BJP behind terrorist attacks
By 
Mohammad Jamil
Recent 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, are indeed condemnable. The terrorists had disguised using Indian Army uniform and managed to enter Heera Nagar Police Station in Samba. Later hijacking a truck, they attacked the Base Camp of a Cavalry Regiment. Shohada Brigade (Martyr’s Brigade) claimed responsibility for these attacks in a phone call to a local English Daily, The Kashmir Monitor. Pakistan has condemned these terrorist attacks in strong words. The attack had come at a time when India and Pakistan’s prime ministers were to meet at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. Despite the fact both the BJP and the Congress are equally responsible for the repression in IOK, but BJP leaders are resorting to hate-Muslim and anti-Pakistan speeches to appease Hindu extremists and attract Hindu majority votes. But it could cost the BJP ire and displeasure of 180 million Muslims in India.
However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeing through the game plan of the BJP issued a statement that such attacks would not deter India from pursuing peace through dialogue and that such attacks will not be allowed to derail efforts to find solutions of all problems through peaceful dialogue. He held talks with PM Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York, and did not care for the vituperations from BJP leader Narendera Modi. Unfortunately, the BJP and extremist elements of Indian media blatently and shamelessly blamed Pakistan for these attacks. BJP had repeated its demand to PM Manmohan Singh to call off talks with Pakistani counterpart. BJP opposed talks with Pakistani PM and instead had planned to exploit Pakistani factor to win Hindu votes in the forthcoming elections. There is a possibility that the Congress would benefit from Muslim-hate speeches, as Muslims in India are likely to vote for the Congress considering it a lesser evil.
There is a widespread perception that terrorist attacks in Samba town were engineered by BJP to persuade PM Manmohan Singh to refrain from holding talks with his counterpart. Earlier, BJP used its Hindu connections (RSS and like minded cliques of Indian Armed Forces) to escalate border tension along LoC in IOK, thereby obscuring the chances and dimming the hopes to proceed meaningfully on peace process. Due to BJP’s pressure and like-minded media elements, PM Manmohan Singh had procrastinated on confirming his meeting with PM Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York. BJP was hopeful that premier will buckle under its pressure, but Manmohan Singh preferred to hold talks with PM Nawz Sharif. BJP’s frustration led them to machinate terrorist attacks against their own troops. The aim was to create hatred against Pakistan by alleging that these attacks were planned and executed by Pakistan.
Pakistan was quick enough to denounce the terrorist attacks in IOK. Pakistan’s High Commission in India gave timely rebuttal to Indian media and BJP allegations, stating that Pakistan was not involved in these attacks and that Pakistan was itself victim of terrorism. Recent terrorist attack in Peshawar Church is a case in point. Claiming responsibility by Shohada Brigade of India reveals that the attacks were engineered 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. Anyhow, India had initially claimed that terrorists attired in Pakistan military uniform killed Indian soldiers. But after pressure from BJP and other extremists, he retracted from this statement and blamed Pakistan military. Anti-Pakistan statements with provocative themes and jargons by India are deplorable, especially when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has gone extra mile to have good relations with India.
In fact, their aim is to keep Pakistan embroiled in a security dilemma and incite it into arms race so that it could not revive its economy. The process of talks or the back door diplomacy is not being given a chance because Indian Army Generals are against reconciliation and friendly relationship as desired by the government of Pakistan. In January 2013 also, clashes between Indian and Pakistani soldiers on the LoC had stirred tension between the two countries. In fact, Indian military had not only martyred Pakistani soldiers but also propagated against Pakistan Army for having crossed the LoC and beheaded two Indian soldiers. However, the continued violations of ceasefire on LoC by the Indian Army and offensive overtures made by over-zealous media and government officials are deplorable. But there is something sinister behind these events, and BJP is on the forefront in propaganda blitz against Pakistan to attract voters in the elections to be held in 2014. But there is something more to it.
After the US and the West realized that sidelining Pakistan in the post-drawdown Afghanistan is fraught, they brought Pakistan on board at least in regard to holding talks with the Taliban to have some semblance of peace in Afghanistan. This change in American policy irked India and Afghanistan, and it was in this backdrop that Indian civil and military leadership as well as media started propaganda campaign against Pakistan. However, Pakistan has been talking peace while Indian leaders continued to stir tension one way or another. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has many a time expressed his wish to have cordial relations with India, and is eager to settle all the disputes with India including Kashmir through dialogue. It is true that the war between the two nuclear states is not an option; but India should not take advantage of this situation. The denial of right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir as envisaged in UNSC resolution would prove a festering sore, and unless the Kashmir dispute is resolved to the satisfaction of Kashmiris, Pakistan and India the region will remain in the throes of violence and tension.
