Imran’s vitriol against India holds no water

New Delhi: A desperate and cornered Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, under pressure from his domestic constituency and a rampant ‘Fauj’ under General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has penned a vitriolic article in The New York Times (NYT) on the threat of a nuclear war and the consequences the world will face, in typical bombast to counter Indias growing diplomatic heft.

With his tone getting shriller by the day, and in an attempt to mask the deep economic and social malaise affecting his country, Imran Khan has again taken to twitter, warning of “ethnic cleansing of Muslims” and linking it to the “illegal annexation” of Kashmir.

The Prime Minister of the proclaimed ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ conveniently forgets about the pathetic state of minorities in his own country. In 1947, almost 23 per cent of Pakistan’s population comprised non-Muslim citizens, mostly Hindus. But in the past seven decades, it has shrunk to less than 3 per cent, with Hindus now at barely 1.5 per cent.

However, conversely in India, the percentage of Muslims has increased -– from less than 10 per cent in 1950 to nearly 15 per cent in 2011. India has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Many educated Muslims occupy top positions of pride in the government and military in India.

In Pakistan, Hindu girls and women are regularly abducted and forced to convert to Islam, with the government ignoring the appeals for help or at the most making some sympathetic noises.

Hundreds of Hindus stream into India for refuge to escape religious persecution in Pakistan.

In the face of the above facts, Imran’s daily tirade of calling the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi “racist, fascist and Hindu supremacist” does not hold any water.

The proof of the pudding should always be in the eating. And facts here are sacrosanct to show that it is Pakistan under its rampaging ‘mullahs’ that has been terrorising its minorities with impunity and ensuring their rapid decline in numbers.

Holding up a mirror to Imran Khan’s face, the Indian establishment reckons that he would be better off looking at the egregious violations of the human rights of the Baloch, the Pashtuns and the minorities in his own country. Even the Shias, Hazaras and Ahmedis are not spared persecution by the mullah-dom in Pakistan.

That Imran Khan is given to smooth talk, akin to “good friend” China, even when the facts point to the contrary, is evident from the way he has described the February 14 Pulwama attack in the NYT piece.

He conveniently ignored to mention that the suicide bomber who attacked Indian security forces, killing 40 of them, belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). It is that terror attack, amidst a long line of such strikes by Pak-based outfits, that has led to relations sliding to their nadir.

So while Imran Khan allows his military masters in Rawalpindi to continue their subversive terror tactics against India, he on the outside pretends to make peace overtures.

Countering his rhetoric and bravado, the Indian establishment is clear on its position — that terror and talks cannot go together. With Pakistan persisting with fomenting terrorism in India, a dialogue is just not possible.

India did not need to lobby to get Pakistan placed on the ‘blacklist’ of the FATF. It was placed on the ‘grey-list’ in 2018 due to serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regimes. The recent visit of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) has identified a series of continuing shortcomings in Pakistan. Clearly Pakistan is not serious about complying with internationally accepted norms in these areas. The forthcoming Paris meeting may be the tipping point in this regard.

Whatever India did on August 5 (abrogation of Article 370) with regard to Kashmir is as per the Indian Constitution. It has been ratified by both Houses of the Parliament by two-thirds majority. Many among the opposition parties too have swung round to the Kashmir move.

With the formalisation of the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories coming into effect from Saturday, both would see a slew of development projects that would bring in employment, social well-being and security.

It is obvious that Pakistan does not want to see J&K well developed and happy, as it has targeted the large unemployed youth with its messages of separatism and, lately, radical Islam. With both J&K and Ladakh UTs being governed by the central government, thereby brooking no interference from the separatist gang, it is hoped development will see rapid advances there.

India hardly needs lessons from the ‘selected’ prime minister of Pakistan on democracy or constitutional practices

Imran and his gang of ministers have been regularly resorting to war-mongering and hate-spewing against India. His Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid is foremost among them.

There is no threat of war from the Indian side. It is Pakistan that appears to be preparing for war. What was the sudden testing of the Ghaznavi missile aimed at, and why were the Pakistan army and naval chiefs overseeing the war preparedness of their respective forces on Thursday?

It is obvious that Pakistan is alarmed at seeing whatever vestiges of control it had over Kashmir slipping away rapidly, and never to return.

Perhaps the international community needs to advise Pakistan to keep its warmongering at bay.

If Imran Khan is hoping to hurt India diplomatically, then he is mistaken. None of his unceasing efforts to try and discredit India have borne fruit, and are unlikely to do so.

India’s standing in the world community is strong and unshakeable as a country of peace. It is Pakistan that has the rogue tag on it.

After his successful visits to France, the UAE and Bahrain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Vladivostok to participate in the prestigious Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) being hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, where Modi is the Chief Guest.

Published on: Aug 31, 2019 at 16:14 IST

IANS