After a long time Prime Minister Imran Khan has finally reached out to Bangladesh which was once a part of Pakistan. India now stands totally isolated in the region. Peace in Afghanistan and solid advancement of the CPEC project has the potential to transform the region. With lack of international and regional support the Indian hegemony is no longer sustainable.
The clock has started ticking
By its illegal revocation of the Kashmir Act on 5 August 2019, the conflict has been internationalised. It is not only Pakistan, but China and Nepal have territorial interests in Ladakh which India has unilaterally annexed against international law. Surrender of the occupying Indian Army is inevitable as the entire region including the local Kashmiri population is against this illegal act of a Hindu fundamentalist regime.
For the first time in 72 years the entire Kashmiri leadership wants India out, which is why all the former Chief Ministers are under house arrest, Rahul Gandhi the leader of the opposition has demanded their release.
Read more: 93,000 Pakistani soldiers did not surrender in 1971 because….?
No army of the world can effectively confront the enemy if it loses public support. It is the inevitable lesson of history which is mostly ignored by the powerful. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. On 16 December 1971, Lt Gen A. A. K. Niazi, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Command, together with 93,000 soldiers, surrendered to Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora at Ramna Race Course Garden in Dhaka.
With a hostile Bengali population the army had to fight on multiple fronts. Some important leaders of the Awami League escaped to India, to form a government-in-exile. Together with their militant wing called ‘Mukti Bahini’ and active support of the Indian Army, East Pakistan became the Republic of Bangladesh.
In the words of Prime Minister Imran Khan, “India has played its last card”, now it calls for a befitting response. Both from Kashmir and Pakistan
When asked by a reporter why did the command decide to surrender when they could have held on, the senior officer promptly replied in consideration of loss of human life. Some officers fought on till they achieved martyrdom. My own cousin, Major Arjumand Khand (Shaheed), refused to surrender and opted to fight till the end. The prisoners of war (PoWs) were then transported to camps in India under the protective custody of the Indian Army. A war crimes tribunal was set up in Bangladesh to try the former rulers and senior officers.
Another surrender in the making at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium
I see another surrender in the making at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium sometime next year. It is India’s turn this time around. With about 1 million soldiers and RSS goons in the Valley this will be the largest laying of arms ever. The traitor of the Kashmiri cause, Ghulam Muhammad Bakshi, the last Prime Minister of the state, replaced Sheikh Abdullah who was imprisoned for his defiance.
Read more: Resolve Kashmir issue before it is too late
After him the post of Chief Executive was watered down to Chief Minister (CM). Perhaps history is on its course correction, moving towards a surrender in the largest stadium of the Valley built by an Indian tout. In private Sheikh Abdullah admitted that accession to India was the biggest blunder of his life, but he insisted that it was a mistake, not a sellout.
Unfortunately, Pakistan has not been able to develop an effective strategy for the liberation of Kashmir. Most attempts have been half cooked and ill-planned. The Kashmiri leadership of the Muslim Conference that was opposed to Abdullah’s accession wanted to lead the crusade for liberation.
First it was President Sardar Ibrahim Khan and then K.H. Khurshid who launched his Liberation League. Both were outstanding leaders, able and honest, totally committed to the Kashmir cause. Somehow Islamabad remained uncomfortable with them and created third-rate leadership in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) as was done in Pakistan. Both nations continue to suffer till today at the hands of this corrupt, inept leadership.
There will be no third option, as an invading army cannot survive against the will of the local population. Forces of liberation have always prevailed over troops of occupation
The elected government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto revived the Kashmir cause. In AJK an elected leadership emerged which launched major development projects. The opposition today who played a pivotal role in hijacking democracy, in bringing the elected government down, now praise his vision.
In one of his last speeches in Parliament Bhutto proposed the idea of autonomy with porous borders as a first step in resolving the long standing dispute with India; Musharraf’s confidence building measures also relied on the concept of demilitarization, common supervision, autonomy with porous borders.
India has played its last card
In the words of Prime Minister Imran Khan, “India has played its last card”, now it calls for a befitting response. Both from Kashmir and Pakistan. Timing plays a crucial role. Indian designs have to effectively countered. Demography is very critical. As long as the Kashmiri population is in majority, India does not have a chance.
Read more: Modism is 21st Century Nazism
Their surrender at Bakshi Stadium will be unavoidable. Like “Jihad-e-Afghanistan’, “Jihad-e-Kashmir’ has the potential to liberate the Valley. Kashmir cannot be turned into Palestine. The players in the equation are totally different.
Arab states have been neutralized, leaving Palestinians to fight their own battles. Kashmiris are not alone in this struggle. Independent or part of Pakistan, it is a win-win situation for both. In 1962 during the Indo-China war, the leadership in Pakistan shied away from liberating the Valley, in 2020 under an elected government there will be no sell-out.
The combined thrust of Mujahideen, Pakistan, China, Iran, Afghanistan will crush Indian expansionist designs. Israel is too far away to come to the rescue of the RSS-controlled Hindu fascist state.
The writing is on the wall, ‘RETREAT NOW OR SURRENDER LATER AT BAKSHI STADIUM IN SRINAGAR’. I promise my Kashmiri brethren to be there to witness the largest laying of arms in human history
The mighty USSR installed Dr Najibullah Ahmadzai as President of Afghanistan and then started to withdraw. After their complete withdrawal in 1992 Najibullah could not hold on and tendered his resignation. He tried to flee to India but landed up taking refuge in the UN Headquarters. Finally he was captured by the Taliban and assassinated on September 27, 1996.
Like the Soviet invading army, the Indians will have only two options; retreat back or surrender at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. There will be no third option, as an invading army cannot survive against the will of the local population. Forces of liberation have always prevailed over troops of occupation.
Nations must learn from history to correct their course of action. Failed war in Afghanistan caused the collapse of the mighty USSR. Hitler’s invasion of Russia proved disastrous for Germany. In 1971, 93,000 Pakistanis had to surrender in Dhaka. Better sense should prevail in India, that a Hindu state cannot be created by eliminating the Muslim population. This revenge game will be destructive and destabilizing for the entire region with heavy human toll which can be avoided through a negotiated settlement of this long-standing dispute.
Read more: Surrender at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium
India has little to gain and much to lose from this misconceived adventurism. Like Hitler’s Germany, Modi’s India will break-up into several fragments as it has always been, only real democracy can hold it together. The writing is on the wall, ‘RETREAT NOW OR SURRENDER LATER AT BAKSHI STADIUM IN SRINAGAR’. I promise my Kashmiri brethren to be there to witness the largest laying of arms in human history. The clock started to tick on 5 August 2019.
Dr. Farid A.Malik is the Ex-Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation. (Fr. General Manager PITAC, Process Engineering Manager Intel Corporation Engineering and Management Consultant). An expert on mining and energy, currently working on developing clean Coal Technologies for Thar Deposit. He was a Shadow Minister PTI and Co-Ordinator of the PTI Think Tank where the framework of the Welfare State was developed. The article was first published in Pakistan Today and has been republished here with the author’s permission. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.