Fall of Dhaka - an Indian Confession
04 May, 2007
By Abdullah Muntazir
A member of the Indian Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, who also happens to be the son of ruling Congress Party of India President, Sonia Gandhi, boasted during an election rally in the Indian city of Bareli, that the dismemberment of Pakistan had been a triumphant accomplishment of the Gandhi family. Tasneem Aslam, the spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded by saying, that Rahul Gandhi's claim proves, without any doubt, that India has always been meddling in Pakistan's internal affairs. She also said that the Pakistan of today is not the same, as the one in '71, and Indian leaders must remember that Pakistan's defenses are infinitely stronger now.
Thanks to Rahul Gandhi for reminding the newer generations of Pakistani youth about who their real, historical, and permanent enemy is, otherwise intentional efforts through confidence building measures to bury their burning, smoldering past would never have let them know who had been hacking away at their country's foundations. Our very own Minister of Education, who thinks there are forty Paras (sections) of the Qur'an, instead of thirty, is also attempting to cover up, or entirely remove from the curriculum, any references to the Hindu Brahman's sinister role in the dismemberment of Pakistan and his continuous scheming and subversive activities against this country.
When looked at through a different perspective, with Rahul Gandhi's admission in view, one can clearly discern the reality of such slogans as; 'we are one', 'we are all children of the same mother', and 'walls of hatred must be brought down', etc., etc., by various Hindu leaders who come to Pakistan wearing fake cloaks of peace. Rahul Gandhi made his declaration with the utmost pride, which clearly shows that regardless of all the songs of peace that Indian leaders parrot, their vote-bank is basically dependent upon their level of enmity with Pakistan. They have, in fact, inherited this enmity from their previous generations. We are amazed as to why our government expects any good from a people who hold such narrow minded and antagonistic views towards Pakistan. If Islamabad thinks it can resolve the Kashmir issue with India through negotiations, or at least keep India from displaying an attitude of open hostility towards Pakistan, then it should re-read Emma Nicholson's report about the Kashmir issue, which is soon to be presented for approval to the European Union parliament. The report is completely biased in favor of India, and highly critical of Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities had signed the joint 'Islamabad Declaration' with India in 2004 in the hope that the international community might put pressure on India to resolve the Kashmir issue. Yet India, throughout this period, worked behind the scenes to portray Pakistan as the biggest supporter of terrorism, with the subsequent result that Pakistan which was supposed to be the staunchest advocate for resolving the Kashmir issue, is now itself under fire. Pakistan, in fact, even stopped mentioning Kashmir at international forums to please India, in the hope that this might facilitate negotiations with it, but India, on the other hand, while keeping up a façade of continuing negotiations with Pakistan, does not let any opportunity go by to blame Pakistan for cross-border infiltration. So much so, that the very next day after Rahul Gandhi's incriminatory admission, India's Defense Minister, A. K. Anthony again blamed Pakistan for supporting Kashmiri freedom fighters. If the Pakistani government, under these circumstances, is blamed for a failed Kashmir policy and a failed foreign policy in general, it instantly become enraged and begins blaming its critics of extremism. In fact, it has now become standard practice that the US, the EU, India, and Afghanistan, blame Pakistan for supporting terrorism and extremism, and the Pakistani government, instead of countering these allegations, conveniently transfers the blame onto the people, admitting, in fact, that the allegations are true.
The spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has claimed that this is not the Pakistan of '71, and that it now has a very strong defense. The first part of her statement is entirely correct that it is not the same Pakistan as that of 1971, as at that time, East Pakistan was still a part of Pakistan, Pakistan had a larger land mass at that time, and a larger population too. But, we disagree with the second part of her statement, on the basis of valid arguments, that Pakistan's defense is stronger than in those times. National unity is the prime element for a state's defense, and military hardware, although vital, plays a secondary role in this regard. External threats to a state cannot be countered with military equipment alone. Pakistan, nowadays, is going through its worst phase of internal unrest, chaos, sectarianism, as well as, language, tribal, and land ownership based feuds. There is active turmoil in two of the four provinces. Our own forces are in a state of war within Pakistan's borders. Political opportunists, who thrive during internal strife, have begun criticizing the country's armed forces openly, and even the freedom of the press and media is being exploited to malign them. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that the current propaganda campaign is quite similar to the one used by India to incite Bengalis against the Pakistani Army back in 1971. How can a country's defense be strong if there is a state of mutual distrust between a country's armed forces and its populace?
Pakistan's dismemberment took place in '71 because the common ideological bond that had been the basis of Pakistan's foundation and independence, and the common unifying factor of the whole nation, had been casually neglected and abandoned. It was that common ideological bond that was the single most important factor which had bound East and West Pakistan as a single entity otherwise Bangladesh would never have been a part of Pakistan. If all the various ethnic peoples with all their different languages and traditions are beads of a common string, which is Pakistan, it is because of that same common ideological factor that keeps them bonded together, otherwise, why would Balochistan want to stick with Punjab and Sindh, or why would the Pathans want to live alongside Sindhis and Balochis? Pakistan was founded on the basis of La'ila'ha'il'lal'lah (There is no deity except Allah), and the strength of our defense is directly linked to the strength of our commitment to this common declaration of faith. When our commitment to this common declaration became weak in '71, the demons of ethnicity and nationalism quickly raised their ugly heads, whereas, in a different example, the commitment of the Kashmiris remained strong throughout this period, and that is why India has been unable to subjugate them, or to break their psychological and ideological bond with Pakistan.
It is therefore imperative that our rulers should work to strengthen the ideological bonds of the nation instead of boasting about Pakistan's defense capabilities. They should not only strengthen the nations bond with our common declaration of faith, but their own commitment to it as well. They must stop state sponsorship and support of licentiousness and immorality, because Rahul Gandhi's mother once said that 'there is no need to fight Pakistan militarily anymore as we have already conquered them through our cultural invasion'. Therefore, instead of promoting Indian culture with state finances, the world, instead, should be made aware of this inhuman and barbaric culture and religion. The world should be told that even in these modern times, a Brahmin and a Shuder cannot eat at the same table.
Rahul Gandhi has boasted that his party had been instrumental in the dismemberment of Pakistan, but he should know that there are people, in fact, many, many people, who are waiting to avenge the Dacca debacle; and that too, with interest. Hindus should not forget that during the past one thousand years, they have been able to rule India for only the last sixty years; as apart from the hundred and fifty odd years of British rule, it was Muslims who have always ruled India. In fact, it was Muslims who had unified India into one large state, and it was Muslims who divided it in 1947. If one ponders upon the details of the event that Indians are currently boasting about, one finds that they have not really succeeded in that either. India had wanted Bangladesh to become a client state like Sikkim, or Bhutan, but the valiant Bengalis who had given innumerable sacrifices for the independence of Pakistan, refused to bow down in front of the Gandhi family, or any other Indian ruler for that matter, and now Bangladesh, just like Pakistan, is blamed by India for cross-border infiltration.
Bangladeshis too, should take note of Rahul Gandhi's claim, so that they can better appreciate and understand India's colonialist and imperialistic intentions. The three million Biharis Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh should be given their due status as members of Bangladeshi society, and the wall of enmity which had been raised by India between Muslims should be brought down, and we should again become one as in the past, united on the basis of a common ideology. Pakistan and Bangladesh should form a confederation and chart an agreement for a common defense. Pakistan must act like the elder brother in this regard and extend all its cooperation for Bangladesh's defense. Pakistan needs an innovative and aggressive defense and foreign policy under a rapidly evolving global scenario.
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