India’s burning desire to become world power
Asif Haroon Raja
India is the largest country in South Asia and its leaders never tire of boasting that India is the super power of the region and a potential world power. Indira doctrine advocated India’s unrestricted influence over the whole region. India is past master in covert operations and propaganda war and habitually resorts to intrigues, economic coercion and blackmail. It never shies of threatening to use military option to overawe economically and militarily weak neighbors. India has disputes with all its neighbors because of which it doesn’t enjoy best of relations with any. Latter have no choice but to bear with India’s high-handedness. They take India’s barbs and excesses with a heavy heart.
It is part of history that after Partition in 1947, Indian Congress leaders instead of helping Pakistan in settling down had overloaded Pakistan with myriad of problems to smother it in its formative years. Indian military annexed Hyderabad, Junagadh and Manavadar whose Muslim rulers wanted to accede to Pakistan. It also forcibly occupied two-thirds Kashmir in October 1947 whose ruler was Hindu but great majority of population Muslims. War was thus forced on Pakistan. Soon after, Goa, Daman and Diu were also overpowered. All told, 565 princely states were made part of Indian Union. After creating Bangladesh (BD) in 1971, RAW supported Rakhi Bahini and gave it a preferential treatment over BD armed forces. Later on, RAW created Kadir Bahini to create trouble for Gen Ziaur Rahman and Gen Irshad Hussain regimes. Subsequently, Shanti Bahini was created to support Chakmas in Chittagong Hills.
RAW incited trouble in Sikkim in 1973 and in 1975 the kingdom of Sikkim was absorbed. Expansionist India’s next target was Bhutan. It was put under so much of pressure that it accepted India’s hegemony and agreed to act as its vassal to retain its independence. Landlocked Nepal which was a Hindu kingdom was terrorized to toe its line by halting food, medicines and oil supplies and instigating riots. Burma enjoyed excellent relations with Bangladesh but India strained their relations by fomenting trouble in Arakan Province and forcing 250,000 Arakenese to migrate to BD. The two neighbors are now arch enemies.
Maldives is also frightened through false flag operations. RAW trained the Tamils to bring about armed rebellion and carve a Tamil State out of predominantly Sinhalese Island. Of the many groups trained, LTTE was the deadliest. It took Sri Lankan military 30 years to crush the insurgency.
Pakistan has always aspired for peaceful and friendly relationship with all its neighbors based on equality and mutual respect and has resented overbearing attitude of India. It stands up to Indian intemperance and belligerence boldly. This stance is not to the liking of Indian leaders and in reaction they have been continuously devising strategies to make Pakistan a pliant state and make India a world power.
India is so intensely averse to the existence of Pakistan that it has gone to war with Pakistan thrice and two localized conflicts. From the book by Basant Chaterjee (Inside Bangladesh Today) we now know that Pundit Nehru had been scheming since August 1947 to reclaim East Bengal and make it an integral part of undivided India. After the demise of Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan, regionalism raised its ugly head in smaller provinces particularly in East Pakistan where India started a whispering campaign to poison the minds of the youth and seculars against West Pakistan. India exploited the cultural affinity between East and West Bengal by underplaying Allama Iqbal and promoting poetry of Tagore.
Since over 90% posts of teachers and professors were held by Hindus, they played a key role in subverting the minds of students and making them hate West Pakistanis. History books of the subcontinent were distorted to paint Muslim rulers in poor light and ancient Hindu rule glamorized. Their hatred against Hindus was gradually mellowed and converted into amiability. Cultural programs and stage dramas enacted by Hindus helped in bringing a change in the mindset of the Muslim Bengalis. Bengali nationalism was stirred by agitating language issue. Politics of agitation was introduced through frequent strikes and mob violence.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came into prominence in East Pakistan during the language riots in 1948 and in 1952. His rebellious stance against West Pakistan Establishment made him popular among Bengalis. He joined Awami League (AL) as a disciple of Suhrawardy. After the death of Suhrawardy in 1964, he maintained his pro-India stance and went astray.
RAW was established in 1968 with the primary aim of subverting East Bengalis and detaching eastern part from Pakistan. BSF under Brig Pande assisted RAW in its clandestine activities. Mujib was invited to Agartala in November 1963 where secession plan based on six points was finalized. The two surrogates of RAW, Tajuddin Ahmed and Nazrul Islam of AL were tasked not to let Mujib deviate from his course of secession.
After December 1970 elections in which AL swept the polls through manipulation, Mujib stance in the wake of political deadlock became uncompromising. He defied writ of the government, created a state within state and instigated ethnic cleansing of non-Bengalis. He was told by his patrons in India to force Gen Yahya to use force so that India could convince the world that it was Pakistan Army that had first denied them their constitutional right to takeover power and had now opted to crush them under their boots. Thus, AL would have a convincing case to pick up arms in defence and also gain sympathy of the world. Military action would pave the way for India to organize a civil war in East Pakistan leading towards secession. No sooner military action was launched on the night of 25 March 1971 to re-establish writ of the state, province wide rebellion was triggered by Indian military trained Mukti Bahini. 59 training camps were established all along the border to train and launch the rebels. After nine months of insurgency and cutting off the province from rest of the world, Indian military barged in.
After depriving Pakistan of its eastern limb in December 1971, RAW started hunting in Sindh where it fomented Sindhu Desh movement with the help of GM Sayyed. Terrorist camps were established at Ganganagar, Jaipur, Udhampur, Kishingarh, Bikaner, Barmer, Jaisalmir and Gandhinagar. Services of Hindus living in Sindh who had migrated to India during the1971 war and those still residing in Sindh were hired and made use of by a RAW cell at Jaipur.
Al-Zulfiqar established in 1979 after the hanging of ZA Bhutto was taken over completely by RAW in 1981 to carryout sabotage and subversion in Sindh. Its efforts were complimented by KGB-KHAD-RAW nexus using Afghan soil. PPP’s MRD movement in Sindh in 1983 was fully supported by India. After the creation of MQM in Karachi in 1984, the party was hijacked by RAW in 1986. It was helped to create militant wing and control Karachi and then follow Bangladesh model. NAP later renamed as ANP supported Kabul’s Pakhtunistan stunt and at the behest of Indian Congress opposed construction of Kalabagh dam.
None can deny that India has striven to keep Pakistan politically, economically and militarily weak and isolated. India’s seven strike corps and four RAPIDs are poised against Pakistan. Its entire military might was deployed along Pakistan border in 2002 and 2009. It is even now engaged in massive covert war in Balochistan and FATA and is also resorting to water terrorism by building series of dams over the three rivers flowing into Pakistan in violation of Indus Basin Treaty. Idea of balkanization of Pakistan was conceived by India. However, to its utter disappointment, it finds Pakistan as defiant as ever. It refuses to budge from its stated principle of relationship based on equality and mutual respect. It refuses to forgo its principled stance on Kashmir. Turn of events in the endgame in Afghanistan has put its plans to demolish Pakistan in jeopardy. In sheer frustration India resorts to false flag operations and its latest one is along the LoC in Kashmir but each time its falsehood gets exposed.
The writer is a retired Brig, defence analyst and columnist. [email protected]
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