BREAKING NEWS
TRF’s designation as a FTO by the US State Department is undoubtedly a major diplomatic victory for India. For one, by stating that TRF is a Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] “front and proxy,” the US has finally [and unambiguously] acknowledged what New Delhi has been asserting [and Islamabad vehemently denying] all along. Getting such a forthright admission of Pakistan’s involvement in sponsoring terrorist groups from the otherwise reticent Uncle Sam is certainly no mean achievement.
Significant Development
Designation of The Resistance Front [TRF] as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation [FTO] by the US State Department is being seen by many as a big diplomatic victory for India. Some are even reading this development as an indication of Washington’s unstinted support to India in its war against terror that would deal a decisive blow to the Pakistan sponsored proxy war in J&K.
TRF’s designation as a FTO by the US State Department is undoubtedly a major diplomatic victory for India. For one, by stating that TRF is a Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] “front and proxy,” the US has finally [and unambiguously] acknowledged what New Delhi has been asserting [and Islamabad vehemently denying] all along. Getting such a forthright admission of Pakistan’s involvement in sponsoring terrorist groups from the otherwise reticent Uncle Sam is certainly no mean achievement.
Secondly, coming hard on the heels of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Service Public Relations [ISPR] much hyped claim of US President Donald Trump having “appreciated” Pakistan’s “robust counterterrorism cooperation” during his meeting and lunch with Pakistan’s de facto ruler Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Washington’s designation of TRF as a FTO is no doubt a humongous embarrassment for Rawalpindi. It has also taken the wind out of US CENTCOM commander Gen Michael Kurilla’s observation of Pakistan being a “phenomenal counterterrorism partner.”
Premature Euphoria?
While celebrating TRF’s designation as a FTO is definitely called for, given Washington’s proven history of ambivalence on terrorism related issues, it would be prudent not to read too much into this development. Furthermore, to expect that Rawalpindi would mend its ways and stop waging proxy war in J&K through terrorist groups that it is sponsoring is nothing but wishful thinking. Islamabad has withstood all attempts by the international community to stop sponsoring terrorist groups, not since it doesn’t want to, but because Rawalpindi won’t let it do so.
In 2016, Islamabad tried. Readers may recall the Dawn Leaks incident wherein Dawn reporter Cyril Almeida leaked details of a secret meeting in which ruling party members and bureaucrats had warned the army that it should act against the terrorist groups it was sponsoring to save Pakistan from facing international isolation. Unfortunately, rather than pay heed to this sagacious advice, the army’s top brass instead orchestrated the controversial removal of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges along with a 10 year prison term!
A year later, when Trump announced that “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations,” the then Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa despite being aware of his country’s precarious financial situation, had the gall to tell US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale that "We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but trust, understanding and [an] acknowledgement of our contributions."
Even Trump’s stern 2018 New Year tweet calling out Pakistan’s “lies and deceit [and] thinking of our leaders as fools” as well as how “they give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan,” failed to move the army. That Rawalpindi’s obduracy led to the stoppage of US financial and triggered Pakistan's economic freefall is no secret, but in a country where exposing the army’s monumental blunders could prove detrimental to the physical wellbeing of complainants, survival instinct induces stoic silence.
Pakistan’s Unacknowledged Contribution
New Delhi deserves due credit for its multi-faceted diplomatic offensive based on irrefutable evidence painstakingly ascertained and collated by the Indian army and intelligence agencies that led to TRF being designated a FTO. However, even though it may sound odd, both Islamabad and Rawalpindi too have contributed in strengthening India’s case, albeit unwittingly.
Just a day after New Delhi abrogated Article 370, Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa bravely announced that the "Pakistan Army firmly stands by the Kashmiris in their just struggle to the very end [and] we are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfill our obligations...." Coming from the person practically running Pakistan, this damning self-incriminating declaration, was unfortunately overlooked by New Delhi.
However, the US State Department would definitely have analysed this statement in detail as the army of a democratic country specifically expressing solidarity with the people of a neighbouring country makes no sense. Moreover, by announcing that “we are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfill our obligations," the Pakistan army chief has officially conceded that Rawalpindi is directly controlling the separatist movement and terrorist activities in J&K.
Gen Bajwa’s statement also raises some very critical questions- what “obligations” does an army have towards what it perceives is a “just struggle” outside its borders, and what does the pledge of going “to any extent” in this regard actually imply? While the Pakistan army chief may be the country’s uncrowned king, Rawalpindi has no standing or capacity to influence the international community on Kashmir related issues. And if this be the case, going to “any extent” in this regard makes no sense-or so it seems.
But when couched niceties are shorn off, the phrases “just struggle,” fulfilling “obligations” and going to “any extent,” make perfect sense. The “just struggle” Gen Bajwa is referring to is actually the ongoing proxy war being waged in J&K by Pakistan army sponsored terrorists. The “fulfill our obligations” promise given by him is in fact an assurance that Rawalpindi’s military, monetary and administrative support, including safe sanctuaries on Pakistani soil, would continue as hitherto fore.
