ISLAMABAD, (Parliament Times) : Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa made an important speech during a security conference in Islamabad. There were three key themes of this speech. The regional connectivity, peace with India, and putting our own house in order. I will only talk about peace with India and putting our house in order. All policy planners know my views on regional connectivity that I have expressed through private memos.
We are not a fully sovereign state. It manifests in our foreign, economic, fiscal, and social policy. We are enslaved not because we are highly indebted or that we have a struggling economy. America is more indebted than us, and the Afghan Taliban have rudimentary weapons. They still exhibit sovereignty in their decisions. We are enslaved because those who rule over us are minions, lack vision and capability. We have five neighbors China, India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Oman (through sea border), but we focus all our energy on managing Indian relations. If we make four of our five neighbors our friends, we can deal with an aggressive one. But we have mismanaged our neighbors and became dependent on others that are not part of the region.
Now let’s look at the situation with India. It was the fascist and fundamentalist government of PM Modi that unilaterally and illegally annexed Indian-occupied Kashmir. They unilaterally removed articles of their constitution that granted it a special status. It was the Indian government that violated the UN Kashmir resolution. Not just that they violated the long-respected no-strike bilateral understanding by sending their fighter planes across the border. The Indian pilot knowingly committed acts that were meant to kill Pakistani citizens and inflict damage on our strategic assets. It was the Indian government that violated LoC 3000 times in the last few years and killed 28 innocent Pakistani citizens. It is the Indian government that committed a gross violation of Human rights against unarmed Kashmiris. It was the Indian government that violated the Indus water treaty and declared that they would deny us our due share of water to kill us by thirst.
It is this unceasing aggression that compelled Pakistan to announce that there will be no talk and any form of dialogue with India. PM announced that he will personally assume the role of Kashmir ambassador and rally the world for it. We were told a detailed dossier has been provided to the UN against India. We were told that no stone will remain unturned to ensure the interests of Pakistan are secured.
What has changed? Why have we taken a u-turn? Why have we forgiven Indian aggressions and willingly providing it a safe passage? An argument is being presented that PM Imran Khan’s campaign of labeling Modi as a modern-day Nazi was very successful. If true, what was the need to reduce this pressure? If the argument is that this change in tone was done after promises were made that PM Modi regime will find a way to reverse the Aug 5th, 2019 illegal annexation, what is the rush to hand them a diplomatic win by showing weakness as a state. It is the same situation that we experienced in the returning of captured Indian Pilot Abhi Nandan. We returned him in haste without getting anything in return.
PM Modi is a sworn enemy of Muslims and Pakistan. Any breathing space to this regime is to undermine the national interest. We have consistently done it in the last few years without getting anything in return. It is India that has to demonstrate confidence-building measures before we publicly announce our willingness to engage with them. Pacifism is a failed strategy against a fascist opponent.
I am happy that General Bajwa has accepted that the current security state that we call rejected republic has failed and has to be replaced by an Awami state. Who will do that? It has to be led and owned by the political parties. The establishment does not have the mandate or the capability to develop a republic that is backed by the will of the people. The establishment should support our National Political Dialogue that will be the best service to the nation.
PM Imran Khan has written a letter to the speaker to form a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms. We reject this parliamentary committee because the issues are not just organizing elections. Deeper reforms are needed to create an Awami republic. Secondly, there can be no dialogue or engagement with a government that has repeatedly violated efforts to ascertain who engaged in election engineering and rigging in the 2018 general elections. PTI, as a political party, will be invited to participate in the national political dialogue. But there can be no engagement with the government. I hope PDM will consider our suggestion and boycott participation in any parliamentary committee.
National political dialogue and the creation of an Awami republic is the only viable way forward to grant Pakistan its sovereignty and respect in the world community.