Malik M. Ashraf
During the recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan, the Indian government as well as its media made bizarre and unbelievable claims about the success of their attack on Pakistani targets and even went to the extent of claiming to have captured many cities. Those claims were immediately contradicted by the international media, which confirmed Pakistan’s ascendancy in the battle, confirming that India had lost six of its planes, including the much-hyped French Rafale planes. However, India kept denying it until after the cessation of hostilities, the truth was unravelled, and ultimately an Indian general and the government also confessed their losses, proving the fact that a lie has no legs.
But the Indian media still continues to bandy around fake news to malign Pakistan and undermine her sovereignty. The latest misadventure in this regard is a report carried by the *Economic Times of India* claiming that a Pakistani journalist, Imtiaz Gul, in a social media video gone viral, has claimed that the strategically significant Nur Khan Air Base at Rawalpindi was under American control and even senior Pakistan Army officers were barred from interference. He is further quoted to have claimed that American aircraft were frequently spotted at the base and there was a consistent lack of transparency regarding their operations and cargo. This report has been picked up by many other publications and some vloggers, including Shahbaz Gill, a stalwart of PTI, who has thought it appropriate to reinforce this impression in his tweet. It is indeed a very damaging report regarding Pakistani sovereignty and transparency in military cooperation with the USA.
However, the scam to malign Pakistan and spread fake news has been busted by the very person to whom this revelation has been attributed. Imtiaz Gul, in a tweet, has falsified these claims by saying that *Economic Times* has actually used a statement given by him in 2004 when, during the Musharraf era, the Americans were given bases in Pakistan. He has categorically denied having said anything in the present context. It adequately exposes the filthy machinations of the Indian media to take a dig at Pakistan.
This is not the first time that the Indian government and media have resorted to this kind of dirty tactic. India has been carrying out a sustained campaign to malign Pakistan. The EU DisinfoLab made a startling revelation in this regard in 2021. It claimed that India was maligning Pakistan by generating and propagating false and fake news through a network of 750 fake media outlets and 550 website domain names in 162 countries. Reportedly, Indian RAW set up a fake front entity, the Srivastava Group, with headquarters in New Delhi in 2005, which over the last 15 years has developed this network. India has used this network to project Pakistan as a hub of terrorism and responsible for acts of terrorism in IIOJ\&K and its mainland. It was to some extent successful in selling this fake narrative to strategic partner USA and her European allies.
But the truth has ultimately prevailed and Pakistan’s anti-terrorism credentials stand corroborated. United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Chief General Michael Kurilla has lauded Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in global counterterrorism efforts, highlighting its successful operations against Daesh-Khorasan and the ongoing fight against terrorism. During the House Armed Services Committee hearing, he stated, “Through a phenomenal partnership, Pakistan has gone after Daesh-Khorasan, killing dozens of them… through a relationship we have with them and providing intelligence, they have captured at least five ISIS Khorasan high-value individuals.”
India has not only used fake narratives to malign Pakistan, but its intelligence agency RAW, in connivance with Afghanistan’s NDS, has also been helping the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in executing terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the one on APS Peshawar in December 2016. It has also been supporting and financing insurgents in Balochistan province, besides executing acts of terrorism in the province and Karachi, as confessed by Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer who was caught in Balochistan by our intelligence agencies and later awarded a death sentence by the military court. Indian links and support to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) are also a proven fact.
Indian involvement in orchestrating a spate of terrorist attacks in Balochistan through her proxies like the BLA after a humiliating military defeat in the confrontation provides a ranting testimony to the nefarious Indian designs.
The Pakistan government has taken a very wise decision to unravel Indian machinations to the world and counter the Indian narrative by sending delegations headed by Bilawal Bhutto to the USA and European countries. Bilawal, in his interaction with US legislators and media, has forcefully advocated Pakistan’s case and quashed false impressions about Pakistan. Consequently, some positive vibes have started emerging in the Western media and from the countries he has visited.
Notwithstanding the cessation of hostilities between the two countries through intervention by the USA and friendly countries, the situation remains volatile, and there is still a strong possibility of the two countries going to war again due to the provocative and belligerent Indian stance on the sharing of river waters between the two countries as envisaged in the Indus Waters Treaty.
Reports are that the Indian government is planning to dig canals to divert river waters and cut off water supplies to Pakistan. This is an act of ultimate hostility, and Pakistan considers it a declaration of war against her. If the Indian government goes ahead with its conceived plans, it would surely trigger a dreadful war between the two nuclear neighbours with cataclysmic consequences not only for the region but the world beyond it.
I think it is time that the international community and the UN take notice of the aggressive intentions of the BJP government in India and stop it in its tracks before it is too late. It is also incumbent upon powers like the USA and her allies to play a role in resolving the disputes between India and Pakistan, including the core issue of Kashmir. The greater onus lies on the UN to have its resolutions implemented to end the dispute once and for all. However, the USA and other powers can make a significant contribution by supporting the UN in this regard. Pakistan and India would never be able to resolve this dispute bilaterally, as is evident from the failure of the Simla Agreement, according to which both countries had committed to resolve the Kashmir issue bilaterally in conformity with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com
