On Wednesday, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan issued a ‘message’ to India and immediately some Indians fell in love with his message. They couldn’t stop marvelling how this clean-shaven former cricketer talked maturely about wars being miscalculations that go out of control, and instead offered to have the never-ending mysterious ‘talks’.
In his short speech, Imran Khan talked about the Second World War, and he pointed out how Hitler did a major miscalculation by attacking Russia thinking he could conquer it, but attack on Russia triggered Hitler’s downfall apart from triggering one of the bloodiest wars the world had seen.
You know, it was not his offering of ‘talks’ that won hearts of ‘liberals’ back in India. It was this indirect equation of Narendra Modi with Hitler – something that sends the self-declared liberal crowd in India in collective orgasm – where he basically ‘warned’ Modi not to attack Pakistan again, which won the peacenik’s hearts. He became a hero. His words must prevail. Modi must surrender after this warning, and thus ‘Say No To War’ started immediately.
But our ‘liberals’ are masters at subterfuge. Just like they are shedding crocodile tears for the captured Indian Air Force pilot after expressing joy over massacre of CRPF men, they are pretending to love the ‘message for peace’ while secretly imagining a ‘progressive’ suave Pathan sending a stern warning to a village bigot who takes regressive steps like taking a holy dip in Kumbh.
However, what they, and many of us too, fail to realise is that, subconsciously, while talking about Hitler’s miscalculation, Imran Khan was actually talking about Pakistan and the ideology that created it – Islamism – which is essentially Nazism in green. Like Hitler wanted to have a grand German nation where other races and languages are subordinate to his own superior race and language, Islamism aims to have a caliphate where Islam and Arabic language and culture reign supreme with dhimmitude offered to others.
Oh, by the way, a close aide of Hitler had written that the German dictator liked Islam and its warrior temperament. “You see, it’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion,” Hitler had said according to his minister for armaments Albert Speer, “The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?”
Anyway, like Hitler miscalculated during the World War II, Pakistan also miscalculated a war.
The miscalculation that Pakistan – the original Islamic state before ISIS came into being – undertook was the war in 1971, where they thought that a pan Islamic identity will prevail and Bangladeshis (then East Pakistanis) will fall in love with Urdu that is written in Arabic script, thus ‘purer’ than Bengali.
One of the first things that the Pakistani Army did in the then East Pakistan was to demolish Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka, an ancient temple that had weathered challenges over centuries, and butcher hundreds of Hindus there. This was accompanied with their army raiding student hostels and shooting dead Hindu students after checking if they were circumcised or not. Many Bengali Islamists were impressed with such deeds and sided with the (West) Pakistani Army, but generally the Bengali speaking Pakistanis resisted this temptation. 1971 became a war for independence of Bangladesh and Pakistan was left dismembered.
That’s when Pakistan learned the lesson that war is risky and is fraught with miscalculations. That’s what Imran Khan is repeating now. He is telling that to himself, not to Modi.
And most importantly, lest we forget, ever since the miscalculation of 1971, Pakistan has been fighting “calculated wars”. These calculated wars involve using ‘non-state actors’ and a war of narrative. This involves armed Jihad and its whitewashing.
They have been fanning Islamism everywhere, including in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has seen terror attacks of late and many outrageous murders of bloggers and writers who were either ‘progressive’ or atheists. The government and security agencies of Bangladesh have more than once pointed out how Pakistan has been aiding and arming such groups.
Islamists failed in 1971, but they appear thriving now. In 2014, they could get open support; there were public clashes in Bangladesh when some of them were awarded capital punishment for siding with the (West) Pakistani army during 1971. Imagine, people in Bangladesh were out in streets in support of those who aided a rogue army kill and rape lakhs of their own people. This is what a “calculated war” achieves. This is what the Pakistani Army and Imran Khan wants to continue with and effect in India.
