EDITORIAL: Truth has a way of asserting itself despite all attempts to obscure it. Distortion only serves to derail it for a time.—The late US Senator Robert C. Byrd
It took time for the truth to emerge about the Pulwama incident. The disclosures made in this regard are by none else but by somebody who was Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s governor of the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir at the time of the attack on a paramilitary convoy that resulted in the deaths of over 40 soldiers. That the attack was managed by the Indian intelligence and carried out by its local agents is a fact.
The then governor of the occupied territory, Satya Pal Malik, knew the whole truth, but his lips, according to him, were virtually sealed by prime minister Modi and Malik remained in that state of inactivity in compliance with the ‘advice’ of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
But four years on, Malik, now a private citizen, decided to let the Indians know how deceptive is their prime minister and to what extent he can go to ensure perpetuation of his terror- and corruption-ridden rule.
A couple of days ago, in an interview with noted journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, he said: “Mein safely keh sakta hoon Prime Minister ko corruption say bahut ziada nafrat nahin hay [I can safely say that the Prime Minister has no real problem with corruption]”. He said Modi also told him not to speak about the lapses on the part of Home Ministry headed by principal Hindutva patron and the then home minister, Rajnath Singh.
In fact, Malik was not privy to something meticulously planned by notorious Ajit Doval and carried out at Pulwama to blame Pakistan.
That the Pulwama attack was planned as a move to ignite a bigger conflict with Pakistan is a fact that has found its best expression from New Delhi’s decision to launch the Balakot false flag operation 12 days later.
And the world saw firsthand how mercilessly India was beaten and how mercifully Pakistan released the captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
Given the emergence of new geostrategic equations in the region, India doesn’t get its due share of blame for its illegal, brutal occupation of Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, the question whether or not the West will now see India in its hypocritical posturing in light of the disclosures made by Malik has no easy answer.
The Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism to advance its sham victimhood narrative and on home front the Hindutva agenda for domestic political gains.
But even if the West is bent upon prompting India as its regional proxy against China it should not overlook the fact that both India and Pakistan are nuclear states.
The world must not lose sight of the fact that the Balakot venture that India put out as a punitive move to avenge its home-made Pulwama incident had all the possibility of triggering a nuclear clash between the two neighbours.
Narendra Modi is a power-hungry politician and would leave nothing to chance for electoral gains. Under his command India is a terrorist state, which has illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and brutally subjugated its people, but tells the world that Kashmiris’ freedom struggle is a case of terrorism schemed by Pakistan.
Satya Pal Malik, who is also known as a top leader of Jaat community in India’s various states, including UP and Haryana, deserves praise for revealing a state secret about Modi. Unbothered by the human costs of his megalomaniacal projects, Modi has obsessive desire for power. Malik also deserves commendation for vindicating Pakistan’s stance on the Pulwama attack.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023