Yesterday, 40 CRPF soldiers died in a suicide bomb attack near Awantipora, Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group that aims to separate Kashmir from India, and is under the leadership of Masood Azhar claimed responsibility of the attack.
As a reaction to it, I am seeing a common sentiment all over the social media and even in Prime Time news channel debates – wage a war on Pakistan.
Hashtags like BadlaKab and PulwamaRevenge are trending on Twitter.
Anyone in their senses would not want to wage a war. Yet these fanatics are glamorising the army and romanticizing wars. Only this could explain the demand of Uri’s sequel, not the movie, but what actually happened across the border.
These people who are demanding a high profile ‘badla’ are people sitting comfortably in their ivory towers. They have never fought a war and yet they have the audacity to ask the government to send lakhs of innocent javans on a full-fledged war. Just because they watched a hyped-up ultra-nationalist movie or read a war glorifying novel, they have the authority to demand this ‘badla’ while they will sit comfortably in their secure houses?
They should remember that romanticized wars make good movies and poems, not prosperous nations.
Also Read: Back In Time: 2 Years Ago, India Did A Surgical Strike On Pakistan
Well, I respect the defence forces and want a solution for this constant infiltration, but I don’t believe that such testosterone charged impulsive warring would teach the perpetuators a lesson. And this is not because I doubt the capabilities of our military, but simply because it is not healthy. Here’s why –
Economies of War
Remember Europe post World War 2? The participant nations were devastated and bankrupt. Several countries have not yet recovered from wars they fought decades ago.
We don’t need to go very far. Around the Indo-Pak war of 1965, which India won, yet it faced food shortage and had to import poor quality food from USA.
Wars are expensive, they demand diversion of important funds which could be otherwise used for economic growth, development and elevating the living standard of people.
Both India and Pakistan are developing countries, we both have issues of greater priority – like feeding millions of people – to divert our valuable capital and resources.
We are Nuclear Powers!
Indian subcontinent is densely populated and being nuclear powers, if India Pakistan really go on war, the use of N-weapons will be inevitable. This would swipe off millions of people at once. If other weapons are used, a war would destabilize the entire South.
India has an Image to Protect
While Pakistan is almost seen as a rogue nation, India is considered as the responsible one. We need to be on a higher moral ground, especially considering the fact that India wants to emerge as a regional superpower. Wouldn’t India’s legitimacy to claim this power decrease if she herself indulges in such acts?
Why is Pakistan doing this?
This was why India should NOT wage a war with Pakistan. But why does Pakistan indulge in such behaviour?
Pakistani Army
Army (the real ruler of Pakistan) legitimises allocation for its funds by creating a false fear of India. This paves way for funding for attacks on Indian border states, be it Punjab or Jammu & Kashmir.
Pakistani Frankenstein
It is no secret that terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed are brainchild of Pakistani Army. They initially funded it to destabilise Kashmir, soon they went out of control and now they are destabilising Pakistan as well.
Salami Slicing
This fancy word means making several small cuts, by clandestine means to hurt the victim. This war technique is clearly being applied on India.
What can India do?
Had India not cut dialogue and trade, the decision of revoking Most Favoured Nation status of Pakistan might have worked. But we don’t talk or trade with our neighbours anymore. Dialogue is necessary for having good relations, but finding a consequential Pakistani authority to talk to is a different task altogether.
Instead of waging a war, it is better to take Pakistan on International platforms, preferably economic ones and impose trade restrictions on it. They bite sharper than wars; Iran and Russia are living examples, their economy suffered greatly after USA imposed sanctions on the two.
India should also plan a well-thought long term, practical foreign policy for Pakistan, not one charged with pseudo ultra nationalism. I know such thought is not in line with the general opinion, but conciliation, rather than being offensive will benefit India, Pakistan, and the whole subcontinent.
Image Credits: Google Images
Source: The Economic Times, Indian Express
Find the blogger @parihar_tweets
You’d also like to read:
