Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq
Today, November 27, 2009 marks one year of the ghastly three-day carnage in Mumbai—blatant acts of terrorism targeting common people and a leading hotel that jolted entire India and the world at large. It is tragic that even after going through a highly dreadful event threading the security and relations of both the countries, the leadership of across the borders has failed to initiate peace talks. From the Kargil misadventure of 1999 to Mumbai Carnage of 2008, both India and Pakistan have witnessed many moments of “reconciliation” but each time, certain hidden hands, using the ugly weapon of “cross-border terrorism”, damaged these efforts. The hidden hands—working simultaneously in both the countries—take dictations from their foreign masters, who arm, support and fund them. It is painful that leadership of both the states has miserably failed to counter these forces which always manage to dismantle normalization process between the two neighbouring—but belligerent—States.
The root-cause of trouble in this region is “cross-border terrorism”—a phenomenon that cannot be understood in isolation of the New Great Game unleashed by imperialist and neo-imperialist forces. Onslaughts of Jihadists in the wake of Talibanization of Afghanistan have been at the behest of forces that used them to defeat the erstwhile USSR. Both India and Pakistan are victims of shortsightedness of policies they pursued in the aftermath of 9/11 by becoming allies of USA in the ‘war against terrorism’ (sic) without understanding the real agenda behind it.
They did not protest when the US started killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan in December 2001 by indiscriminate bombings under the pretext of annihilating Al-Qaeda operatives. In Bonn peace talks, the Taliban were kept outside, which was a grave mistake. Leadership of both the countries failed to take any lead in political settlement in the neighbouring Afghanistan. They did not ask UN mediators to marginalize Al-Qaeda by persuading moderate Taliban leaders to take part in the peace process and in future political setup. The ouster of Taliban from peace talks and brutal killing of innocent civilians in several villages in Tora Bora and near Gardez in December 2001 by US, sowed permanent seeds of hatred and revenge—this was the beginning of an unabated cross-border terrorism wave which has now turned into an insurmountable tsunami threatening the peace and tranquility of the entire region.
Two great nuclear states are now in a fix—captives in the hands of military hawks. The war-mongers on both sides are pushing things to an extent that paranoia of hate has begun to haunt the masses. Media is making things worse by over-publicizing, publishing and broadcasting irresponsible statements by imprudent politicians. The electronic media is vividly projecting possible scenarios of mass destruction in the event of nuclear attacks. This shows deep penetration of war psychosis in both the countries—a lamentable attitude and nuclear mindset. There are some voices of sanity from peace-lovers across the borders, but they are weak and ineffective before the hawkish elements—agents of military establishments having control over state apparatus and popular media. Forces of terror and obscurantism are creation of those who exploited them for resisting Soviet occupation. They received generous American support, but in 1989, when Russian troops packed their bags and went home, American interest in Afghanistan waned. Once the Central Asian countries had become independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991, America concentrated its attention in the region on Soviet nuclear leftovers, the decommissioning of which it hailed as a great success. When the Taliban took over in 1996, the Americans did not seem overly concerned that the bearded rulers and their Al-Qaeda friends were supporting radical Islamic groups in Central Asia. Does it seem credible that all this while, CIA was totally oblivious of Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus and their nefarious activities until 9/11?
Why did the US government fail to counter their activities when they openly extended their actions into Africa and elsewhere? What lessons did the US learn when its embassies were bombed in Africa by Al Qaeda? What measures were taken to stop them when an Indian plane was hijacked in December 1999 from Katmandu and taken to Kandahar? How did the hijackers, agents of Osama Bin Laden (?), manage to get freed, militants like Maulana Azhar and Ahmed Omar Sheikh from Indian jails? Why did US allow Musharraf for eight years to cheat everybody and keep on supporting the militants?
The above questions and their answers will unveil the tragic happenings starting from 9/11 in New York to 27/11 in Mumbai. Long before 9/11, George Bush and Dick Cheney had planned invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. They supported Musharraf et al for implementation of their agenda. Now Barack Obama is also talking of controlling Afghanistan through increased military presence. What is the significance of Afghanistan in the New Great Game? The answer is simple. The hidden agenda of US and its allies in Afghanistan and elsewhere is to promote drug trade, religious fundamentalism and mass acceptance of their policies of fascism for ensuring continued economic interests. India and Pakistan fail to realise that they are being sucked into a death trap by these forces. Certain forces in both the countries are waging continuous proxy war, funding and arming extremists within each other’s territory. This path leads nowhere except towards self-annihilation for both.
This dangerous game is engineered and controlled by CIA that allows Hamid Karzai to rule for the second time—after massive corruption, cheating and what not—and keep on giving free hand to Indian agents on Pakistan’s western borders. It is an open secret that CIA operatives with the help of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have been funding the insurgency in Baluchistan. At the same time, these CIA agents are promoting a number of militant groups in Pakistan to help Maoists and other dissidents in India. The linkage behind troubles in both the countries is the same—US Central Intelligence Agency. Both the Indian and Pakistani governments are conveniently playing in the hands of their common enemy and ironically they are relying on US support. For this occasion, Mir Taqi Mir, the great poet, very aptly said, Mir kai sada hain beemar huay jis kay sabab, usi attar kai londay se dawa latain hain (What a simple soul is Mir that he seeks prescription from the person who is the cause of his illness).
One wonders why rulers in Indo-Pakistan are deliberately ignoring the obvious tentacles of the dirty game plan of the neo-colonial forces in this region. The main aim behind the bizarre New Great Game is to push the armed forces of Pakistan against the wall using India as conduit, get the control of nuclear arsenals and use the bogey of “Islamic terrorism” for the containment of China. American Late Neo-colonialism, as explained by Dr. Sachithanandam Sathananthan in his paper Great Game Continues, is using cross-border terrorism as political cover for intervening and, where necessary, invading resource-rich and strategic countries to overthrow nationalist leaders, install puppet regimes and savage the countries’ wealth. This is the reality of “cross-border terrorism” and “war on terrorism”. The forces of obscurantism and imperialism appear to be enemies, but in reality, they are ‘friends-in-arms’. The great challenge before the forces of peace is to get united for stemming the rising tide of terrorism, communalism, religious bigotry and obscurantism, which is designed, funded and controlled by neo-colonialist forces.
One does hope that Indian and Pakistani leadership will soon understand this great conspiracy. It is high time that Afghani, Chinese, Iranian, Indian and Pakistani leaders meet and forge a regional front against the forces of neo-colonialism to foil their ‘New Great Game’ plan. They must understand that “cross-border terrorism” and “war on terrorism” is a ploy in the hands of US and its allies. It is the 21st century equivalent of the 19th century British gobbledygook. If we want to counter spate of terrorism engulfing this region, people will have to unite against the neo-colonial forces and their gumashtas—the agent provocateurs.
The writers, tax advisers, are visiting professors at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).