Pakistan Day: Deeds, Not Words Matter

By Sajjad Shaukat

The 23rd of March 1940 was a watershed in the history of the Sub Continent, when All India Muslim League passed the Resolution in Lahore for the creation of an independent state. Now, it is popularly called as Pakistan Resolution. Earlier, in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930, the idea of a homeland for Muslims in their majority areas had been envisioned by the poet Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal, and had become the aspiration of Indian As a matter of fact, the British colonialists in connivance with majority Hindu population had manipulated and targeted Muslims through every possible way. In that background, Muslims started struggle for a separate state. Prior to the Lahore session of Muslim League, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had specified to this historical congregation of the Muslims, the watch-words of ‘Faith, Unity and Discipline’ which were not only necessary for waging the battle for an independent homeland, but also for present Pakistan. So, while struggling against the enemies, the essence of these watch-words, is unity which is the real spirit of the Pakistan Resolution.

However, it was due to the selfless practical unity among the Muslims under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam that Pakistan became a tangible reality. But that unity started declining after passing through various crises, and the result was separation of East Pakistan in 1971, as the India manipulated differences between East Pakistan and the West Pakistan. The 23rd March which is celebrating by every Pakistani as the Pakistan Day, has come at a time when Pakistan is facing multiple threats of grave nature, which are not only worrying all the citizens, but are also creating division between the rulers and the opposition parties including rival politicians, taking the country towards anarchy. The Pakistan Day has come at a time when Pakistan’s security forces have been facing a different war, while enemy is also different, which employs subversive activities of various kinds which also include internal and external challenges. In these terms, Pakistan is in the state of new war, being waged by the Armed Forces and intelligence agencies against terrorists. In this respect, our Armed Forces have almost obtained their objectives in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) through military operation Zarb-e-Azb against the terrorists who had challenged the writ of the state, and had frightened the entire nation by their terror-acts. In Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi and other parts of the country including tribal areas our security forces and law-enforcing agencies are coping with the militants.

Unfortunately, it is because of lack of solidarity among our politicians, leaders and media that foreign opportunists have been manipulating the chaotic situation of Pakistan in order to fulfill their secret agenda by destabilizing the country which is the only nuclear country in the Islamic World. In the past few years, nefarious designs of some foreign secret agencies like Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad can be gauged from a number of anti-Pakistan developments such as their support to insurgency in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, separatism in Balochistan and targeted killings especially in Karachi coupled with subversive acts all over the country. Pakistan which has become special arena of this different war has been facing terror-activities such as suicide attacks, bomb blasts, targeted killings, ruthless beheadings of the innocent people, assaults on security personnel and prominent religious figures. Besides blowing children schools and attacking the female teachers in order to deny education to girls, the terrorists, particularly of the Indian-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also targeted mosques, Imambargahs, mausoleums, temples, Churches and disgraced dead bodies. Their pitiless acts resulted into killings of several persons in Pakistan. And Pakistan is facing multi-faceted crises such as loadshedding of gas and electricity, soaring prices, unemployment, crimes, lack of health facilities, and dependence upon the US-led developed countries, IMF and World Bank for financial aid. Externally, Pak Army and Rangers have boldly been responding to India’s unprovoked firing at the Line of Control in Kashmir including Working Boundary in Sialkot and other sectors. While, the fundamentalist party BJP led by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is implementing anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan agenda. In this context, BJP leader Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, a staunch promoter of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) stated on July 12, 2014 that India needed only two years to defeat Pakistan militarily, and the only solution of Kashmir was war, as “there is no peaceful, democratic solution.

Moreover, in the recent years, Pakistan’s security forces also faced cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan side, encountering heavily-armed militants who from time to time, target check sts of the Army, and other civil and military installations. As regards the unity, no doubt, it was displayed among all segments of society, after the TTP massacred 132 school children at Army Public School and College in Peshawar on December 16, 2014—as the situation warranted bold and firm decisions to deal the menace of terrorism, especially the threat of the TTP and its banned affiliated groups. In this regard, the government, encouraged by the resolve of public opinion has responded prudently, and  lifted the moratorium on death penalty awarded to the criminals according to law. Taking note of the delicate moment, on January 2, 2015, political and military leaders agreed on a draft of legislative measures which paved the way for establishment of special military trial courts. It was unanimously agreed that the 20 points (National Action Plan) enunciated in the All Parties Conference (APC) Resolution of December 24, 2014 shall be acted upon expeditiously—the bill as 22nd (Constitutional) Amendment has been enforced soon after its approval from the parliament. Now, special military courts have been established and the ruthless terrorists facing death penalty are rapidly being hanged.

But, it is not enough, because it is war of every patriot Pakistani against terrorists, as enemy is different, and it cannot leave on the security forces alone to wage this different conflict of history. In this context, Pakistan Day demands cooperation of every citizen, politician, and religious leader with the security forces and agencies to defeat these merciless terrorists. In case of Pakistan’s war against terrorism, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif has himself started supervising the military action against terrorists, and as part of ongoing operations in Waziristan and Khyber Agency, particularly the operation, Zarb-e-Azb, several terrorists have been killed during air strikes. While emphasizing national unity against terrorists, Gen. Raheel has repeatedly stated, “Our resolve has taken new height”, and added “We will continue to go after the inhuman beasts, their facilitators till their final elimination.”

Today, Pakistan stands at the crossroads of its destiny, facing internal and external challenges and threats to the national security of the country. At this critical moment, the 23rd March demands true national unity, which must be shown practically. This significant day demands that our political leaders must pledge that they will not manipulate their regional and provincial differences at the cost of the national interests so as to grab political power. In this connection, a blind dedication to one’s own race, tribe and creed should not be allowed to create hatred in one group against the other. They must avoid exploiting present thorny issues in order to increase their vote-bank at the cost of the integration of the country. If any controversy arises, it can better be settled in consonance with the constitution. For this aim, in order to castigate the conspiracy of the external enemies against the integrity of the country, our political leaders, media and human rights groups must also stop manipulating any crisis against Pak Army and country’s primary secret agency, ISI whose image are deliberately being tarnished by the external plotters. True and selfless unity against the foreign enemies requires that our rulers and leaders of other political parties and must create national cohesion among various segments of society.

