Page 16 - Pakistan Link - March 17, 2023

P16 - PAKISTAN LINK - MARCH 17, 2023 COMMENTARY
he Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukraine Will Go for be impassable due to mud, and men May. Ukraine knows that the Western
n By Nayyer Ali MD
and equipment will be able to oper- appetite for a struggle with Russia is
ate more effectively. Ukraine has been not limitless. They need to show that
is now just over a year old, and training and equipping a strike force of they can not only hold off the Russians
TPutin is running out of cards Victory in May about 30,000 soldiers. The transfer of but can actually defeat them on the bat-
to play. His attempt to seize control of Western tanks and personnel carriers, tlefield. Ukraine has resisted any calls
Ukraine in a lightning in particular German Leopard 2 tanks for negotiations in which Russia keeps
strike of armored forces and the American Bradley Infantry parts of Ukraine permanently. The
was blunted in the first Fighting Vehicle, will give the Ukraini- Ukrainians will probably strike toward
few weeks of the war by ans the advanced equipment needed to the south, between the Crimea and the
a combination of poor go on the offensive. Russian-held territory in the Donbas
planning, Ukrainian The Russians have been using this to the east. Such a move, if successful,
courage, and Western winter to create a belt of fortifications will isolate Crimea and lead to its re-
anti-tank weapons, particularly Ameri- along the frontlines. These entrenched capture by Ukraine. At that point the
can Javelin and British NLAW missiles. positions are supposed to make a Russians will have clearly lost the war,
After withdrawing from the northern Ukrainian offensive fail. But fixed po- and will look to end it.
regions of Ukraine last spring, Russia sitions can be a deathtrap if an oppo- A Russian defeat is a key US pri-
has suffered one defeat after another. nent can conduct powerful precision ority. With Russia defeated, the US will
The sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the strikes. The Ukrainians have used the be free to pivot entirely to containing
flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, HIMARS rocket system to great effect, China. Once this defeat happens the
was the biggest symbolic loss. But Rus- but it does not have the power or range fate of Russia will be hard to predict.
sian forces were pushed out of the re- that airstrikes could give. While the The Soviet Union collapsed into
gions near Kharkhiv in the fall, and the US has so far not been willing to give 15 different countries in 1991. But
west bank of the Dnieper in the south as Ukraine F-16 fighters, it has allowed Russia is not purely Russian. It has
winter was setting in. Ukraine has resisted any calls for negotiations in which Russia keeps parts of Ukraine Ukraine to have access to JDAM guid- large minority populations scattered
For the last three months the front permanently. The Ukrainians will probably strike toward the south, between the Crimea and ed bombs. These are powerful weap- throughout its landmass. Chechnya
lines have been basically static. But un- the Russian-held territory in the Donbas to the east. Such a move, if successful, will isolate ons and can be carried by existing MiG is perhaps the best known, but there
derneath what looks like stasis a lot of Crimea and lead to its recapture by Ukraine – Harvard Gazette 29 Ukrainians fighter jets. The planes are several others. Will Russian defeat
furious activity has been taking place. how to detect and destroy the Iranian ily on the small town of Bakhmut, and can approach a target, go into a climb, lead to the collapse of the Putin regime

Putin attempted to take out Ukraine’s made drones that Russia has been using. the Ukrainians have reinforced and and release the bombs. The JDAM’s and the disintegration of Russia? Can
electric grid with precision missile and Putin called up several hundred resisted rather than withdraw. They can then be sent to precise GPS guided a liberal democratic Russia be rebuilt
drone strikes on power plants. While thousand Russian recruits to reinforce appear to think that Russian losses are coordinates over 50 miles away. With from this collapse, just as the East Eu-
that caused severe power outages, they his army last fall. But these raw troops enormous in this battle and so are will- this weapon system, Ukraine can hit ropean nations transitioned to liberal
were temporary, and Ukraine has been have received little training or equip- ing to extend the fight for this other- Russian positions without having to democracies and joined the West in
able to keep the lights on. Meanwhile, ment and have been used as cannon wise strategically pointless location. send its fighter jets into Russian con- the 1990’s? Or will the most likely out-
it appears that Putin has exhausted his fodder in a series of pointless assaults Where does the war go from here? trolled airspace. come be an authoritarian and corrupt

stockpile of precision long range weap- that have gone nowhere. In particular, With winter weather lifting in the next The timetable for all these ele- state that continues the Putin system
ons, and the Ukrainians have figured out the Russians have been pressing heav- six weeks, the open fields will no longer ments coming together points toward but without Putin?

