Sentiments such as “Aman ki Asha” (hope for peace) accompanied by candles being lit on both sides of the border have fizzled out, and were such a sentiment to get expressed these days, would be met with ridicule. The Pahalgam attack took place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Saudi Arabia and US Vice-President J.D. Vance and his family were still in India. The timing was not an accident, given that Beijing is very unhappy to see the bonhomie between the visitors and their hosts, the Government of India. Where the Vance family is concerned, they are no strangers to the fact that Pakistan, now supercharged by help from China, has been responsible for terrorist activities in India. Given the courage that Usha and J.D. Vance have shown over the years, the killings of innocent holidaymakers in Kashmir just when the busy season had begun would only have added to the disgust they feel about terror facilitators. A full report would be given to President Donald Trump by Vice-President Vance on the attack. Only when the Trump administration assumed office on January 20 did terror accomplices including in the K-Group begin to face accountability in the US. So far, Prime Minister Carney, despite his stellar record before taking over as the PM of Canada, is acting as Trudeau Lite.
Several times it has been repeated that a stable Pakistan is desirable. It is not in India but in Pakistan that the destiny of that “Army with a State” will be determined. What is clear is that the Pashtuns and the Baloch want freedom from Pakistan.
While recognising the Baloch and Pashtun liberation struggle may not be opportune, certainly it is not the task of India to spend time and expense on a futile quest, seeking to preserve Pakistan from the depths into which the army has plunged it. Enough overseas Pashtuns and Baloch exist to ensure that funding increases for the freedom movements in those provinces. India needs to highlight the travail of the Baloch and Pashtuns in Pakistan across the world. Meanwhile, even as restive populations act on their own, India should document their travail and disseminate details across the world. Once Balochistan and the Pashtun territories get their freedom, atrocities on India would lessen, in view of the preoccupation of the Pakistan army with seeking to preserve what would be left of the country they destroyed through their chokehold over it. A stable Pakistan is not possible in present or foreseeable circumstances. Truth needs to be faced, even by the optimists who believe Pakistan will turn the page and move away from terror.