Particularly, our electronic media should give a matching response to malicious propaganda of the US-led some western countries including India and Israel which are distorting the image of No doubt, at this crucial time, Pakistan’s survival lies in selfless unity and strong cohesion as at present, even a layman can note that our country is in chaos and it seems as if there is a “war of all against all” in the sense of ‘Hobbesian state of nature.” On the occasion of Pakistan Day, we must follow the essence of the Pakistan Resolution in real terms by displaying practical unity which is not possible unless the government, the opposition leaders, civil societies and media owners including all other segments of society pledge to sign a charter of integration which is very necessary to pull the country out of the ongoing serious crises and threats. They must know that these are deeds, not words which matter.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

World Water Day & Pakistan

                                                              

By Sajjad Shaukat

Every year, World Water Day is celebrated on March 22 on global level, focusing attention on  the water crisis as well as the solutions to address it.  An  international  day  to  celebrate  freshwater  was  recommended  at  the  1992  United  Nations  Conference  on  Environment  and  Development.  The  United  Nations  General  Assembly  responded by designating March 22, 1993 as the first World Water Day.  Each year, this very day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. In 2015, World Water Day  has the theme “Water and Sustainable Development.”  Although  Pakistan  also  celebrates  World  Water  Day,  yet  its  case  is  different  from  other  countries, as India has stared water terrorism against Pakistan.

It is  notable that since the  9/11 tragedy, international  community  has  been taking war  against  terrorism seriously, while there are also other forms of bloodless wars, being waged in the world  and the same are like terrorism. Political experts opine that modern terrorism has many meanings  like violent acts, economic terrorism etc., but its main aim is to achieve political, economic and  social  ends.  Judging  in  these  terms,  India’s  water  terrorism  against  Pakistan  is  of  special  consideration.

In  March,  2011,  speaking  in  diplomatic  language,  Indus  Water  Commissioner  of  India  G.  Ranganathan  denied  that  India’s  decision  to  build  dams  on  rivers  led  to  water  shortage  in  Pakistan. He also rejected Islamabad’s concerns at water theft by New Delhi or violation of the  Indus  Water  Treaty  of  1960,  assuring  his  counterpart,  Syed  Jamaat  Ali  Shah  that  all  issues  relating  to  water  would  be  resolved  through  dialogue.  However,  ground  realties  are  quite  different from what Ranganathan maintained.

Besides other permanent issues  and,  especially the dispute of Kashmir which has  always been  used by India to malign and pressurize Pakistan, water of rivers has become a matter of life and  death for every Pakistani, as New Delhi has been employing it as a tool of terrorism to blackmail  Pakistan.

In this regard, Indian decision to construct two hydroelectric projects on River Neelam which is called Krishanganga is a new violation of the Indus Basin Water Treaty. The World Bank, itself, is the mediator and signatory for the treaty. After the partition, owing to warlike situation, New  Delhi  deliberately stopped  the flow of Pakistan’s rivers which originate from the Indianheld  Kashmir. Even at that time, Indian rulers had used water as a tool of aggression against Pakistan. However, due to Indian illogical stand, Islamabad sought the help of international arbitration. The Indus Basin Treaty allocateswaters of three western rivers of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan, while India has rights over eastern rivers ofRavi, Sutlej and Beas.Since the settlement of the dispute, India has always violated the treaty intermittently to create economic crisis in Pakistan. In 1984, India  began construction  of the Wullar Barrage  on river  Jhelum in the occupied Kashmir.

In the past, the issue of Wullar Barrage has also been discussed in various rounds of talks, being  held  under  composite  dialogue  process  between  the  two  rivals,  but  Indian  intransigence  has  continued. In the mid 1990s India started another violation by constructing the Baglihar dam on  the Chenab river. In 2005, Pakistan had again sought the World Bank’s help to stop construction  of  the  Baglihar  dam. Although  WB  allowed  India  to  go  ahead  with  the  project  after  a  few  modifications, yet it did not permit the interruption of the agreed quota of water flow to Pakistan.

 In 2008, India suddenly reduced water flow of the Chenab river to give a greater setback to our autumnal  crops.  Islamabad  on  September  17,  2008  threatened  to  seek  the  World  Bank’s  intervention on the plea that New Delhi had not responded to its repeated complaints on the issue  appropriately. But, India did nothing to address the problem.

However, New Delhi has been using water as an instrument to pressurize Islamabad with a view  to getting leverage in the Pak­India dialogue especially regarding Indian­held Kashmir where a  new phase of protests against the Indian illegitimate occupation has accelerated. In this respect,  the then Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said on February 8, 2010 that Pakistan’s  case  on  Kashmir  and  water  was  based  on  truth,  and  the  government  would fight  it  with  full strength.

Indian diplomacy of water terrorism could also be judged from some other development. Online  reports  suggest  that  New  Delhi  has  secretly  offered  technical  assistance  to  the  Afghan  government in order to construct a dam over Kabul River which is a main water contributor to  Indus River. In fact, India wants to keep its control on Kashmir which is located in the Indus River basin area,  and which contributes to the flow of all the major rivers, entering Pakistan. It is determined to  bring about political, economic and social problems of grave nature in Pakistan.

In this context, China Daily News Group wrote in 2005: “Another added complication is that in building a dam upstream of Pakistan, India will possess the ability to flood or starve Pakistan at will. This ability was witnessed in July of 2004 when India, without warning, released water into  the Chenab river, flooding large portions of Pakistan. The history of conflict between these two nations makes it possible for New Delhi to use nature as a real weapon against Islamabad.”

