Pakistan at Cross Roads

Do the Western and Eastern borders have the same value for Pakistan? Pakistan has always retaliated to Indian aggression on the eastern border, as India has been a traditional rival of Pakistan since 1947.There is no doubt that Indian leadership has never recognized Pakistan as an independent and sovereign State. Indian regimes have times and again made futile efforts to disturb peace and tranquility inside Pakistan just to create anarchy in Pakistan and put it on the track of destabilization. Another main and root cause of tension and violence between the two neighbour countries is the long standing issue of Kashmir.Kashmiris want to merge the valley into Pakistan as majority of them are Muslims. After a war between India and Pakistan in 1947,when the tribal fighters had penetrated into the occupied valley of Kashmir to vacate it from the Indian forces, Nehro the top leadership of India had knocked at the doors of the UNO to halt the war in Kashmir. The UN had been assured that India would conduct plebiscite to ask the Kashmiris to decide their future themselves. But since then the Indian regimes have not been willing for plebiscite in Kashmir keeping in view the resolutions passed by the UN general assembly and the security councils. After dejection from the UNO, the Kashmiris started an indigenous movement to get freedom under the shadow of swords. More than ninety thousand Kashmiris have laid their lives for the independence of Kashmir and a double figure has been crippled or dishonoured by Indian army.

Now the Indian army and the government have probably staged the drama of the Mumbai attacks just to find a pretext to blackmail Pakistan internationally and to divert world pressure towards Pakistan to surrender it. Prior to a thorough investigation into Mumbai incidents, Indian regime leveled serious and unethical charges against Pakistan for its unfound involvement in the incidents. What does Indian regime mean by putting its forces on high red alert and giving threats to Pakistan? It seems that India wants to follow in the footprints of US that soon after 9/11 without any solid proof held Al-Qaeda and Taliban accountable for the attacks on the twin towers. Indian government and chiefs of security agencies should accept their failure for the deadliest attacks in Mumbai rather than to blame Pakistan or its ISI for carrying out the attacks. This is also crystal clear that Indian army and its spy agency RAW is involved in hatching conspiracies against Pakistan on the soil of Afghanistan. More than once the security agencies of Pakistan have caught Indian spies in Swat and the tribal areas and were shown on media to prove that India had a covert hand in the turmoil in Pakistan.

Pakistan is surely a great victim of terrorism by aligning in the so-called war on terror. The bomb blasts and the deadliest suicide attacks in Pakistan are all results of Pakistan’s alliance with the US against the Muslim militants in Afghanistan or in the tribal areas. Al-Qaeda and Taliban are not opposed to Pakistan or its forces, but they have launched the war against security forces in Fata just to detract Pakistan from US alliance to keep it on a distance from US led forces in Afghanistan. They are also opposed to Pakistan’s covert agreement with US for logistic support, providing space and sharing intelligence on militants. Pakistan has surely paid a huge price for supporting the war on terror.

For the first time in the last six decades Pakistan has deployed more than eighty thousand troops and established some six hundred posts to check the infiltration of the militants on the western border with Afghanistan. During the occupation of Afghanistan when the Red Russian armies were present in Afghanistan, the Pakistan army had not been deployed there on the western border. The western border has always been protected by the brave tribesmen without any compensation with national spirit of patriotism. The tribesmen have never misused the Western border or done any intrigues against Pakistan or Afghanistan. After escalation of tension on the eastern border with India, Pakistan has no other option rather than to pullback its army from the tribal areas and the Western border with Afghanistan. Pakistan will surely halt military operation in Fata to counter Indian aggression on the east. The militants fighting in tribal areas would also move towards the eastern border because the militants would never like Indian secular State to dictate to Pakistan, invade or disintegrate it. Militants are all fighting a holy war against the infidels whether they are in Afghanistan, Iraq or Kashmir etc. Their agenda is international. Pakistan army and the militants in Fata could join hands to stop Indian military adventure on the eastern border. US led forces in Afghanistan would also face tough resistance and the war on terror would get a set back once the tension grows on the eastern border. Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban and Hizb-e- Islami Hekmatyar have already expedited the war in Afghanistan to push out US led Nato armies from Afghanistan.

Western and eastern borders have the same significance for Pakistan. Pakistan will protect its frontiers and maintain its sovereignty at any cost. But strange to say that Pakistan has gone ahead of the US in the war against the Muslims under the cover of terrorism. Pakistan has preferred to safeguard US interests rather than to keep supreme its own national interests. The whole turmoil in Pakistan is due to its US based foreign policy. Actually the Western border has not been safe at least for the last one year. US and NATO planes, predator drones and commandos have repeatedly violated the air and ground spaces of Pakistan to carry out assaults in Waziristan, Bajaur and Mohmand agencies under the garb of hot pursuit. So far innocent tribal children and women have been killed in the US strikes in tribal areas. The elected government has only condemned these US drone missile attacks in the tribal areas. It is really very shameful for our rulers to let alone the tribal people at the mercy of Allah. The government and the army have not fulfilled their constitutional obligations to safeguard the Western border from US aggression. America cannot win the war in Afghanistan without the full-fledged support of Pakistan. Pakistan should not play a dual role with regard to protection of the eastern and the western borders. The Pukhtoons of the NWFP and particularly those of the tribal areas consider it a deep-rooted international conspiracy to crush them in the war on terror. Poverty stricken Pukhtoons cannot be terrorists. They have not gone any where to fight against any army ,but imperialists have always come to home towns of Pukhtoons to kill them.