It was a treat to see and hear Maliha Lodhi exercising her ‘right to reply’ privilege in the UN General Assembly Session, in response to the Indian Foreign Minister’s speech. It was during her brilliant performance that Ms. Lodhi picked up and briefly showed the photograph of a mutilated female face, referring to it as “the face of India’s democracy.” The Indians were quick on the counter-attack spearheaded by their media, which made headlines that the picture shown by the Pakistani Representative was not Indian, but an Arab girl seriously injured by Israeli bombing in Gaza.
The Indian propaganda machine may say whatever they want to, but the ‘faux pas’ cannot dilute or divert international cognizance of the reality that occupation forces in Occupied Kashmir are engaged in a horrific orgy of rape and murder, wherein use of pellet guns is an everyday affair. Employment of this weapon against unarmed Kashmiri men, women and even children, seeking an end to brutal occupation and right of self-determination, is an act that finds no parallel except perhaps atrocities committed during the ‘holocaust.’ Many would consider this an apt description since Indian Occupied Kashmir is nothing less than a concentration camp.
The Kashmiri nation has been historically defined as timid and easily subdued. Why is it then that these soft natured people have taken to the streets with unmitigated courage, against well-equipped occupation troops? The answer lies in history books – in the notorious deal between the British and Gulab Singh; successive brutal Dogra regimes; a viceroy lacking moral integrity, who collaborated in hijacking a mandate based on established principles and later a ‘malleable’ and inept United Nations that failed to enforce its resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
While the ‘civilized’ world twiddles its thumbs and watches events, even now occurring on the streets and incarceration camps in Srinagar, some critical questions have begun raising their heads amongst people at home. Why did Mr. Nawaz Sharif display a soft approach towards India and the Kashmir Dispute in spite of some great windows of opportunity that came his way? What is the extent of the Sharif Family’s nexus with India? Did the former PM deliberately render our exterior maneuver ineffective by retaining control of the Foreign Ministry with himself?
Had deals brokered with Indian Corporate entities remained purely in the business realm, there would have been a reason to overlook them. However, when such relationships begin manifesting effects on national security and core interests, then they start to drift closer and closer to more grave consequences, one of which is treason. The reluctance of the ex-PM to adequately reflect national sentiment on Kulbushan and Indian designs in Balochistan; silence on gross unprovoked Line of Control violations and a mystery shrouded meeting in Murree with Mr. Jindal are events that tend to lend basis to what is going around.
I have always considered a major portion of the Pakistani Nation as fiercely patriotic. What escapes reasoning then, is the tendency for people to vote for someone, who apparently ‘sleeps with the enemy.’ Is it then that our national character has sunk to new depths, where we have become blind and deaf to events around us. I sincerely hope and pray that such a thing has and will not happen.
Nonetheless, the direction in which our ex-PM and his cronies are headed is now becoming clear. New laws and constitutional amendments are in the offing. These will be designed, on the one hand, to neutralize the Apex Judiciary and accountability effectively and, on the other, check senior military leadership. If these changes are allowed to become law, it will be a debacle that will rank second only to the loss of East Pakistan.
The drama that is unfolding before us is – a disqualified PM, who does not know why he was disqualified. Add to this, a sitting PM, who pulls out all moral stops and provides a full protocol to someone who is appearing in court accused of acts counter to the dignity of his office. Then comes a coterie of Ministers, who are perhaps out of the sitting PM’s control and appear to have sold their moral and ethical obligations to the devil. Standing between them and their intentions are two national institutions under relentless attack – institutions that are displaying unbelievable tolerance and loyalty to the Constitution.