According to an estimate, unlike India, Pakistan is highly dependent on agriculture, which in turn  is dependent on water. Of the 79.6 million hectares of land that makeup Pakistan, 20 million are available for agriculture. Of those 20 million hectares, 16 million are dependent on irrigation. So, almost 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture is dependent on irrigation. It is noteworthy that many of Pakistan’s industries are agro­based such as the textiles industry.  Besides, 80% of Pakistan’s food needs are fulfilled domestically. Thus an interruption of water supply would have broadranging  effects.  For  example,  when  the  country suffered  a  drought  from 1998 to 2001, there were violent riots in Karachi. It is mentionable that half of Pakistan’s energy comes from hydroelectricity, and at present, our  country has been facing a severe crisis of loadshedding which is the result of power­shortage in  the country. During the recent past summers, people in a number of cities like Karachi, Lahore,  Multan, Faisalabad etc. lodged violent protests against the loadshedding, culminating into loss of  property and life.

It is of particular attention that Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif  warned  on  February  10,  2015  that  although  the  electricity shortage  in  the  country  would  be  overcome within two to three years, the scarcity of water is another issue looming in the country. While,  Pakistan  has  already  been  facing  multiple  challenges  of  grave  nature  coupled  with  a  perennial  phenomenon  of  terrorism  like  suicide  attacks,  bomb  blasts,  targetted  killings  etc.,  committed  by the militants who  are  being  backed  by Indian secret  agency, RAW, New Delhi  also employs water as an instrument by increasing its scarcity, making life too often miserable  for Pakistanis with the ultimate aim of creating poverty which could produce more terrorism in  turn. And, India is likely to deepen differences among Pakistan’s provinces over various issues  which are directly or indirectly related to water.

Nonetheless, Islamabad must include water  as  a major focus of  agenda in the future dialogue;  otherwise India is likely to continue its water terrorism against Pakistan. Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants,  Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations.

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Afghanistan: India’s Drug Smuggling Verified

By Sajjad Shaukat

While echoing Hobbes and Machiavelli, Morgenthau opines that in international politics, countries act upon various immoral activities like deceit, fraud, falsehood and so on. In one way or the other, they also follow these tactics to fulfill their selfish aims. But, in the modern era of electronic and social media including open diplomacy, it is difficult for the sovereign states to continue mal-practices of the past, as sinister politics has been replaced by world’s new trends such as fair-dealings, reconciliation and economic development. In this respect, the news item, “India accused of using Afghan soil for Heroin smuggling”, published in the leading daily Dawn on March 18, 2015 verified previous reports of India’s involvement in drug smuggling from Afghanistan.

In the recent past, a released video by Washington Free Beacon pointed out that the US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel disclosed during a speech at Oklahoma’s Cameron University in 2011, “India has always used Afghanistan as a second front” and “has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border.” Earlier, the then NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal had revealed: “Indian political and economic influence is increasing in Afghanistan…is likely to exacerbate regional tensions.” In fact, by availing the golden opportunity of the 9/11, India has signed a number of bilateral agreements with Kabul, during the regime of Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai in getting its hold in Afghanistan by manipulating US strategy. New Delhi which has already invested billion of dollars in Afghanistan, signed a wide-ranging strategic agreement with that country on October 5, 2011 also includes to help train Afghan security forces, while assisting Kabul in diversified projects. Apparently, it is open strategic agreement, but secretly, India seeks to further strengthen its grip in Afghanistan to get strategic depth against Islamabad.

In this regard, stiff resistance of the Taliban militants against the occupying forces created unending lawlessness in the country which has become a most suitable place for Indian secret agency RAW to implement a conspiracy to fulfill its country’s strategic designs against Iran, China and particularly Pakistan, while achieving collective goals of the US against these countries including Russia. Especially, based in Afghanistan, Indian consulates including agents of RAW, who are also supporting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are behind various acts of terrorism in Pakistan such as target killings, bomb blasts, suicide attacks, assaults on civil and military installations including churches, religious leaders etc. to destabilize Pakistan. They have also perennially been arranging similar subversive acts in Balochistan.

As a matter of fact, with the cooperation of ex-president Karzai and Afghan intelligence-National Directorate of Security (NDS), and with the tactical assistance of American CIA and Israeli Mossad, RAW has well-established espionage network in Afghanistan, which has also been used for smuggling of drugs so as to obtain Indian sinister designs in the region, particularly against While, poppy cultivation has risen to all time high, and Afghanistan has become one of the biggest contributors of drug proliferation in the region and beyond. And, Afghan government has failed in controlling corruption and implementing rule of law, while international community especially major donors are averse to such malpractices. According to some sources, modern weapons of Indian, American and Israeli origin are available in the markets of Afghanistan. Smuggling of latest arms from west to Afghanistan is also being supported by the drug mafia of Afghanistan. In this connection, Afghan President Karzai’s real brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, and high officials have been found involved in drug smuggling for raising funds to support insurgency in Pakistan with the support of RAW.

It would not be out of context to mention here that primarily these are the Afghan drug Barons and Warlords like Hamid Karzai and his brother in whose interest it is to keep the region in state of war. It is also a known fact that Qasim Fahim, Vice President of Afghanistan is also a warlord and a drug baron. In the recent past, American troops destroyed poppy fields, but, they failed in stopping poppy cultivation, because India was involved in supporting Afghan warlords and drug In this connection, on November 2, 2009 John Burns, the chief foreign correspondent for The New York Times, while answering questions about a New York Times article about Ahmed Wali Karzai, exposed his ties to the nation’s opium trade. And on October 27, 2009, the same newspaper pointed out, “The brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade…in a large area of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, undermines the American push to develop an effective central government that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw…on at least one occasion, the strike force has been accused of mounting an unauthorized operation against an official of the Afghan government.”

