Re: Bangladeshi PM gifts Modi picture of 1971 Pakistani surrender
The Indians are being immature… These taunts are juvenile. The fools on the BJP side are irresponsible.
Muture nations dont respond to such belligerent statements, because the consequences for an escalation of such hostilities is not a small matter. Mature nations understand the dangers of such rhetoric. The BJP are not that mature. You should be glad Nawaz Sharif hasn’t responded. It would be pointless. Lets be thankful the stupidity is currently on that side. Sound byte: ‘Being provoked by Modi means playing into India’s hands’ - Pakistan - DAWN.COM
For a more balanced approach to the situation, read what IA Rehman makes of it…
Tensions have come to a head in the subcontinent once again. The latest controversy erupted after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly admitted India’s role in the 1971 war that saw Bangladesh emerge as a separate state. Following this admission, many in Pakistan are calling for action against India in the wake of this revelation at the forum of the United Nations. However, there are also many in Pakistan who hardly consider these claims new and do not see why the government is making such a fuss about something that a lot of Pakistanis have known and accepted for decades. Dawn spoke to veteran journalist and rights activist, I.A. Rehman, and asked him for his perspective on these developments. Q: How do you evaluate Pakistan’s reaction to the Indian PM’s remarks regarding the events that led to the creation of Bangladesh?
A: In my opinion, Pakistan should not have reacted the way it has to Indian PM Narendra Modi’s provocative statement about the 1971 war. This will bear no fruit for the country as a whole. Instead of this reaction, the government of Pakistan and concerned policy makers should focus their energies on understanding why the Indian prime minister made these remarks at this point in time. In my view, a tit-for-tat response is of no use. Q: Why do you think Indian PM made these remarks at a time when all of South Asia –from Afghanistan to Myanmar – is in turmoil?
A: It’s simple; India is trying to isolate Pakistan in this region. Like any other country, India also has its own interests to follow, be they in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Myanmar. To the best of my understanding, if we allow ourselves to be provoked, as we have been by what Mr Modi has said, we will only be playing into the hands of our enemies. India has always and will always try and engender such controversies, mainly to appease local hawks and its own allies. We should ignore such provocation to the best of our abilities; a mere condemnation would have been sufficient. Q: Is there anything new about the claims that Mr Modi has made regarding India’s role in the secession of East Pakistan?
A: No, there is nothing that the Indian and Bangladeshi prime ministers talked about during former’s visit to Bangladesh that we haven’t heard before. Dozens of books have been written on the subject; outlining the role of the Indian government in the creation of Bangladesh. This is not even the first time that Bangladesh has formally lauded India’s role in their liberation movement. I, for one, am really surprised with the over-reaction from our establishment and politicians.
Re: Bangladeshi PM gifts Modi picture of 1971 Pakistani surrender
@Med911 There was a notion before CPEC that Pakistan should take advantage of Indian market, and industry and allow them ground route to Afghanistan and Central Asia. If we look Pakistan, cold war was successful attempt of US to stop Russia’s reaching warm water. No nation of Central Asia able to achieve this. China on the other hand surprisingly emerged luckiest one. They build Gawadar port, and in next phase they will build road from Gawadar to China. Easy access of warm water connects them major ports and route of world e.g Suez Canal. This road will make Pakistan economical stronger, and notion of Indian industry and market has died now. Indian PM’s anti Pakistan rehotic in Bangladesh, surgical strike Myanmar are actually reaction. China has also interest in Mayanmar. China is also not recognizing Indian cliam of its territory.
Re: Bangladeshi PM gifts Modi picture of 1971 Pakistani surrender
Who knows…
But imagine what would happen if there is a major escalation along the border, India fires on what it believes are terrorists, Pakistani forces respond, Indian soldiers are killed… Suddenly all this rhetoric comes to a boil, public anger in India demands retribution, and Indian govt is forced to follow through on threats because not doing so would mean losing face… Then there is potential for the whole thing to spiral out of control.
The Modi govt is very aggressive and rather foolish. No other way to describe such a belligerent bunch. Whatever their motivation might be.
Re: Bangladeshi PM gifts Modi picture of 1971 Pakistani surrender
I don’t understand Dawn’s typical namby-pamby pro Indian apologia - their agenda is unmistakable. The whole passivity is border line ridiculous and cowardly. Like Arshad Sharif said the anti Pakistan lobby is growing because some Pakistanis just don’t think it’s important to speak up for their country and confront anti Pakistan rubbish with confidence- No matter how badly and unjustly the country is maligned, no one seems to want to feel any shame or pain - hence they start terming any reasonable and normally expected reaction as over-reaction. Like he said, *apne saar pe khood joota maarne ke liye ready rehte hain or khush hote hain. *
There’s a difference between being provoked to the point of doing something stupid and staying silent and taking all the sheet. For all those who are crying about Pakistan’s reaction (what reaction?), they should know that no self respecting country just sits there quietly in face of blatant threats from their arch enemies (call them stupid or immature - doesn’t matter). For pleasing handful of Indian pigeons in Pakistani media, Pakistan should not disappoint the entire nation who looks up to its leadership to speak for them and echo their sentiments?
Fortunately, unlike confused and meek civilians, military men know the importance of boosting people’s morale (make or break factor) giving them a much needed psychological edge, and assuring them of their security and victory when confronted by enemies. (I bet Yawn walas write gospels on someone like Winston Churchill but moan about their Chief).
I mean, we are fighting a war for goodness sake, Nawaz Sharif may be too concerned with his and his children’s business interests in India, but why should military leadership remain silent and not even speak up for their country? I’m interested to know how Gen. Raheel’s statements that no one can dare attack Pakistan and we know how to defend ourselves - classify as overreaction and provocation to India? If anything, he’s only speaking in Pakistan’s defense.
Those who want to take offence on behalf of India can continue their useless moral policing and preach the idea of staying silent and taking the piss. But they also need drill this concept in their heads - there is absolutely nothing that Pakistan leadership said which was so unreasonable and out of line. If anything, it should be the Indians who should be ashamed that their barking hasn’t worked and they got beech slapped by handful of standard responses from Pakistan’s side.
Re: Bangladeshi PM gifts Modi picture of 1971 Pakistani surrender
Whether some Pakistanis believe or not, but Indians certainly get the simply message when Pakistan says that they are not any xyz country and they know how to defend themselves! We had seen escalation of violence on Eastern border plenty of times in last few months, and have seen hoax terror cases like ‘terror boat’ to stir the warmongering - anti Pakistani hysteria in India - apparently it works quite well to unite the Indians, but Indians are not idiotic enough to engage with Pakistan in a conventional conflict. Let’s not forget that Modi received awful lot of votes from business community - cooperate sector for economic development, they would not want a war. In fact some people are already getting frustrated with his anti Pak desperate and sissified bravado. The fact he’s getting desperate and stooping so low to create anti Pak hysteria only suggest that this is BJP’s plan to take attention away from some of their failed promises, and just to vent some frustration on CPEC.
Yes, but proxy wars and interference to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan can and will intensify, but that’s something that military and government needs to proactively deal with.
I really don’t mind NS’ silence to be honest. Good for people to question the motive and reason by his silence (yeah yeah the Sharif family business interests - everyone’s talking about it). He should be ashamed that in India it’s all about their PMs words and actions, whereas Pakistanis themselves don’t think that their PM is a competent and relevant sand sincere enough to speak for themselves. NS can stay quiet for as long as he wants, but his supporters and apologists should not whine and moan when an Army chief is far more respected, appreciated and trusted by the public than a minion who claims to be people’s representative and a popularly elected leader.