BJP is desperate to woo Hindu voters to its cause of attaining victory in the forthcoming Indian elections. Since it has little to show in the realm of development during its last tenure of government (1998-2004) and was rejected by the voters, this time around, it is appealing to the Hindu voters’ sense of patriotism by whipping up anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim sentiments through false flag operations.
Extremist Hindus have even recruited fanatics in the Indian military to support their anti-Pakistan/anti-Muslim machinations, some of which was discussed in this scribe’s previous op-ed titled ‘VK Singh’s covert operations’.
Desperate attempts were made to bring international censure on Pakistan at the 68th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). A series of well planned and odiously orchestrated assaults were launched to create the desired effects. Twin terrorist attacks in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) targeting a Police Station and a Military Camp, killing a Lieutenant Colonel and fourteen others including Police and Army officers was achieved by the perpetrators of the atrocious act by disguising themselves as Indian Army officials to gain entry into Heera Nagar Police Station in Samba and later hijacking a truck to attack the Base Camp of a Cavalry Regiment. To pinpoint the blame on Pakistan, the so called Shuhada (Martyrs') Brigade was made to claim responsibility for the attacks in a phone call to a local English Daily, The Kashmir Monitor. On cue, Indian media burst into the oft repeated slogans of Pakistan bashing. The assailants had learnt their lessons well. In a previous attack on August 5, 2013 they had disguised themselves in Pakistan Army uniforms; to which International analysts had opined that if Pakistan Army was responsible, it would have dressed up in Indian Army uniforms to hide its identity.
Pakistan condemned the terrorist attacks but vehemently refuted the allegation of having sponsored the assault. On the other hand, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh issued a mature and prudent statement that such attacks would not deter India from pursuing peace through dialogue and the assaults will not be allowed to derail efforts to find solutions of all problems through peaceful talks. He also upheld his commitment of holding talks with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of UNGA in New York. Unfortunately BJP and extremist elements of Indian media continued to blatantly blame Pakistan for the attacks and harp on their incessant demand of Manmohan Singh to call off talks with Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Despite the BJP’s last ditch maneuver to convince PM Manmohan Singh to refrain from holding talks with his counterpart, Manmohan Singh, who had received the news of the brazen attacks in Frankfurt, enroute to UNGA and having an inkling of the identity of the real perpetrators of the crime, condemned the attack but refused to name Pakistan being responsible for them.
Earlier, the BJP had used its other Hindutva counterparts of the Sangh Parivar like RSS, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and like minded cliques of Indian Armed Forces to escalate border tension along LoC in IOK, in an attempt to sabotage the prospects of a meeting between the two Prime Ministers.
Due to the pressure exerted by BJP and its co-conspirators, Manmohan Singh initially delayed his commitment of meeting with Nawaz Sharif on the side lines of UNGA and BJP was hopeful that the Indian Premier will succumb to its demands, but he ultimately preferred to follow the righteous path and met his Pakistani counterpart in a meaningful dialogue. This forced the hand of BJP. In its frustration, it orchestrated terrorist attacks against Indian troops again, pinning the blame for the attacks on Pakistan. Meanwhile it portrayed Dr. Manmohan Singh as weak, presenting Narendra Singh Modi, BJP’s hardliner candidate for the Prime Minister’s slot as one who would “sort out Pakistan and Muslims”, if elected to power.
Pakistan’s High Commission in India gave timely rebuttal to Indian media and BJP’s allegations stating that Pakistan was not involved in these attacks and that it was itself the victim of terrorism. The recent attack in Swat, claiming the lives of senior Army Officers and the heinous assault on Peshawar Church is ample evidence of it.
Claiming responsibility by Shuhada Brigade of India reveals that the attacks were foisted inside India and that Indian internal factor is responsible for such mayhem. Shifting blame on Pakistan in BJP style is nothing but reflection of Hindu mindset driven by hate emotions but speaks volumes for its desperation to come to power by any means.
The writer is a former group captain of PAF, who also served as air and naval attaché at Riyadh. Currently, he is a columnist, analyst and host of programme Defence and Diplomacy on PTV.