Quoting a senior American military officer in Kabul, The New York Times elaborated, “Hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money are flowing through the southern region, and nothing happens in Afghanistan without the regional leadership knowing about it.” However, besides the involvement of other Afghan entities, Indian engagement in drugs in Afghanistan was proved in the news item of Dawn, which quoted world’s renowned news agency, Reuters as a source and also included AFP file. It is given below. UN officials recorded a sharp spike this year in the amount of heroin being seized from passengers trying to fly from Afghanistan to India, a worrying trend since the Taliban insurgency lines its pockets on the illegal drug trade.

A lack of coordination is hampering efforts to clamp down on the route, officials said, with India blaming Afghanistan for poor cooperation in helping to track smugglers. In January alone, officials intercepted 44 kilograms of heroin from Afghan airports in eight separate cases, compared to 50 kilograms of heroin and hashish seized during the whole of last year, according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime data. Most of the cases have involved passengers trying to board flights bound for the Indian capital New Delhi after swallowing as much 2 kg of the illegal opiate in capsules, like condoms. The spike is an “alarming trend”, said Mark Colhoun, deputy representative to the UNODC in “These mule are small fry,” he said. “You need to track down the networks.” The UNODC started working with Afghan police and customs in 2013 at Kabul’s airport, and later expanded to airports in Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif. It is unclear whether the rise in heroin being seized represents an increase in trafficking or better tracking of smugglers. But opium cultivation in Afghanistan, which produces some 90 per cent of the world’s illegal opiates, is on the rise.

Afghan smugglers often travel to India under the guise of seeking medical care, said a senior official in India’s Narcotics Control Bureau speaking on condition of anonymity. Nevertheless, news of Dawn has verified Indian negative role of drug smuggling from Afghanistan. Therefore, it is the right hour that the US-led international community must take action against New Delhi, and by rolling back Indian network in Afghanistan, which includes smuggling of drugs, especially Heroin for the purpose of its secret strategic goals. While the western countries and Russia are worried about instability in Afghanistan, spilling over into the former Soviet Central Asia and about drug smuggling pushing up the numbers of heroin addicts. Nonetheless, western donors’ aid to Kabul for bringing stability in that country will prove fruitless, if India continues drug smuggling in Afghanistan which has become one of the biggest contributors of drug proliferation in the world. Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

March 16, 1846: when Kashmiris were sold

By Aasef Chauhdry March 15, 2015 

The history confirms that it has been the practice since from the beginning of the civilization that the overriding and privileged society would buy poor people for their household jobs, sex, farming fatigues and countless other menial jobs. Sadly, from the ancient Greek and Romans of the medieval times and even today this shameless trade still exist. It is called human trafficking; the trade of humans or their organs. The fifteenth century marked the start of European slave trading in Africa with the Portuguese transporting people from Africa to Portugal and using them as slaves. How could the British stay behind? Hence, in 1562, they also joined in on this inhuman trade in Africa. 

In 1600s, other countries from the ‘civilised’ European jumped into the slave trade. These included Spain, North America, Holland, France, Sweden, and Denmark. Modern America also has a rich history of Human Trafficking. Although history is full of events narrating incidents of human trafficking, nevertheless, the historians seems either not interested in narrating or scared about talking of one of the worst ever human trafficking incident that happened in 1846, when East India Company sold Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh Dogra for Rupees 75 lacs of Nanak Shah, the ruling currency of Punjab (7.5 million) which if converted at the current rate of exchange in Sterling Pounds amounts to a meager sum of approximately £ 93,750.00. 

Each individual of Kashmir was sold at the rate of 7.5 rupees per human. In return of this petty amount, Gulab Singh acquired "all the hilly or mountainous country with its dependencies situated to the eastward of the River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including Chamba and excluding Lahul. Prior to the deal, Gulab Singh sent Dewan Jawala Sahai to the British authorities with a request that Jammu territory along with the residents be sold to him. The Dewan had a detailed parleys with Lawrence and Currie, who after discussing the issue with Hardinge, laid the condition that if the Maharajah paid the indemnity of ten million rupees, the British would be willing to grant him the territories lying between the source of the Bias to the Sindh, including Kashmir and Hazara. Gulab Singh was, however, not in a position to pay such huge amount, hence, suggested, leaving out of the grant of the territory lying to the right band of the Bias and corresponding cutback in the amount demanded. The amended proposal was approved, rather welcomed by the British authorities, thus while considering the keeping out of some territory, the amount of guarantee to be paid by Gulab Singh was reduced by twenty-five lacs. 

The deal was struck between the British government and Maharaja Gulab Singh Dogra. It is remembered as the Treaty of Amritsar, which was signed on March 16, 1846, to settle a dispute over territory in Kashmir after the First Sikh war with the United Kingdom, ceding some land to Maharaja Gulab Singh Dogra. Based on the provisions of the treaty, Gulab Singh acquired the lands "River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including Chamba and in return paid Rs. 7.5 million Nanak Shahi, along with one horse, 12 goats and three shawls, to the British Government as the price for the cessation along with other annual tributes like, One shawl and 100 goats every year, failing which, Kashmir was to revert back to the British. Unfortunately, this disgraceful Treaty of Amritsar marked the beginning of Dogra rule in Kashmir. According to the article-1 of this shameful treaty, the British Government transferred for ever an independent possession to Maharajah Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body all the hilly or mountainous country with its dependencies situated to the eastward of the River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including Chamba and excluding Lahul, being part of the territories ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State according to the provisions of Article IV of the Treaty of Lahore, dated 9th March, 1846.

Some other important articles of the treaty, which will reflect the crux of the agreement, are appended below: Article 4 The limits of territories of Maharajah Gulab Singh shall not be at any time changed without concurrence of the British Government. Article 7 Maharajah Gulab Singh engages never to take to retain in his service any British subject nor the subject of any European or American State without the consent of the British Government. Article 9 The British Government will give its aid to Maharajah Gulab Singh in protecting his territories from external enemies.