Javed Akhtar Believes Urdu separated from Hindustan. Now Paki- he said that the terrorists responsible
stan said that Kashmir is ours… Will for the 2008 Mumbai attacks were still
Belongs to Hindustan you believe that? I think, ‘No’! Like- “roaming freely” in Pakistan.
wise, Urdu is a Hindustan[i] language
“The truth is that blaming each
and it remains [so].” other is not going to work. We need
Akhtar thinks the focus of the to reduce tensions in the region. We’re
fter Indian lyricist Javed saying that it doesn’t belong to Paki- youth has shifted from Urdu and Hindi from Mumbai, we saw how our city
Akhtar attended the Faiz Fes- stan or Egypt but to Hindustan. “Urdu to English. “We must speak in Hindi was attacked. Those people weren’t
A tival in Pakistan last month hasn’t come from any other place… because it’s our national language,” he from Norway, were they? Nor did they
and left disaster in his wake after mak- It is our own language. It isn’t spoken said, adding that language is not based come from Egypt. They are still roam-
ing some offensive statements, he ap- outside Hindustan… Pakistan also on religion, but region. “If language ing around in your country. If these
pears to be ready to court controversy came into existence after Partition was based on religion, then the whole complaints are in a Hindustani’s heart,
once again with his recent comments from India, earlier it was a part of India of Europe would have one language. you shouldn’t take offence,” he said.
on Urdu and where it is spoken. only. So, the language isn’t spoken out- The Indian lyricist said Pakistan came into That’s why the language is not of reli- Actor Resham who was also pres-
Akhtar and his wife actor Shabana side Hindustan…” he explained. existence after Partition, and that language is gion, but of the region.” ent at Zafar’s dinner party condemned
Azmi recently launched an Urdu po- He highlighted the role Punjab not based on religion but region He led the Indian delegation at the the lyricist’s comments. The Teefa in
etry album called Shayarana — Sartaj. played in the growth and prominence leave this language? Because of Parti- Faiz Festival in Lahore in February and Trouble actor himself said he wasn’t
According to Indian Express, during of Urdu in the past. “Punjab has a big tion? Because of Pakistan? Urdu should was invited to a dinner hosted at singer aware of what Akhtar’s “insensitive re-
the launch, the screenwriter stressed contribution towards Urdu and it is be given attention,” he said. “Earlier it Ali Zafar’s home. A day or so later, a clip marks” as he wasn’t present at the fes-
the importance of the Urdu language, the language of India! But why did you was only Hindustan — Pakistan later from his talk at the fest went viral where tival. -Images

n By Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy Balochistan Misunderstood visit circa 1960) I could not figure out not a moment in worrying about
Islamabad, Pakistan which of a multiplicity of security or- Gwadaris, the original inhabitants.
ganizations has the top charge. Each Pushed away from the harbor, ar-
ou mean they actually read down high-school compound, the GBF stop. For fear of weakening CPEC, au- protects its own turf and probably has eas permitted for their fishing keep
books in Balochistan?” My was unlike the tepid, uninspiring Kara- thorities are hypersensitive about nega- its own extra-salary income sources. shrinking. A proposed new road will
Y Lahori friend sounded skepti- chi-Lahore type of lit-fests. Held in five- tive news. Except for that cleared from Along all highways and major roads, devastate the local boat construction
cal. For him, as for most Pakistanis, star hotels with abundant corporate and ‘above’, print and TV media may not hilltops bristle with Omani-style forts industry. The old town looks like a
Balochistan is a war embassy funding, these are feel-good touch Balochistan on anything. and fortifications. Bunkers and check dump, but Rawalpindi doesn’t care.
zone where people events with lots of self-congratulations, None has underscored this sad posts are everywhere. Those building the port — the
want guns not books. but topics and speakers deemed contro- fact more brilliantly than a fisherman’s Passing through the dry-as-dust Chinese — are invisible. Locals hu-
But, just back from the versial are carefully excluded. son, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rahman town of Turbat, I wondered what made morously call them yajooj-majooj.
2023 Gwadar Book My friend was pleasantly sur- of Gwadar’s Haq Do Tehreek. At last the local economy tick. Answer: smug- Instead of romping around the incred-
Festival, I told him he prised to learn that more female stu- year’s Asma Jehangir Conference in gling. No attempt — not even the flim- ibly beautiful beaches, they live inside
was not only wrong dents than male students asked ques- Lahore, he stole the show. When a siest — is made to hide the free flow that which from afar looks like a prison
but as wrong as wrong could be. Young tions after my Gwadar University mouse found its way into a halwai’s of petrol, oil and LNG from across the camp. Once the project is over, I am
Baloch are thirsty to know; they buy lecture. I had long complained to him shop in Lahore, he thundered, Paki- Iranian border. On their way to Kara- sure they will be anxious to get back
nearly three times more books than that, over the past 35-40 years, female stani media was set ablaze. But when chi and parts of Punjab, pickup trucks home and savor freedom.
sold at literary festivals in Karachi, La- students at my old university in Islam- dead bodies appear by roadsides in loaded with fuel-filled jerry cans are the A near-accidental visit to the
hore, or Islamabad. abad have taken up the veil and turned Balochistan, none dare whisper. The largest fraction of road traffic. Luxury Gwadar Institute of Technology turned
More importantly, this festival into passive listeners, rarely summon- redoubtable maulana, also a Jamaat-i- coaches to Karachi, I was told, have a out to be a surreal experience. A plaque
— and others I have attended in Balo- ing the courage to stand up and ask. Islami leader, is currently under arrest tank under the chassis containing eight says this super-modern institution was
chistan — was organic, energetic and But if my well-read, well-trav- and charged with murder. People say to ten thousand liters. Pre-assigned cuts handed over by China in 2021. The
unfettered. Thankfully, I neither saw elled, and well-meaning friend was so he is at the center of a tussle between warm pockets along the way. auditoriums, lecture halls, classrooms,
nor heard support for BLA/BLF terror- consistently wrong, what’s going on in two agencies, one of which wants him One fact — more than any other and laboratories are picture perfect. I
ists. With a shoestring budget, staffed by other minds? When news is blacked in, the other out. — strikes a visitor instantly. The men counted over 60 training simulators
young volunteers, and held inside a run- out, good news and bad news both As an outsider to Gwadar (last who designed New Gwadar wasted (Continued on page 23)
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