Most importantly, Gen Bajwa’s going to “any extent” is a clear giveaway that Rawalpindi would be ratcheting up the scope and intensity of its proxy war by creating terrorist groups with new names so that they could be passed-off as indigenous anti-Article 370 abrogation entities. However, with Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] which is overseeing the ongoing proxy war in J&K tasking newly formed groups like TRF to indulge in senseless violence like target religious minorities that doesn't further their stated objectives, Rawalpindi’s plot of creating a false illusion of public opposition to Article 370 abrogation has misfired.
Islamabad has further exposed Rawalpindi’s deceit. By boasting that he had bulldozed his way for removing the name of TRF as perpetrator of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in the UNSC statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed an unmistakable streak of filial love for this terrorist group. If it wasn't a ‘Pakistani product', why would Dar put his country's image at stake at the UN to ensure that TRF which carried out the cold blood murder of tourists in Pahalgam is not named?
Prognosis
By declaring that “Kashmir was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, and we will never forget it,” as well as reiterating that “We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle,” Field Marshal Munir has made it absolutely clear that the only solution to the J&K issue that’s acceptable to Rawalpindi is its merger with Pakistan.
While successive Pakistan army chiefs have expressed a similar view, but after two failures [in 1947 and 1965] to annex J&K and one unsuccessful attempt to alter the Line of Control [LoC] alignment [1999], none have dared to repeat such misadventures for fear of suffering ignominious reverses. In fact, during his exile in Saudi Arabia, PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif accepted this reality by telling veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar that me “Neither we can take Kashmir from you, nor you can give Kashmir [to us]"
The Pakistan army top brass too is well aware of the fact that it can't seize J&K by force. But since Rawalpindi has been using the “jugular vein” catchphrase to justify and strengthen its own grip over the country, it has to keep up pretences. So, rabid rhetoric and fuelling terrorism in J&K are safe alternatives to satiate public aspirations and keep their hallucinatory “Kashmir banega Pakistan” [Kashmir will become part of Pakistan] fantasy alive.
So, designation of TRF as a FTO by the US State Department and other such developments would have no salutary effect in reducing the intensity of the Pakistan army’s ongoing proxy war in J&K As such, New Delhi will have to fight this scourge of cross border terrorism alone and be mentally prepared for a long haul!
Email:-----------------------------nileshkunwar.56@gmail.com
TRF’s designation as a FTO by the US State Department is undoubtedly a major diplomatic victory for India. For one, by stating that TRF is a Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] “front and proxy,” the US has finally [and unambiguously] acknowledged what New Delhi has been asserting [and Islamabad vehemently denying] all along. Getting such a forthright admission of Pakistan’s involvement in sponsoring terrorist groups from the otherwise reticent Uncle Sam is certainly no mean achievement.
Significant Development
Designation of The Resistance Front [TRF] as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation [FTO] by the US State Department is being seen by many as a big diplomatic victory for India. Some are even reading this development as an indication of Washington’s unstinted support to India in its war against terror that would deal a decisive blow to the Pakistan sponsored proxy war in J&K.
TRF’s designation as a FTO by the US State Department is undoubtedly a major diplomatic victory for India. For one, by stating that TRF is a Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] “front and proxy,” the US has finally [and unambiguously] acknowledged what New Delhi has been asserting [and Islamabad vehemently denying] all along. Getting such a forthright admission of Pakistan’s involvement in sponsoring terrorist groups from the otherwise reticent Uncle Sam is certainly no mean achievement.
Secondly, coming hard on the heels of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Service Public Relations [ISPR] much hyped claim of US President Donald Trump having “appreciated” Pakistan’s “robust counterterrorism cooperation” during his meeting and lunch with Pakistan’s de facto ruler Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Washington’s designation of TRF as a FTO is no doubt a humongous embarrassment for Rawalpindi. It has also taken the wind out of US CENTCOM commander Gen Michael Kurilla’s observation of Pakistan being a “phenomenal counterterrorism partner.”
Premature Euphoria?
While celebrating TRF’s designation as a FTO is definitely called for, given Washington’s proven history of ambivalence on terrorism related issues, it would be prudent not to read too much into this development. Furthermore, to expect that Rawalpindi would mend its ways and stop waging proxy war in J&K through terrorist groups that it is sponsoring is nothing but wishful thinking. Islamabad has withstood all attempts by the international community to stop sponsoring terrorist groups, not since it doesn’t want to, but because Rawalpindi won’t let it do so.
In 2016, Islamabad tried. Readers may recall the Dawn Leaks incident wherein Dawn reporter Cyril Almeida leaked details of a secret meeting in which ruling party members and bureaucrats had warned the army that it should act against the terrorist groups it was sponsoring to save Pakistan from facing international isolation. Unfortunately, rather than pay heed to this sagacious advice, the army’s top brass instead orchestrated the controversial removal of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges along with a 10 year prison term!