The most interesting, though quite humiliating is the Article 10 which says, Maharajah Gulab Singh acknowledges the supremacy of the British Government and will in token of such supremacy present annually to the British Government one horse, twelve shawl goats of approved breed (six male and six female) and three pairs of Cashmere shawls. The 9th of November, 1846 was that dark day of the history of Kashmir when Gulab Singh, an illiterate to the end, entered capital city of Srinagar. M. L. Kapur in his book ‘The History of Jammu & Kashmir’ mentions about the monstrous behavior of Gulab Singh’s monstrous behavior in the following words “to quell the rebellion in Poonch and Chibbhal territory, Gulab Singh returning from Peshawar and after some desultory warfare, the rebels were completely routed. Many of them were captured, and treated with vengeance; their hands and feet were severed by axes, while skins of Mali Sabaz Ali, two of the close accomplices of Shams uddin, were peeled off their bodies, and their heads were hung on gallows in a crossing as a warning to others. Hands were ultimately laid on the chief rebel as well, and his head was cut off." He further mentions "Examples of severity were thought necessary but the cruelties perpetrated by Gulab Singh both in this and in the other campaigns in which he has commanded have caused his name to be generally decried and execrated." Gulab Singh as a treacherous and licentious person is further described as “the Panchas applauded the talks with the Jammu Raja, (Gulab Singh) which went on for about a week; and during this period the latter entertained the former with "abundance of food, sweetmeats, drinks and women".

During Gulab Singh’s rule, the condition of the people of the state was dreadful and unacceptable. Almost everything was taxed heavily and after paying their dues to the government, fulfilling the illicit and unlawful demands of the corrupt officials, the farmers were hardly left with the one-third of their crop. Secondly, the security of life and property had disappeared. British Government received complaints against the tyrannical rule of Gulab Singh Dogra, though the succeeding governments of Ranbir Singh, Pratap Singh and even Hari Singh were no different as corruption was always at its peak and the Muslim majority community suffered at the hands of these dogra rulers who treated people like animals and would get a thrill by humiliating them which the rulers did on daily basis. To give an example, a Muslim would be sent to gallows for killing a cow compared to a Hindu who would be given a minor sentence for a similar offence or for killing a Muslim. 

It is ever since the Dogra rule that the inopportune Kashmiris are considered as the children of the lesser god because their life hasn’t changed. Hari Singh, succeeded his uncle Maharaja Pratap Singh, and ascended the throne on October 14, 1925. Like his predecessors, he would stick to the tradition of hounding, harrying, harassing and humiliating the local Muslim population in order to rule over them with comfort. He maneuvered to maintain his independence by playing India and Pakistan with each other by signing standstill agreement with both the countries. He was forced by India to Sign the doubtful instrument of accession on 26th Oct, 1947. As it happens with every puppet ruler, in 1951 Hari Singh's rule was terminated by Government of India and the miseries of the Kashmiri Muslims doubled from there on. The Indian rulers are found apologetic all along vis-à-vis Kashmir case since they don’t have a logic stance. They invaded and captured the valley, unlawfully and unethically. The unarmed and innocent Kashmiri Muslims are brutally being murdered by the Indian military and Para military forces. Hence, the Indians have proved that their rule is in no way different from their predecessors; the Dogras. It’s high time for the world body to address the grievances of the poor Kashmiri Muslims before it’s too late.

Writer’s Misperceptions About Pakistan’s Nuclear Safety

                             

 By Sajjad Shaukat

While showing their double standard, the US, India and some western countries use one pretext or the other in targeting the nuclear programme of the unfavorable small countries in order to obtain their selfish interests. As Pakistan is the only declared nuclear country in the Islamic World, hence, it has become special target of some western top officials and media persons who continue their propaganda against Pakistan’s nuclear programme. They have especially hired the services of media anchors and writers who work on their payroll and have been creating doubts about the safety and security of Pakistan’s atomic weapons and nuclear plants.

In this respect, in his article, “Let’s go nuclear—safely”, published in the daily Dawn on March 14, 2015, Pervez Hoodbhoy has tacitly shown his misperceptions about Pakistan’s nuclear safety by following the propaganda of external enemies, as his contradictions, baseless arguments and data prove.

Enumerating the benefits of solar energy for Pakistan over nuclear energy, Pervez ill-conceived that solar energy is being preferred “by majorities in the US, Europe, and Japan including Denmark and India who think nuclear reactors are unsafe even with additional safety features. The Fukushima nuclear disaster, more than the Chernobyl one, has left people deeply wary of official promises…the complexity of reactors has sharply increased capital and running costs…solar energy is cheapest than the  power generated by reactors.”

Under the cover of solar energy, Pervez Hoodbhoy has not only challenged the well-protected nuclear installations of Pakistan, but also implicitly target Pak-China strategic relationship, while trying to incite the people of Karachi against the federation. In this context, he writes, “How would Pakistan deal with massive radioactive release after deliberate sabotage, a terrorist attack or operator error? The 120,000 of Fukushima could flee, the 20 million of Karachi cannot…the construction of two additional 1,100 MW nuclear power plants is under way. Of untested design, they are China’s first export of reactors…a loan offer of $6.8 billion…the nuclear plants are slyly linked with national security.”

However, it is brought to the notice of Pervez that despite the use of solar energy, the US and Japan including many western countries like Denmark prefer to generate electricity through nuclear plants, which is the safest form of energy today, and also with sufficient safeguards built-in and the most advanced nuclear reactor technology—Pakistan government has assured that no threat to human life or ecology will take place.

Although India is heavily investing in solar power projects, yet there are also giant nuclear power plants like Jaitapur with electricity capacity of 9600 MW.

Besides, the nuclear energy produces electricity without enhancing global warming, while solar energy is intercepted by Earth from the sun—it includes all those fuels which have already been used and their pollution is rapidly making the Earth warmer. In this connection, US-led most developed countries are worried about the warming of Earth, and have held various conferences to resolve this problem.

