By Tariq Rizwan
A
group of unidentified armed men attacked an Indian Air Base at Pathankot on 2
January 2016. The attack had great similarity with the attacks taken place
against air bases in Pakistan in the past. The so called non-state-actors only
believe in regional instability and have never spared any one. Pathankot is
part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force. Four
attackers and three security forces personnel were killed in the initial
battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries
later. On 3 January, fresh gunshots were heard, and another security officer
was killed by an IED explosion. The
operation continued on 4 January, and a fifth attacker was confirmed killed.
The attackers were wearing Indian Army fatigues and were suspected
to be affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist militant group. The group
has been declared as a terrorist organization by India, the US, the UK and the
UN. The attack was described as a terrorist incident in the
Indian and foreign media. The United Jihad Council, a Kashmiri
Freedom Fighters’ group claimed responsibility for the attack on 4 January
Media reports
suggested that the attack was an attempt to derail a fragile peace process
between India and Pakistan, as several pieces of evidence were found linking
the attackers to Pakistan. Reports claimed that the people who carried out the
attack in Pathankot were in regular touch with their handlers. It has been
alleged that the two phone numbers to which calls were made by the attackers
were from Pakistan. According to the report, the first number probably belonged
to the mother of one of the militants made in order to intimate her of not
coming back home and taking care of herself, while the second one belonged to
one of the handlers of the attackers. Indian Intelligence Bureau officials have
stated that the attackers called their handler "ustaad" while
describing their positions inside Punjab after crossing over from Pakistan.
Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and his
brother Abdul Rauf Asghar are among four persons identified by Indian
intelligence agencies as "handlers" behind the attack. They alleged
that the conspiracy was hatched from vicinities of Lahore. As usual, Indian
defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has pointed out that some of the materials
used by the terrorists were made in Pakistan.
Pakistan has assured India of all possible help in the case
but requested India to allow its investigation team to collect sufficient
evidences to present it in the local court. After lot of efforts, Pakistan’s
Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has got Indian visas and has prepared a 50-point
questionnaire for investigating the Pathankot incident. The team which will
leave for India on Sunday, will stay there for a week for complete probe there.
Modalities of JIT have been agreed between the Indo-Pak authorities," said
a senior member of the JIT. The Pakistani authorities conveyed to India that
the JIT is of the opinion that it requires a minimum seven-day stay there to
carry forward the investigation. The JIT's senior official said that concerned
authorities of both countries had agreed on the mandate and working of the JIT
and hoped that the issue of stay would also be solved amicably. The top officer
of the JIT said that the JIT would enjoy the same power, mandate and authority
in India as in Pakistan. The JIT would work under its own CRPC in India and
would visit the crime scene and collect evidences.
The JIT Team will meet witnesses to record their statements
and would also call on Indian investigation officers who already carried out
the investigation for sharing information. The JIT will examine the arms used
by the terrorists. It would also record statements of the victims of the
terrorist attack and would prepare a memo of the tragedy. India agreed with all
the modalities and gave a green signal to Pak authorities. Officers from
various security agencies would be part of the team.
Pakistan has remained the most
affected country in the ongoing war on terror. Deployment of thousands of troops
on its Western Border, losing thousands of people in the war as well as
suffering economical losses worth more than Rs 70 billion shows Pakistan’s
sincerity and whole heartedness in the struggle to see terror free world. Our
leadership humble approach is being taken for granted. Indian interference
from Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan’s western belt coupled by a series of
premature statements after attacks in India by the non-state actors followed by
Indian media’s irresponsible tirade against Pakistan has raised a big question
mark on the sincerity on India in the war on terror.
It is India who has exposed Pakistan’s weak security in
Balochistan and KPK by carrying terror attacks. The arrest of Indian serving
Navy officer Kul Yadav Bhoshan from bordering areas of Balochistan is a strong
evidence of Indian interference in Balochistan. So there is no use of bilateral
talks unless both sides are sincere to settle all the controversial issues
including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The politics of allegations for
the sake of maligning and defaming one another must end now. Indians are not
bad and people from both sides want peace and prosperity but the Modi led
government must come out of the clutches of Hindu extremist groups; Shiv Sina
and others. The pace of talks and speedy resolve has been sluggish and needs to
develop an environment of trust by both sides.
Pakistan’s Army and its prime
institution ISI have specially been targeted to undermine its strong pillars.
India was actually just left behind as no man area and backlog has yet not been
cleared. It is still ruled by the extremist Hindus. Moderates have no say in
the affairs. The day to day killing of innocent people by Hindu “Banyas “have
exposed the India’s face of secularism and big democracy. India has no
democracy rather a “Government of the mob, by the mob and for the mob”
of extremist Hindus. Pakistan was created for and ideology that we are Muslims
and we have to live according to our Islamic teachings. Islam does not believe
in ethnic and sectarian divide. However India and its intelligence agency “RAW”
have remained engaged to revive such weak areas and exploit them for
destabilizing Pakistan specially our Western Belt.
Unlike India, why Pakistan is close
to China; due to China’s sincerity, friendly attitude and her belief in non
interference as well peace and prosperity in the region. Despite having large
population, India is playing in the hands of extra regional power US/West to
counter China’s rising power and strength in the region. It is all at the cost
of regional peace and stability. Europe has witnessed all levels of development
by leaving behind all past rivalries and wars for the sake of peace and
prosperity in their continents. Only we are leaving in Stone Age by pressing
one another’s tales. It is reap time to forget about the past and resolve all
outstanding issues and move forward to compete in development. The region may
usher in new era of peace and prosperity.
The
writer is a freelance journalist based in London
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