A year later, when Trump announced that “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations,” the then Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa despite being aware of his country’s precarious financial situation, had the gall to tell US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale that "We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from the US, but trust, understanding and [an] acknowledgement of our contributions."
Even Trump’s stern 2018 New Year tweet calling out Pakistan’s “lies and deceit [and] thinking of our leaders as fools” as well as how “they give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan,” failed to move the army. That Rawalpindi’s obduracy led to the stoppage of US financial and triggered Pakistan's economic freefall is no secret, but in a country where exposing the army’s monumental blunders could prove detrimental to the physical wellbeing of complainants, survival instinct induces stoic silence.
Pakistan’s Unacknowledged Contribution
New Delhi deserves due credit for its multi-faceted diplomatic offensive based on irrefutable evidence painstakingly ascertained and collated by the Indian army and intelligence agencies that led to TRF being designated a FTO. However, even though it may sound odd, both Islamabad and Rawalpindi too have contributed in strengthening India’s case, albeit unwittingly.
Just a day after New Delhi abrogated Article 370, Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa bravely announced that the "Pakistan Army firmly stands by the Kashmiris in their just struggle to the very end [and] we are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfill our obligations...." Coming from the person practically running Pakistan, this damning self-incriminating declaration, was unfortunately overlooked by New Delhi.
However, the US State Department would definitely have analysed this statement in detail as the army of a democratic country specifically expressing solidarity with the people of a neighbouring country makes no sense. Moreover, by announcing that “we are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfill our obligations," the Pakistan army chief has officially conceded that Rawalpindi is directly controlling the separatist movement and terrorist activities in J&K.
Gen Bajwa’s statement also raises some very critical questions- what “obligations” does an army have towards what it perceives is a “just struggle” outside its borders, and what does the pledge of going “to any extent” in this regard actually imply? While the Pakistan army chief may be the country’s uncrowned king, Rawalpindi has no standing or capacity to influence the international community on Kashmir related issues. And if this be the case, going to “any extent” in this regard makes no sense-or so it seems.
But when couched niceties are shorn off, the phrases “just struggle,” fulfilling “obligations” and going to “any extent,” make perfect sense. The “just struggle” Gen Bajwa is referring to is actually the ongoing proxy war being waged in J&K by Pakistan army sponsored terrorists. The “fulfill our obligations” promise given by him is in fact an assurance that Rawalpindi’s military, monetary and administrative support, including safe sanctuaries on Pakistani soil, would continue as hitherto fore.
Most importantly, Gen Bajwa’s going to “any extent” is a clear giveaway that Rawalpindi would be ratcheting up the scope and intensity of its proxy war by creating terrorist groups with new names so that they could be passed-off as indigenous anti-Article 370 abrogation entities. However, with Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] which is overseeing the ongoing proxy war in J&K tasking newly formed groups like TRF to indulge in senseless violence like target religious minorities that doesn't further their stated objectives, Rawalpindi’s plot of creating a false illusion of public opposition to Article 370 abrogation has misfired.
Islamabad has further exposed Rawalpindi’s deceit. By boasting that he had bulldozed his way for removing the name of TRF as perpetrator of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in the UNSC statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed an unmistakable streak of filial love for this terrorist group. If it wasn't a ‘Pakistani product', why would Dar put his country's image at stake at the UN to ensure that TRF which carried out the cold blood murder of tourists in Pahalgam is not named?
Prognosis
By declaring that “Kashmir was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, and we will never forget it,” as well as reiterating that “We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle,” Field Marshal Munir has made it absolutely clear that the only solution to the J&K issue that’s acceptable to Rawalpindi is its merger with Pakistan.
While successive Pakistan army chiefs have expressed a similar view, but after two failures [in 1947 and 1965] to annex J&K and one unsuccessful attempt to alter the Line of Control [LoC] alignment [1999], none have dared to repeat such misadventures for fear of suffering ignominious reverses. In fact, during his exile in Saudi Arabia, PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif accepted this reality by telling veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar that me “Neither we can take Kashmir from you, nor you can give Kashmir [to us]"
The Pakistan army top brass too is well aware of the fact that it can't seize J&K by force. But since Rawalpindi has been using the “jugular vein” catchphrase to justify and strengthen its own grip over the country, it has to keep up pretences. So, rabid rhetoric and fuelling terrorism in J&K are safe alternatives to satiate public aspirations and keep their hallucinatory “Kashmir banega Pakistan” [Kashmir will become part of Pakistan] fantasy alive.
So, designation of TRF as a FTO by the US State Department and other such developments would have no salutary effect in reducing the intensity of the Pakistan army’s ongoing proxy war in J&K As such, New Delhi will have to fight this scourge of cross border terrorism alone and be mentally prepared for a long haul!
Email:-----------------------------nileshkunwar.56@gmail.com
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