Moreover, solar power requires large area of land and in case of Pakistan; it can be used for agriculture and forests. In future, Pakistan will have to depend on coal, hydro and nuclear power to meet its energy needs. Comparatively, nuclear energy has more advantages, as it is cheaper than coal or hydropower. Furthermore, taking lesson from the nuclear incident of Chernobyl, the sites of nuclear power plants are selected after a careful process which engages International Atomic Agency (IAEA) for maintaining best safety and security practices. The sites of Pakistan’s upcoming power plants have been approved after consideration of huge data which includes seismic, tsunami-related, meteorological, and deep underground features. Like the earlier plants in Pakistan, this data has been incorporated into the designs of the power plants.

It is surprising that the writer who is a doctorate in physics has distorted facts. For example, Fukushima incident did not kill or affected any person with radiations in Japan, because people were evacuated from the concerned areas.

It is mentionable that Pakistan does not have enough money for wind and solar energy, and we need a quick solution of power crisis, otherwise, we will be far more behind in race of prosperity. For this purpose, Pak China joint ventures particularly nuclear reactors are well-thought projects and should not be maligned.

Pervez Hoodbhoy’s attention is also invited toward rumors and ground realties. In 2009 when the heavily-armed Taliban entered Swat, Dir and Buner, US high officials and their media had exaggerated the ‘Talibinisation’ of whole Pakistan, while showing concerns about Pakistan’s atomic arms. In that regard, the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. But, Pakistan’s armed forces ejected the Taliban insurgents out of these areas by breaking their backbone.

When insurgents had attacked on Pakistan’s Naval Airbase in Karachi on May 23, 2011, US-led some western countries including India and Israel exploited the situation through disinformation about the security of Pak nukes. Similarly, terrorists’ assault on Kamra Base was successfully foiled by the personnel of Pakistan Air Force, but, a baseless report, published in the New York Times on the same day indicated that suspected militants attacked a major Pakistani Air Force base where some of the country’s nuclear weapons were considered to be stored in the early hours of the militants’ attack. The ex-US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also stated on the same day, “There is a danger of nuclear weapons of Pakistan, falling into hands of terrorists.”

During American President Barack Obama’s visit to India, on January 25, this year, the US and India announced a breakthrough on a pact which would allow American companies to supply New Delhi with civilian nuclear technology. In this respect, both the countries had signed a deal in 2008, but, Indian access to civilian nuclear technology was held up for six years amid concerns over the liability for any nuclear accident or Indian poor nuclear safety.

India’s eagerness for entry into Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) and other regimes is aimed at enhancing Defence-related capacities rather than meeting its energy requirements. With American support, New Delhi which has obtained the NSG waiver has signed nuclear cooperation agreements with France, Russia, United Kingdom etc.

Indian past record proves various kinds of security and safety lapses regarding various nuclear plants and the related sensitive materials including events of leakage, nuclear theft, smuggling and killing.

In this context, in November, 2009, more than 90 Indian workers suffered radiation due to contamination of drinking water at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka. On July 27, 1991, a similar event occurred at the heavy water plant run by the Department of Atomic Energy at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. Nuclear radiation had affected and injured many laborers there.

In July 1998, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized eight Kg. of nuclear material from three engineers in Chennai, which was stolen from an atomic research center.

On November 7, 2000, IAEA disclosed that Indian police had seized 57 pounds of uranium and arrested two men for illicit trafficking of radioactive material. IAEA had revealed that Indian civil nuclear facilities were vulnerable to thefts.

On January 26, 2003, CNN pointed out that Indian company, NEC Engineers Private Ltd. shipped 10 consignments to Iraq, containing highly sensitive equipments entailing titanium vessels and centrifugal pumps.

In December 2006, a container packed with radioactive material had been stolen from an Indian fortified research atomic facility near Mumbai.

In June 2009, India’s nuclear scientist, Lokanathan Mahalingam missed from the scenario and after a couple of days; his dead body was recovered from the Kali River. Indian police concocted a story that Mahalingam had committed suicide by jumping into the river. It is a big joke to hide some real facts behind his death because wisdom proves that if an educated person decides to commit suicide, he will definitely adopt a soft way to eliminate his life. Afterwards, Dr. Haleema Saadia said that death of the scientist was a conspiracy.

Nevertheless, by setting aside the Indian irresponsible record of security lapses and poor safety, especially, US is likely to supply India civil nuclear technology. In fact, instead of Pakistan which depends upon minimum deterrence in wake of Indian aggressive designs, US-led hostile countries must better have concerns about the safety of India’s nuclear weapons and plants.

Despite the repeated assurances of Islamabad that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and various plants are well-protected and are under tight security arrangements, a deliberate propaganda campaign against their safety keeps on going by the external enemies.

In these terms, Pervez Hoodbhoy who has tacitly supported the agenda of some foreign powers has only misguided the readers through his misperceptions about Pakistan’s nuclear safety.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Amritsar Treaty & Kashmirs’ Struggle

                                       

By Sajjad Shaukat

In fact, the misfortune of people of Jammu and Kashmir started on March 16, 1846 when the Treaty of Amritsar was signed. Under the Treaty, British colonialists sold Kashmir alongwith its people to a Dogra Hindu, Gulab Singh for 7.5 million rupees. The Treaty of Amritsar which was signed by Gulab Singh, Hardinge, Currie and Lawrence had common cause among the parties with the aim to end the Muslim rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Gulab Singh thus became the founder and first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

As a consequence of the Treaty of Amritsar, a reign of terror was unleashed by the Dogra dynasty on the Kashmiris. During the Dogra rule (1846-1947), Kashmiri Muslims were leading so miserable life that it was difficult to differentiate them from beasts. Slave labour, heavy taxes, capital punishment for cow slaughter, and living under constant terror was order of the day.

