegrated. There was a perception that had Pakistan not become camp-follower of the West, it would not have been disintegrated as a result of international intrigue. Evidence suggests that Soviet Union had used its Veto in United Nations General Assembly only after American spy plane U-2 had taken off from Budh Ber near Peshawar in 1958. Soviet Russia had not vetoed the resolution bestowing the right on Kashmiris to decide through a plebiscite if they wish to join India or Pakistan.




In 1979, when Soviet forces occupied Afghanistan, the US and the West started propaganda blitz against Soviet Union and persuaded Pakistan to organize a proxy war to push Soviet forces out of Afghanistan. But for Pakistan this proved to a recipe for disaster. After 9/11 when the US coerced Pakistan into joining war on terror it was due to the fact that US was the only super power after disintegration of the Soviet Union and it was mainly due to Pakistan's cooperation that the US enjoyed the status of the only super power. Since the US and the West are reviewing their strategy and policy, Pakistan should also reviews its foreign policy, which in fact should have been done in 1971.