Cyril Almeida is a Pakistani journalist based in Karachi, who writes for Dawn, an English daily started by Jinnah. This is what he tweeted recently –
cyril almeida (@cyalm) tweeted at 10:48 PM on Mon, Aug 26, 2019:
Seems fairly clear IK/PTI and Bajwa & co are feeling the heat domestically on their tepid, flailing response to the Kashmir stuff… so far their strategy seems to be hope that gimmicks will make the public pressure/disquiet dissipate…
(https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1166037113307054083?s=03)
Perhaps Almedia can state what exactly would be a strong response that Pakistan should give, and whether it is possible? In the past, Pakistan could just say ‘boo’ and the Bharatiya political leadership would run for cover. Because there is now a government which is acting on the basis of a conviction of what is good for Bharat and its people, this is no longer the default reaction in Bharat. The basis of actions is not what a vote bank thinks, or what the Khan Market Gang says, or what some foreign countries might say.
By crossing the Line of Control and destroying many launchpads from where terrorists were infiltrated into Kashmir Valley, and by crossing the international border and bombing a major terrorist training camp in Balakot, the present government has demolished many of the assumptions that were supposed to be the basis of Bharat’s reaction in the past towards any Pak-sponsored terror attack. All this is something that has happened by taking actions simply based on national interest, and also correctly putting the case for Bharat at international forums.
Recently, Bharat’s External Affairs Minister was asked if Bharat will take sides at the international level with China or the USA. He said something like: “Of course, India will take sides – it will be that of India.” This is an example of the confidence with which Bharat is interacting with other nations today.
At the same time, Bharat has developed good relationships with many other countries in the world, which do not figure in the Machiavellian schemes of global ‘analysts’. The support from these countries has also stopped the so-called super powers from playing games with Bharat. Bharat is being seen as a responsible and accountable power, and that is why other countries, big and small, do not feel threatened in having friendly relations with it.
Today, Pakistan’s position is not just that it is an isolated nation, but it also has an economy that is weak primarily due to its Army’s pathological hate towards Bharat and its political leadership’s avarice and corruption. It has huge social tensions within due to a Punjabi hegemony in politics. And it has become a supplier of Islamic terrorists all over the world.
I have read somewhere that when talking to the so-called super powers, Pakistan’s position is that it holds a gun to its own head and threatens to pull the trigger if its tantrums are not heeded. Today, the world is saying; “Go ahead and pull the trigger.”
No country in the world is willing to pamper Pakistan. In fact, they are all laying out the sensible steps that Pakistan should be taking to be considered as a responsible member of the world community. Steps that are as much for their own benefit as they are for the rest of the world.
The people of Pakistan are starting to realise that their military and political leadership has been taking them down a path to ruin. They want to change direction, and take a path that will lead to a future that normal people would aspire for. And they know that this can happen if and only if the destructive assumptions that the leadership is propagating are done away with.
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