In this regard, Yousaf Saraf in his book, ‘Kashmiris Fight for Freedom’ calls it “free forced labour” and “instead of donkeys and horses, Kashmiri Muslims were used for transportation of goods across the far-flung areas.” Atrocities of the Dogra regime could also be judged from the book of Sir Walter Lawrence, ‘The India We Served’. While describing the pathetic picture of the Kashmiris, he writes, “Army was employed in forcing the villagers to plough and sow, and worse still, the soldiers came at harvest time and when the share of the state had been seized” and “there was very little grain to tide the unfortunate peasants over the cruel winter.”

On April 19, 1931, the ban of Eid Khutba ignited widespread demonstrations in the Jummu city. For the first time, people openly opposed the oppression. On July 13, 1931, thousands of people thronged the Central Jail Srinagar. As the time for obligatory prayer approached, a young Kashmiri stood for Azan. The Dogra soldiers opened fire at him. In this way, 22 Kashmiris embraced martyrdom in their efforts to complete the Azan.

The people carried the dead and paraded through the streets of Srinagar, chanting slogans against Dogra brutalities. Complete strike was observed in the city, which was followed by weeklong mourning. This incident shook the whole state and the traffic from Srinagar to Rawalpindi and Srinagar to Jammu came to halt.

However, upon these ruthless killings, the Kashmiri leadership realized the need to form a political party, Muslim Conference (MC) with a view to waging struggle for their freedom. Later, in 1934, state’s first elections were held and MC won 10 out of 21 seats, and after two years in 1936, it succeeded in getting 19 out of 21 seats. Indian Congress was upset with this situation and tried to create division in the ranks of Kashmiri leadership. Afterwards, on July 19, 1947, MC passed a resolution to merge Kashmir with Pakistan, considering the geographical proximity—majority of Muslim population (77%), language and cultural relations of Jammu and Kashmir.

During the partition of the Sub-continent, in 1947, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, in connivance with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Governor-General Lord Mountbatten, had decided to join India, quite contrary to the wishes of the majority of Kashmiris.

When a contention arose between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute in1948, India took the issue to the United Nations Security Council and offered to hold a plebiscite in the held Kashmir under UN supervision. On February 5, 1964, India backed out of its promise. Instead, in March 1965, the Indian Parliament passed a bill, declaring Kashmir a province of India.

While passing through various phases, the struggle of Kashmiris which has become an interaction between Indian state terrorism led by the Indian security forces and war of liberation by the freedom fighters, keeps on going unabated.

Despite the employment of various forms of state terrorism by the Indian security forces, war of liberation intensified since 1989.

A recent report on human rights violations by Indian Army and its paramilitary forces in Indian-held Kashmir disclosed that since 1989, there have been deaths of 93,274 innocent Kashmiris, 6,969 custodial killings, 117,345 arrests and 105,861 destructions of houses. Indian brutal security forces have orphaned over 107, 351 children, widowed 22,728 women and gang raped 9,920 women.

Besides Human Rights Watch, in its various reports, Amnesty International has also pointed out grave human rights violations in the Indian-controlled Kashmir, indicating, “The Muslim majority population in the Kashmir Valley suffers from the repressive tactics of the security forces. Under the Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act, security forces have extraordinary powers to shoot suspected persons.”

Particularly, in 2008, a rights group reported unmarked graves in 55 villages across the Indian occupied Kashmir. In this context, in August, 2011, Indian Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) officially acknowledged in its report that innocent civilians killed in the two-decade conflict have been buried in unmarked graves. Notably, foreign sources and human rights organizations including Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) have pointed out that unnamed graves include thousands of innocent persons, killed by the Indian military and paramilitary troops in the fake encounters including those who were tortured to death.

Now, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is implementing new Kashmir diplomacy in order to eliminate the struggle of Kashmiris. In this regard, BJP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have forged a coalition government on March 1, 2015 after inconclusive elections in Kashmir. For the purpose, an agreement between BJP and PDP was signed, aimed at robbing the mandate of the Kashmiri people who posed confidence in PDP for their betterment. Nevertheless, PDP’s wooing of BJP is grave act of betrayal to its voters.

And, Modi hurriedly decided to forcibly annex disputed territory of the Indian-occupied Kashmir, uncovering its intentions to wrap up the article 370 of the Indian constitution which ensures a special status to J&K.

In this respect, on the one hand, BJP government gave a green signal to the Indian security forces to continue various forms of state terrorism on the innocent kashmiris, while on the other, it has also been cajoling them through positive measures in order to divide them. In this connection, on January 15, 2015, during the Indian Army Day, Indian Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh ordered a day’s pay contribution by the entire Army to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to help flood-affected people in the Indian-held Kashmir—totaling an amount of Rs. 100 crore.

Returning to our earlier discussion, the Treaty of Amritsar is the genesis of Kashmiris’ struggle which keeps on going, and will continue untill they get their legitimate right of self-determination.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Persecution of Minorities in India

By Sajjad Shaukat

India has broken all the records of violence, genocide and massacre perpetrated on various ethnic 

and religious groups entailing the community of its own lower castes. As part of persecution of 

minorities, these atrocities and injustices still continue in one way or the other.

Although apparently, India claims to be the largest democracy, acting upon the principles of 

liberalism and secularism, yet in practice, all political, economic and social fields of the country 

are divided on the caste lines. 

In this regard, Tim Sullivan of the Associated Press wrote, “There’s a lot of lip service to saying 

‘I’m an Indian first, and ‘I’ do not believe in caste,” said D’Souza, a prominent campaigner for 

Dalits, as India’s “untouchables” at the very bottom of the caste system are now known.” 

Sullivan elaborated, “When it comes to sharing power, to interaction and to sharing social status, 

low-caste Indians are very much marginalized.”

It is notable that historical background and religious beliefs which have formed the habits and 

national character of Hindus are quite different from the other ethnic and religious communities. 

Indians still have a strong belief in the superiority of their race. Indian Hindus are followers of 

Chanakya (Say some thing else and do some thing else). These facts have been verified by the 

misdeeds of Hindu fundamentalist parties like the BJP, RSS, VHP, Shiv Sina and Bajrang Dal 

which have missed no opportunity to communalize national politics of India. 