When it comes to India, this “calculated war” is beautifully supported with a strategic narrative that comes to the rescue of soldiers of the war. Only a couple of weeks back we saw it in action where a terrorist killed 40 CRPF men after vowing to kill all those who drink urine of cow – a derogatory reference to Hindus – and repeatedly invoked religion and termed his struggle as Jihad.
And what did our ‘liberals’ do? They declared that terrorist was a not communal.
This is why Imran Khan doesn’t want to fight a war that has miscalculations. Because a calculated war is already on, and Pakistan appears to be winning.
The stupidest thing that one can do right now is to buy this bunkum and help Pakistan continue with this very well calculated war. Any ‘Say No To War’ that doesn’t have a solution – or forget solution, even thoughts – on how this calculated war of Pakistan should be defeated, is essentially a call to help Pakistan continue with their calculated war.
While our armed forces and the government calculate the risk of a conventional war, it is imperative for every civilian to understand the weapons and soldiers of this “calculated war” that Pakistan has been fighting against us. It is enabled by a careful control on narrative.
A few examples:
Paint Islamists as victims – the deadliest weapon. Where a terrorist vowing to kill ‘cow piss drinkers’ is actually a victim. The soldiers of this calculated war will tell you that the terrorist was a just a Dhoni fan who was once asked to rub his nose on ground. He will be painted a victim of Indian Army’s excesses.
Remember the reactions of this lot when the terrorists attacked the CRPF convoy. ‘If you occupy Kashmir, they will obviously hit back’ was their cold ‘rational’ reply. There were even celebrations, including by an NDTV journalist. And the same lot now wants you to believe that they care for armed forces, they want you to believe that they are ‘emotional’ and actually care for the captured pilot.
Never blame the Islamists or Islamism – this is happening right in front of your eyes. An Islamist mindset made the uniformed Pakistanis force the captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to say that his religion was Hindu, but the entire propaganda is to blame Modi and instead show you the video of him being ‘treated nicely’ (with a swollen eye) by the Pakistanis (civilians tried to lynch him by the way).
Most pernicious form of this was when co-founder of leftist propaganda website The Wire tried to paint Pakistanis better than Indians because Pakistanis were apparently treating the Indian pilot well while Indians lynch people. Before outraging, just salute this chicanery – the guy compares a propaganda video of Pakistan, which has to act responsibly as per Geneva convention – with deeds of a random hooligan mob in India. His primary concern is not wellbeing of Abhinandan, but that India must be branded as Lynchistan. And he wants us to believe that India is worse than Pakistan when it comes to lynching. Yes, right, a country where countless have been lynched for allegedly insulting Islam or its prophet.
False equivalences – when it becomes too hot to not blame the Islamists because the Jihadis often blurt out the truth that they are fighting a holy war for Islam, the calculated war requires to paint a false equivalence. Blame Hindu radicalism, and mention it before uttering Islamic radicalism, if at all you are forced to comment on Islamism. As if Hindu radicalism is responsible for terrorist attacks in New York, Orlando, London, Madrid, Nairobi, Tel Aviv, Dhaka, Bali, et al.
This false equivalence also extends to comparing India with Pakistan. Repeat the propaganda that an average Pakistani doesn’t hate India. Yes, an average Pakistani, who grows up reading in his textbooks that Hindus are unclean, untrustworthy and inferior, has all love in his heart for India, which he sees as primarily a Hindu land. If you are an Indian who shared a room in London or New York with a Pakistani and he was friendly, well, remember, neither you nor your roommate are ‘average’ Indian or Pakistani.
Vaguely blame ‘politics’ – the soldiers try to appear neutral and blame politicians as if Islamism is not politics. Islamism is nothing but political Islam. Anyone indulging in whitewashing Islamism is indulging in politics, which is worse from of politics when compared to anything anyone from Congress, BJP, RJD, etc. can do.
And there is much more, which must be written and talked about so that Indians wake up and take note of the well calculated war by Pakistan going around. Through mujahids, through placards, through proxies.
But unfortunately, what we are talking is ‘Say No To War’ while being neck deep in a war.
