Pakistan: Cut Off All India Links Pending Lahore Investigations

The Pakistani intelligence report released by The News confirms two things: It is time for Pakistan to take punitive measures against India and stop allowing India the use of Pakistani transit and air routes pending the Lahore probe and, two, that the U.S.-installed government in Islamabad facilitated the attack on the Sri Lankan team first by ignoring the intelligence warnings and then by trying to protect India after the attack. Considering that Pakistan is supporting Sri Lanka against the Indian-sponsored insurgency in that country, the actions by the PPP government raise disturbing questions.

By AHMED QURAISHI

Thursday, 5 March 2009.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The intelligence report released by The News raises some disturbing questions about the role of Pakistan's pro-U.S. government in letting the Indian attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore happen despite the advance warning by Pakistani intelligence officials.

Despite knowing that RAW, India's spy outfit, has dispatched terrorists to attack the Sri Lankans, President Zardari's confidante and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer had the audacity to accuse 'Mumbai attack perpetrators' for the Lahore attack. New Delhi accused ISI of involvement in Mumbai. Was Mr. Taseer accusing the ISI of attacking the Sri Lankans? We know his government is keen on dismantling the ISI on U.S. orders and to appease India. Was protecting India in this case part of this agenda?

Sherry Rehman and Rehman Malik, two more confidants of the President and the government's information minister and de facto interior minister respectively, gave this lousy excuse for not naming India for terrorism inside Pakistan. Both of them have said that their government wanted to show maturity by not accusing any country. The truth, of course, is that this particular PPP government is in power thanks to U.S. meddling in Pakistani politics. This government refused to name India for terrorism despite all the evidence because it does not want to antagonize Washington.

Unfortunately, a minority of 'India-lovers' in Pakistani media and politics sprang into action to defend New Delhi. The good part is that almost none of them has any credibility with the Pakistani public opinion and all the cheering they get comes either from New Delhi, Washington and London.

Pakistanis need to know this class of 'India-lovers' in Pakistan. Here's a list compiled by Pakistani jouranalist Mr. Rizwan Razi who emailed it to me today:
1. Mr. Najam Seithi wrote an editorial in Daily Times saying that "Lahore tragedy has not been staged and sponsored by India".
2. Mr. Imtiaz Alam said "India wanted to make surgical strikes but it was not behind this attack."
3. Mr. Altaf Hussain of London said: "It was not done by India".
4. Mr. Amir Mir wrote in The News "it was done by Al Qaeda."
5. Ayesha Siddiqua said while talking to Dunya and other TV channels that " It was done by Al Qaeda".
6. Salman Taseer while speaking live media at spot said "These Bastards are those who have done the Mumbai attack.'

Interestingly, U.S. President Obama seconded all of them when he said "It is done by Al Qaeda" and linked the Lahore incident to the tribal region. Not a single Pakistani government protested at this linkage which basically justifies the U.S. intervention in Pakistan.

PUNITIVE ACTION AGAINST INDIA
Information is accumulating on India's role in recruiting and forming terror cells in Lahore, Peshawar, the tribal belt, Balochistan, Sindh and its largest metropolis Karachi. But until the probe is complete, Pakistan needs to reclaim some of its reputation by turning the world's focus toward India's use of terrorism as a foreign policy tool in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The mainstream American and British media are so skewed in favor of India, their new slave-soldiers in Asia, that they won't entertain the strong body of evidence that shows India's record of sponsoring proxy terrorists.

Islamabad should pointedly accuse the Indian government and its intelligence agencies of attacking both Pakistan and Sri Lanka through this terrorist act in Lahore and highlight how Hindu terrorists have infiltrated the Indian military and intelligence establishments.

Pakistani citizens and media persons need to build the pressure on the Pakistani government to take the following steps:
1. Cut off air, rail and road links with India with immediate effect. This should include Indian trade to Afghanistan via Pakistani territory.
2. Deny overflight rights to Indian airlines.
3. Stop the sale and display of Indian films and music in Pakistan.
4. Check the role of some of the Indian writers in Pakistani newspapers. Some of these writers are using Pakistani newspapers to denigrate the Quaid-e-Azam and describe him as a 'separatist'. Unfortunately, some Pakistani journalists see no problem with this at a time when Indian newspapers completely ban Pakistani writers in their papers, let alone criticize India in any way. Indian news websites outrightly ban Pakistani visitors who register in order to post comments. Indian writers should not be allowed to spread their venom using the Pakistani media.
5. Take a stand on India blocking Pakistan's water. The PPP government is deliberately avoiding confronting India on this issue under U.S. pressure.

I urge all nationalist and patriotic Pakistanis to send letters to the editors of all newspapers, write on their blogs, and make telephone calls to live talk shows and make these points and build pressure on our government.

© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com. & PakNationalists

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Don't forget to post a comment. Do NOT underestimate the power of your comment