Pakistan, the congenital foe

It is becoming clearer by the day that Pakistan will never be at peace with India. General Zia-ul-Haq’s programme of inflicting a thousand cuts to make India bleed in men and money perpetually is the agenda of all Pak governments and its armed forces and the non-state actors that are supported by it and injected into India.

India is paying very heavily in men and money - tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers of India have been killed; a number of divisions of our armed forces are bogged down in J&K. We are spending lakhs of crores of rupees to buy peace in Kashmir.

It appears that we cannot either retaliate or, much less, put out the terror machines that that are injected or planted by Pakistan. Its generals and even National Security Adviser are reminding us that they have nuclear bombs which ensure that India would not be able to defeat Pakistan, without itself suffering terrible loss.

While India has given to the world its word that it would not be the first power to use nuclear weapons, Pakistan declined to give such commitment . It is therefore clear that Pakistan is blackmailing us into inaction against its terror machine on the strength of its nuclear missiles.

Long ago when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister, Israel offered to destroy Pakistan’s with nuclear bomb facility in Kahoota, provided we gave it refuelling facilities in Jamnagar. Desai declined to do so. Israel, unlike India , is ever prepared to take preventive action against nuclear bombs and missiles in the hands of its declared enemies.

Israel destroyed the nuclear facilities in Iraq by a pre-emptive strike in the year 1981. It is ever ready to destroy similar facilities in Iran. It is withholding action in the hope that the world powers would thwart Iran from developing nuclear bombs and the capability to hurl them into Israel.

If India is not to perpetually bleed in men and materials, as designed by the late Zia-ul Haq and implemented by Pakistan since then, it appears a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan’s nuclear facilities alone can ensure the end of terror machine of Pakistan. As soon as the US armed force are withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Taliban terrorists and the Al-Qaeda guerrillas would all be unleashed into Kashmir.

Pakistan feels comfortable because it is getting military supplies and financial assistance from the US. China is on its side and, of late, even Russia, our traditional ally, is agreeing to supply military ware to Pakistan . As Pakistan is befriended, supplied and supported by three major powers USA, China and Russia, it is necessary that India’s policy will have to be like that of Indira Gandhi before she took action against Pakistan in December 1971.

The world’s leading powers were thoroughly and unambiguously briefed about Pakistan’s genocidal war on Bengalis in East Pakistan and the unbearable burden the refugees from there into India were and India’s imperative to get rid of this burden and threat to its security. She signed the 20-year friendship pact with the (then) Soviet Union and then confronted Pakistan, resulting in its break-up.

India should repeat Indira’s act on Pakistan in a well prepared manner . Terrorism and the huge damage it is inflicting upon India, thwarting our economic progress must be brought to the notice of the world’s great powers and they be told that if they don’t restrain Pakistan, India will have to take its own defensive action for its safety and security and development. (The writer is the chairman of Pragna Bharati)

By Dr T H Chowdary