On January 24, 2024, foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi in a media briefing revealed that India was involved in committing extra-territorial and extra-judicial killings within Pakistan claiming that credible evidence of links between Indian agents and the assassination of two Pakistanis on our soil was available. He further said that these were killings-for-hire cases involving a sophisticated international setup spread over multiple jurisdictions. Indian agents used technology and safe havens on foreign soil to commit assassinations in Pakistan. They recruited, financed, and supported criminals, terrorists, and unsuspecting civilians to play defined roles in these assassinations.
He stands vindicated by a corroborative report in the English newspaper’ The Guardian’ last week saying that the Indian government had killed about 20 people in Pakistan since 2020. The paper published this report on the basis of interviews with officials of Indian intelligence and the documents shared by Pakistan which shows the involvement of Indian RAW in these attacks.
India under Modi has become a majoritarian state where minorities are being suppressed under a deliberate policy inspired by the ‘Hindutva” philosophy. It has also adopted terrorism as a state policy under which the detractors of the regime living in other countries are murdered besides fomenting and abetting terrorism in the neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan.
The killings of Pakistani nationals in their own country are not only a blatant violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan but also the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. India had also targeted an Indian dissenter and Sikh leader in Canada and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed it directly on India claiming that they had irrefutable evidence in this regard. Later it was reported that India tried a similar assassination attempt in the US but failed. The US protested but mildly. Nevertheless, these incidents in Canada and US did throw sufficient light on Indian acts of terrorism.
Perhaps it would be pertinent to recall Indian attempts to support insurgency in Balochistan and acts of terrorism on its soil. Kalbhushan Sudhir Jhadav a serving commander in the Indian Navy was arrested on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan while crossing over from Iran in a counter-intelligence operation. He was found in possession of a valid Indian passport with the fake name of Hussain Mubarak. During the investigations, Jhadav confessed that Indian intelligence agency RAW was involved in destabilizing Pakistan and he was a serving officer of the Indian Navy working in Pakistan at its behest. He also acknowledged that he launched a covert operation against Pakistan from the Iranian port of Chahbahar for which he used to get instructions from Joint Secretary of RAW Anil Gupta. According to him, RAW had been funding the Baloch separatists to carry out their insurgency operations. Kalbhushan also admitted that he had been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan on directions from RAW since 2013 and had a role in the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi. He was tried in a military court and awarded a death sentence which has not been carried out as yet.
The reign of terror unleashed by the Indian security forces in Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 5 August 2019 when it scraped the special status of the state, divided it into two territories, and made it part of India, also sends a shudder through the nerves. The killing spree continues but the global community does not seem bothered about the state terrorism being perpetrated on Kashmiris. International media and human rights organizations including Amnesty International have been continuously reporting blatant violations of human rights in the state which are properly documented. A report prepared by the UN Human Rights Commission also provides corroborative evidence in this regard.
India blamed Pakistan for having orchestrated the Pulwama incident and sent its planes across the border to target an alleged terrorist camp at Balakot. The later reports revealed that India itself had staged that tragedy to stir up anti-Pakistan sentiments to win the upcoming elections. India claimed that its planes had killed 350 terrorists. The falsehood of the Indian propaganda was immediately exposed by the local and international media. Pakistan justifiably retaliated and hit targets within India and also downed two Indian planes besides capturing an Indian pilot Abj Nandan. This brought the two countries almost on the brink of war but the intervention of friendly countries prevented this from happening. These happenings were a ranting testimony to which extent the Indian government under Modi can go to achieve its political objectives.
Pakistan has been drawing the attention of the international community to Indian-sponsored acts of terrorism within its territory and in this regard, a dossier was also presented to the UN and other big powers which unfortunately did not invoke appropriate response. The enactment of state terrorism by India and its ruthless continuation is an affront to the conscience of the global community as well as the United Nations.
Will the global community and UN take notice of it and strop India in its tracks to commit these heinous crimes against other states remains a million-dollar question. Regrettably, the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and international conventions are selectively employed. Global politics and management of international affairs are conducted through the prism of strategic, geo-political, and commercial interests. The reason why India gets away with such indiscretions and violations of the UN charter is that the big powers including the US, UK, and France are Indian allies and they look at things from the perspective of their strategic and commercial interests linked to that country. India is also their partner in achieving the objectives of the ‘stop China’ policy.
Even the UN is helpless because these powers enjoy absolute power (veto) in regard to settling international issues or disciplining a rogue nation. However, it does not mean that one should stop raising voice against injustice and criminal activities of a state in breach of the UN charter and international conventions relating to regulating inter-state affairs. Pakistan is justified in raising the issue of Indian terrorism at international forums to stir the conscience of the global community. It is said perseverance does pay off in the end.
Malik Muhammad Ashraf
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com