Pakistan has done the right thing by proposing an action plan at the United Nations (UN) Security Council to deal with the recent growth of ‘violent nationalist ideologies’, especially Hindutva, because they constitute the new threat to global peace. As a front-line state in the international war on terror and, as seen in the case of Afghanistan, one that has done more than most countries to counter terrorism and terrorists in the region, Pakistan knows what is needed to keep the peace in South Asia and hence its warnings should be listened to with a lot of seriousness.
There can be no denying that the rise of Narendra Modi first within the ranks of the BJP and then to the prime minister’s position twice in a row has brought the extremist Hindutva ideology to the forefront in India. And the government there hasn’t even tried to hide the fact that it wanted nothing less than shoving this particular political ideology down everybody’s throats whether they liked it or not. In fact, few people familiar with the working of Modi’s and BJP’s parent militant outfit, RSS, were surprised by successive episodes of what quickly became known as cow lynchings in India, or even the fact that they have singled out and disenfranchised Muslims so openly with their Citizens Amendment Act (CAA). And they have gone so far with their extremism and oppression in Kashmir that the world continues to turn a blind eye to it at its own cost.
Pakistan has repeatedly highlighted New Delhi’s excesses for the whole world to see. And Islamabad has now very rightly called on the Security Council to outlaw such groups, just like it has done with international terrorist outfits, because they are sure to provoke counter-violence, which will give groups like Daesh and the like more fuel to spread their fire. Sadly so far the UN hasn’t responded to Pakistan’s concerns like an organisation worried about peace in a very volatile region. Surely it does not need to see any more compelling evidence to make up its mind. So there must be other things keeping it from acting in the manner that its mandate demands. Hopefully it will reassess the situation and take the right steps before it’s too late.
