An Organized Plan to Create Rifts
By Asif Haroon Raja
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
India’s RAW strictly abides by tactics taught by Chanakya 2500 years ago. ‘Arthashastra’ gives copious lessons how Chanakya used to overcome his foes through deceit, guile and hypocrisy. Soon after the birth of Pakistan, Indian propaganda spearheaded through internal subversive forces within Pakistan and its foreign allies was unfolded to sow the seeds of dissension and disruption in Pakistani society and to weaken its foundation based on religion.
East Pakistan was chosen as the primary target for subversion and eventual absorption. It provided a fertile ground to achieve this end since a great deal of groundwork had already been done prior to 1947. They took 24 years to wean away the people of East Pakistan from the concept of united Pakistan and to make them look towards India – their erstwhile tormentors – to help them gain independence.
Having reaped rich harvest in 1971, RAW is continuing to follow the same themes and techniques against all its neighbors.
Strategically, India supports and spreads the idea of secessionist bodies in Pakistan. She is leaving no stone unturned to promote dissension and animosity among different communities inhibiting Pakistan and thus destabilize Pakistan politically and make it economically and militarily weak. Her psychological experts employ themes for Sindhi, Punjabi, Pathan, Mohajir, Baluchi and Saraiki audiences separately.
After 1971, India focused her attention on Sindh, where her psychological operators are hell-bent to create a situation akin to erstwhile East Pakistan. Hanging of ZA Bhutto in April 1979 and its emotional impact on the people of Sindh was exploited to the hilt to create hatred against the army and Punjab. RAW provided all out support to Al-Zulfiqar led by Bhutto sons and later to the MQM’s militant wing to take control of Karachi through terrorization and to employ tactics similar to Awami League to create a state within state. Mrs. Indira Gandhi supported the MRD movement in Sindh in 1983 which kept simmering till 1985 and the call for Sindhu Desh grew louder. Rural-urban divide in Sindh was skillfully widened.
India also maintained contacts with NAP (now ANP) leaders because of their historical softness towards the Congress and also kept instigating former Soviet Union and Afghan government to keep the issues of Pakhtunistan and Greater Baluchistan alive. Once India entered into a strategic partnership with USA after 1990, New Delhi intensified its propaganda against Pakistan on the issues of cross border terrorism into occupied Kashmir, drug peddling and nuclear proliferation with a view to declaring it as a terrorist state. The main purpose behind the propaganda warfare was to hide India’s own unchecked atrocities against the Kashmiris in IHK and to put Pakistan on the defensive. Unable to cope with the freedom movement in Kashmir, India accused Pakistan of waging a proxy war and blamed certain Jihadi organizations involved in terrorism and sponsored by the ISI.
For the consumption of her their audience and for the younger generation in Pakistan, Indian psychological wizards kept feeding them on the platitude that Hindus and Muslims were living together in peace and harmony until the British inspired gambit divided them. They guilefully conceal the facts of history that in actuality the Hindus entered into an unholy alliance with the British to bring down the fortunes of the Muslims. They are trying to assert that the founders of Pakistan were misled into making an error of judgment, which must now be corrected.
They conveniently forget that as late as 1946 the founder of Pakistan was in favor of united India and it was the Indian Congress leaders that thwarted all attempts towards conciliation.
India did not reciprocate Jinnah’s call for burying the past and to live as friendly neighbors. It had become abundantly clear from the attitude of the Indian leaders that they had agreed to the partition with a heavy heart and nurtured a fond hope that sooner than later Pakistan will return to the Indian ‘fold’. [Editor’s Note: Pakistan was never part of the ‘Indian fold’. Muslims ruled India before the British, but this is another story.]
In order to subvert Pakistan ideologically and culturally, India has developed its electronic and print media and psychological warfare in a big way and is currently using these weapons adroitly and achieving good results. The peace agreement signed with Pakistan in January 2004 provided an excellent opportunity to India to carry out cultural invasion and make deep inroads into Pakistan’s liberal sections of the society. Artists, film actresses, singers, models, fashion designers, sportsmen, westernized elements are cultivated through regular exchange of cultural and musical programs and fashion shows. Most of our private TV channels have come under the influence of Indian culture.
India’s major target audience is the youth of Pakistan. The element of hostility is being gradually removed from their minds by stating that the Pakistani leaders have unduly inflamed the animosity between the two neighbors out of political expediency. Our own pseudo intellectuals and paid writers are helping them in presenting a soft and friendly image of India. Political figures are cultivated and made India-friendly. Such guileful invasions of the minds could have drastic effects on the new generation.
The Indian RAW in cahoots with MI-6 and others based in Kabul after 9/11 has very cunningly exploited the existing vulnerabilities of our socio-politico-economic life and created cleavages in the society. They have common interests to wean the people of Pakistan away from patriotism and Pakistani identity.
There is a widely held view in Pakistan that the growth of militancy in FATA and insurgency in Baluchistan together with suicide bombings in Pakistan are the handiwork of the nexus based in Kabul which is indulging in dirty tricks to destabilize Pakistan politically and cause economic deathblow to Pakistan so that its nuclear assets could be hijacked. It is most unfortunate that today Pakistan despite being a nuclear power is feeling so weak that it is accepting blatant intrusion of foreign powers without a whimper.
Our rulers are least concerned about sabotage and subversion activities of RAW despite having irrefutable proof of its involvement in Baluchistan, FATA and Swat. They feel shy of even naming the involved agency what to talk of launching a protest. On the other hand, any act of sabotage taking place in India is promptly placed at the doorstep of Pakistan even without carrying out preliminary investigations. It had carried out the biggest ever troop concentration along our border in December 2001 on the uncorroborated allegation that Pakistan had a hand in a terrorist attack on Lok Sabha. Even Karazi gathered courage to accuse Pakistan of supporting cross border terrorism and openly threatened to send his troops into FATA to combat Pakistani Taliban.
While we are being slowly bled to death, it is to be seen how the new leadership reverses the trend of docility towards intrusive foreign powers which miss no opportunity to inflict destructive blows upon the federation of Pakistan.
Pakistan is not weak; it is our weak-willed leaders that had wilted under pressure after 9/11 and ever since have made Pakistan vulnerable to foreign subversion. Alas! So far the PPP leaders appear to be following the old policy of appeasement of Musharraf. They have hardly taken any note of blatant attack on a security check-post in Mohmand Agency and repeated incursions of US drones into our tribal belt. Defense Minister helplessly bleats that nothing can be done. The ones who have the guts to fight them back are being hounded and killed.
(Asif Haroon Raja is a defence and political analyst based in Rawalpindi and author of several books) WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM
