India Confirms Assistance to Anti-Pakistan Elements

By Sajjad Shaukat

Although India has been destabilizing all regional states through its well-planned and deliberate strategy, however, its major focus has always been towards Pakistan and Indian-held Kashmir. In this respect, while speaking to high-profile anchor Barkha Dutt of Indian NDTV news channel, ahead of the launch of his book, “Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years”, former Chief of Indian secret agency RAW, Amarjit Singh Dulat disclosed on June 4, this year that Indian intelligence agencies have over the years paid money to militants and separatists including the mainstream politicians and political parties in the Indian occupied-Kashmir. Concealing something, Amarjit Singh also refused to comment on the claims of Indian funding to Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), but, he claimed that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was a guest of British intelligence agency MI-6 which should also be questioned about The ex-RAW chief admitted that India’s “spooks” had been in touch with everyone from “separatists to the militants” in Pakistan.

However, the statement of RAW chief is not surprising, as Indian other high officials, and even its Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi openly confirmed assistance to anti-Pakistan elements. In this regard, Indian Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, while using the Hindi phrase “kante se kanta nikalna’ (removing a thorn with a thorn) assertively said on May 23, 2015, “We have to neutralise terrorists through terrorists only…why does my soldier have to do it…the issue could not be discussed beyond this…there are certain things that I obviously cannot discuss here.” In this context, while addressing a ceremony during his Bangladesh tour, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly stated on June 7, this year that Indian forces helped Mukti Bahini to turn East Pakistan into Bangladesh. He elaborated that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had played an active role in separating Bangladesh from Pakistan, and he had also come to Delhi in 1971 to participate in the Satyagraha Movement, launched by Jana Sangh as a volunteer to garner support for the Mukti Bahini members.

It is notable that Indian former Army Chief Gen. VK Singh also confessed that during his tenure, he supervised special army unit, Tactical Support Division (TSD) on the instructions of the then defence minister to sponsor subversive activities in Pakistan, particularly Balochistan, and to bribe the Kashmiri leaders. These blatant admissions clearly prove that New Delhi has been sponsoring worse kinds of terrorism inside Pakistan. In fact, Indian covert and overt activities against the federation of Pakistan had led to the separation of the former East Pakistan in 1971. Now, India has been promoting sub-nationalism in Baluchistan, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Sindh and even among the Karachiates (Mohajirs). New Delhi has been exploiting sub-nationalist elements locally and abroad as proxies against Pakistan.

While, these Indian-backed anti-Pakistan elements have never protested against the killing of innocent women, children and men at the hands of their militant groups. These terrorist groups abduct, kidnap and then kill innocent Balochs, Sindhis and Punjabis to strengthen their case of missing persons and extra-judicial killings to distort the image of Pakistan and its security To affect the flourishing relations of Pakistan and China, Baloch secessionists have been directed to step up their activities on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Indian RAW has created a heavily funded China-Pakistan specific desk to target growing Pak-China- Afghanistan. It is mentionable that the ink on the CPEC was barely dry when some western media, especially RAW started playing up the Baloch insurgency. In this regard, the director of The Second Floor (T2F), a social activist Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Karachi on April 24, 2015, followed by a bomb blast in Sibi, which killed several persons on April 26. However, she had left T2F after attending the session on Balochistan province, when she was targeted. She was likely to conduct a seminar at LUMS in Lahore about Balochistan. Earlier, on April 11, gunmen killed 20 laborers at a dam construction site in the Turbat district of Baluchistan.

On May 29, 2015, 20 people were killed when unknown militants opened fire at the kidnapped passengers in Mastung area of Balochistan—after abduction of two buses. Especially, on May 13, 45 people were killed when gunmen brutally opened fire on a bus of the Ismaili community in Karachi. Ahmed Marwat, a spokesman of Jundullah which is the affiliated group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—backed by RAW claimed responsibility for the bus attack. These terror attacks which continue in some way or the other are aimed at sabotaging the India knows that the establishment of CPEC between deep Gwadar seaport of Balochistan and the historic Silk Road city in western regions-Xinjiang of China will connect Gilgit-Baltistan through Khunjerab Pass. Beijing would also build an international airport at Gwadar, while the roads infrastructure in Gwadar would link the communication network of rest of the country to facilitate transportation of goods. As New Delhi has been opposing this Pak-China project which will make Pakistan an economic power, hence, it has been weakening Pakistan by creating unrest in the Balochistan province.

It is noteworthy that on July 23, 2008, Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti, the leader of the outlawed Baloch Republican Party (BRP) told the BBC that they had the right to accept foreign aid and arms from anywhere including India. Nevertheless, these confessions by India endorsed that RAW has well-established its network in Afghanistan, and is fully assisting cross-border incursions and terror-activities in various regions of Pakistan, particularly Balochistan. It has continuously been assisting the Baloch separatist elements and anti-Pakistan groups like BLA, Jundullah and TTP including their affiliated outfits with logistic support—the militants kidnapped and killed many innocent people and the security personnel in the province through suicide attacks, bomb blasts, targeted killings and sectarian violence. They also abducted and killed many Chinese and Iranian nationals. On a number of occasions, these insurgent groups claimed responsibility for their acts of sabotage, but India and some external powers have been shifting the blame game of human rights violations in Balochistan towards Pak Army. It is of particular attention that during the recent visit of the US Secretary of State John Kerry to New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Modi was humbled in the meeting when American team showed some hard evidence of TTP chief Mullah Fazalullah and RAW nexus in Afghanistan to influx terror in Pakistan.

Here, it also worth-mentioning that theoretically, Indian Constitution safeguards the rights of minorities, but in practice, ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) prevails. Hindu politics and culture, dominated by the fundamentalist parties such as BJP, RSS VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena including other extremist outfits have been propagating Hindutva. Provocative utterances of their extremist leaders and the BJP rulers have resulted into unending violence against the Muslims, Christians Sikhs, and Dalits, while creating war-like situation between Pakistan and India, as Indian unprovoked shelling across Line of Control and Working Boundary displays. Moreover, on January 20, 2013, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde confessed the nexus between BJP and the RSS, disclosing that organized training camps run by these fundamentalist parties were promoting Hindu terrorism. They also disclosed that these parties were behind the Samjhauta Express, Meccca Masjid and Malegaon blasts including Gujarat and Babri Masjid incidents. Earlier, New Delhi was accusing Pakistan’s primary intelligence agency, ISI for blasts in Malegaon and other cities. While, on July 19, 2013, the Indian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma revealed that terror-attacks in Mumbai in November 26, 2008 and assault on Indian Parliament in January 12, 2001 were carried out by the Indian government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws. But, Indian top officials and media had blamed Islamabad and a Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for those attacks.

Nonetheless, India confirms assistance to anti-Pakistan elements. And, taking note of New Delhi’s blatant admissions, Islamabad is raising the question of Indian-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan at the UNO forum. While,  it is the right hour that the US-led western countries must declare India a terrorist state, as it is carving out a disastrous strategy, and it would never help in rooting out terrorism which is an international issue, threatening all countries.

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