In fact, India is a vocal advocate of secularism but nowhere else in the world secularism was so 

blatantly betrayed. In this context, Moulana Azad had said, “I firmly hold that communal frenzy 

will disappear when India assumes the responsibility of her own destiny.” Quite contrarily, in so-

called secular India, Azad’s hope was completely belied, as Hindu fanaticism is continuously 

gaining momentum and strength.

It is surprising that theoretically, Indian Constitution safeguards the rights of minorities, but in 

practice, ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) prevails. Hindu majority led by the BJP has 

shown complete disregard to it, and commit excesses and cruelties against Muslims, Sikhs, 

Christians and Dalits with impunity. 

Hindu politics and culture, dominated by the fundamentalist parties such as BJP, VHP, Shiv 

Sena and RSS including other extremist outfits have been propagating Hindutva. Provocative 

utterances of their extremist leaders have resulted into unending violence especially against the 

Muslims and Christians.

It is mentionable that Hinduvta agenda enabled BJP hardliner, Narendra Modi to get a land 

sliding triumph in the Indian elections 2014, who has become the prime minister. In this respect, 

RSS driven anti-Muslim move of the BJP including other Hindu fanatic parties could be judged 

from various recent developments. On May 28, 2014, Rashtriya Hindu Andolan, a Mangalore-

based Hindutva outfit and activists from various right wing groups organized a protest in 

Mangalore in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner by demanding the authorities to ban 

the morning Muslim call to prayer (Azan) across the country. Besides forcing the Muslim 

employee in a Parliament Canteen by BJP leader to break his fast by stuffing piece of bread in 

his mouth, statement of Deputy Chief of Goa, declaring India as a Hindu state might be cited as 

It is noteworthy that in 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Karsevaks (volunteers) in accordance with 

a preplanned scheme of the Indian high officials entirely demolished the 16th-century Babri 

Masjid (mosque) to reclaim the land known as RAM Janmabhoomi–birthplace of the god. The 

destruction of the Babri Masjid sparked Muslim outrage around the country, provoking several 

months of inter-communal rioting between Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of 

at least 2,000 people, majority of whom were Muslims.

On September 13, 2008, the communal riots in Uttar Pradesh killed more than 200 Muslims. In 

one of the most tragic incidents in Assam, Hindu extremists burnt alive six members of a Muslim 

Similarly, in the recent years, assaults on Christians, their churches and property have been 

executed by the Hindu mobs in various cities of India. In this connection, at least 100 Christians 

have been assassinated by Hindu extremists, mostly in the state of Orissa. 

It is of particular attention that on November 7, 2011, leader of the VHP, Pravin Togadia, in his 

furious speech questioned the past of Muslims and Christians, and further gave a call to Hindus 

to capture the Islamic holy places in Arab and Vatican of Europe.

It is worth-mentioning that forced conversions of other religious minorities into Hindus also 

continue. In this regard, Bajrang Dal, an offshoot of the RSS, converted at least 57 Muslim 

families (200 people) into Hindus at a ‘Purkhon Ki Ghar Vapsi’ (Coming home of the ancestors) 

ceremony in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. 

Previously, in early September 2014, Christians were also forcefully converted to Hindus which 

created unrest among Christian clergy. Four months ago, a similar event in Aligarh saw Christian 

families converting to Hinduism. BJP is trying to portray the event as wishful conversions; 

however, since installment of BJP government in the center, RSS and its offshoots have 

accelerated their efforts for minorities’ conversion into Hindus. 

As regards persecution of minorities in India, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission 

Testimony by Human Rights Watch presented before US Senate Committee on atrocious attitude 

of Hindu majority has highlighted the plight of minorities in India. The report was presented 

before Indian general elections 2014. 

But, it is strange that US government denied visa to Modi on the basis of his involvement in 

Gujrat pogrom, however, after his election as Indian prime minister, the stance of American 

government changed to his favour. And, more than 2500 Muslims were massacred in 2002 in the 

BJP-ruled Indian state of Gujarat. Regarding that massive genocide, both Human Rights Watch 

in 2002 and Amnesty International in 2003 charged the “Gujarat state administration” for 

involvement in “a massive cover-up of the state’s role in that massacre” and pointed out 

numerous police officials—specifically ministers, high officials and leaders of the VHP, BJP and 

Bajrang Dal as participants.” 

Nevertheless, some of the fanatic Hindu groups are not in favour of a separate and distinct 

culture for minorities. A Hindu fundamentalist namely Prof Balraj Madhok had suggested that 

the minorities must adopt Indian (Hindu) names. 

Now, schools and other educational institutions are being systematically Hinduized. References 

to Hindu gods and goddesses abound in the text books. Books, prescribed by the Education 

Boards contain lessons giving false stories of Muslim atrocities on Hindu women, kidnapping, 

forced conversion etc. 

Nonetheless, despite eye witness testimony, implicating the highest elected political officials, 

justice continues to evade the victims.  In a recent development, 70 accused persons of Gujrat 

pogrom were set free by the court. 

While, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujrat and mastermind of the Muslim 

massacre, has reportedly, destroyed all the documents related to the 2002 genocide of the 

Muslims. Keeping his past record, it can be forecasted easily that minorities in India will face 

further persecution and barbarity at the hands of Hindu extremists as Modi is in power saddles. 

Undoubtedly, Hindu fundamentalism is increasingly widening its influence everywhere and has 

already established for itself a firm base in every sector of the Indian society including 

bureaucracy, media, educational institutions, and the like. The hate campaign unleashed by the 

fundamentalist forces is keeping the minority wholly preoccupied with defending their basic 

human rights and cultural identity. 

It is the right hour that the West and particular the US must abandon its double standard by 

taking appropriate steps against persecution of minorities in India. Otherwise, Hindu extremists 

may cause World War 111 or clash of civilizations in wake of global war against terrorism.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, 

Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations.