By Faruk Ashrafeen
Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi out to stage a Gujarat like massacre of Muslims, yet again? Is he attempting to compel the Muslims of India to rise and struggle for making another Pakistan within India? Hasn’t he revived the Two Nation Theory once again, which the liberals in Pakistan had buried ‘after the goals were achieved’? Are Modi’s men all set to tear apart the Gandhian and Nehruvian policy of peaceful co-existence?
The continuous wave of extremist violence against Pakistan, Muslim minority in India, and against visitors from Pakistan is not individual acts of mere disturbance but it seems to be a coordinated and conceived plot. The spate of violence does not start with the throwing of ink on Khurshid Mehmood Qasuri’s host or lynching to death of a Muslim father and son on Eid-ul-Azha for eating ‘beef’.
Already a number of incidents of violence have regularly occurred; each meant to trigger probably a Gujarat like violence, so that Modi’s Shiv Sena may stage a replay of the massacre of Muslims, once again. The humiliation of Muslims is aimed at instigating them to agitate so the Hindu hooligans take them head on. Or the consequences of this violence may pave a way for launching an attack on Pakistan.
Only in one day, on October 18, a series of events took place across India, which sends alarm bells for Pakistan, especially the Muslim minority in India. Ink was thrown, yet again, on an independent lawmaker from IHK, Engineer Rashid, by a mob in Delhi when he was on a visit to Delhi Press Club. He was attacked over his stance on the beef ban issue.
“People talk of Talibanization of Pakistan, look what is happening in India. 80,000 people have died in Kashmir, putting ink on one Engineer Rashid will not change anything,” Rashid said. A day before, he was beaten up by BJP men in Srinagar after he allegedly hosted a ‘beef party’.
In another development India cancelled a meeting between Pakistan and Indian cricket boards officials after the Shiv Sena hooligans stormed the BCCI’s Mumbai office. The activists crashed through the gates of the office in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium chanting anti-Pakistan slogans and demanding Shahryar Khan’s and Najam Sethi’s immediate return. The goons could be seen entering Manohar’s office and crowding around his desk, shouting slogans and appearing determined to stop him from meeting the PCB chief.
TV news channels reported the same day that the family of a Karachi-based Pakistan citizen, Inayat Ali, was denied accommodation in the hotels of the Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai. The family visited 40 hotels, but all of them refused to give them a room because “the family did not possess the draconian Form C.”
This news might have sparked an outrage amongst the Pakistani public, but, on the contrary, the world witnessed a show of tolerance and enlightenment of Pakistani man living in Islamabad. Iqbal Latif, who runs 26 franchises of international food outlet ‘Dunkin Donut’ in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar, took a step to show how Pakistanis welcome their neighbours, which also emulates Gandhi’s teachings. In the next few hours, all the food outlets had banners with an announcement offering free meals to any Indians visiting Pakistan on a short-term visa. The banner was inscribed with Pakistani and Indian flags.
In another incident was reported by the Indian media. Two Muslim youths, Asif Sheikh and Danish Sheikh, were thrashed by police inspector Kedar Pawar and others, who were on night duty, in the Bandra police station jurisdiction. While thrashing, “Pawar asked the two to leave India, go and live in Pakistan.”
As Syed Nayyarud Din Ahmed observes, the attack on BCCI HQ at Mumbai, and other incidents – lynching to thrashing and manhandling to murder – seem to be a pre-planned scheme of RAW controlled BJP government, which is proved by the pictures of BCCI chief, who was casually sitting, smiling and talking with the so-called attackers, as if, they were his guests. “The body language of the BCCI president Shashank Manohar said it all.” The whole drama was enacted to put PCB chairman under pressure, to accept whatever offer they (RAW, BJP & BCCI) were giving to the PCB; should be accepted by the chairman PCB.
From inside, the BCCI is afraid of the following two consequences: If India refuses to play with Pakistan in the UAE, then there is a chance that BCB may agree to visit Pakistan, after their Australian tour setback and the treatment meted out to the BCB by the big three, where India didn’t support them at all, and Pakistan fully supported their cause; Secondly if Pakistan, as a retaliation, refuses to play the T20 match vs India in the coming World Cup, it will result in huge financial loss along with big loss of face. As such, the Indians want to give Shehryar a lollipop of a meaningless short series with India, or a tri series including the BD team, to keep PCB subservient of its grand scheme, of not letting it get off the hook.
Already the filth being emitted out of the mouths of Indian ministers is not only intentional but hysterical too. Psychologists are unison on the myth that there exists no kind of sense of superiority, but the apparent sense of superiority is actually the complex of inferiority. In order to conceal one’s timidity one exaggerates and tries to snub the other in order to satisfy his inner complex. “In fact Indian threats are manifestation of their incompetency to be a match of Pakistan in any field,” says an editorial, adding, “therefore, in order to suppress such inferiority complex they are barking and shouting at Pakistan.”
They are not happy with Pakistan China Economic Corridor, which indeed has become a real nightmare for India, vis a vis an insurmountable hurdle in the realization of dream of India to be a mini superpower of South Asia. India is also not pleased to see Pakistan extending cordial and fruitful ties with Russia, Germany and Brazil.
New Delhi is also not happy with the successful heading towards logical culmination of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, because it has dismantled RAW’s networks, which Indian Security Advisor Ajit Doval claimed to have been working with 30,000 agents. India has also got a severe blow to its sabotage and insurgency sponsoring in Balochistan province. While most of the Baloch people are surrendering arms and returning to mainstream, India sees its plots foiled and face exposed. In a small valley of Kashmir India has deployed ten hundred thousand army. What else can be brought the biggest example of Indian cowardice?
Ahmed Rashid, the author of “Descent into Chaos”, speaking in a talk show the other day informed the audience that the United States has pursued Modi to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart, but the Indian prime minister refused. “What I feel is Modi government is preparing to launch an attack against Pakistan.” The well informed South Asia observer that he is cannot give such a statement without checking its authenticity. Pakistan needs to be extra vigilant on hand, and on the other hand the world community must take immediate notice of this madness to save South Asia from entering into a horrible future.
*The author is the Chairman of South Asia Counter Analysis (SACA) think-tank group, based in Rawalpindi. He can be reached at farukashrafeen@hotmail.com
