Pakistan’s Hypocrisy

Pakistan’s political establishment is living under an illusion that it can hoodwink the international opinion when it comes to Kashmir. In his maiden speech in the Pakistan’s National assembly soon after he was elected as the 24th Prime Minister for the second time since 2022, Shehbaz Sharif has shown the true colours and adopted the belligerent posturing against India. He has raked up the Kashmir issue and equated it with Palestine .He stressed on passing the resolution for the freedom of Kashmiris and Palestinians. This posturing of Pakistan makes it clear that it wants to continue the policy of animosity towards India and won’t end its support to the cross border terrorism that has devastated Jammu and Kashmir and brought miseries for the people. Pakistan seems to derive a sadistic pleasure in championing the policy of terrorism to operationalize its foreign policy. By using terrorism as the state policy and then denying its involvements in the acts of terror has been its modus operandi. It has been calling the terror masterminds operating from its territories as the non –state actors. Indian strategic community and the policy makers understand well that the oft repeated reference to freedom of Kashmiris that is now being parroted by Shehbaz Sharif is nothing but a euphemism for support for terrorism aimed to destabilise and balkanise India. In such a situation India cannot afford to lower its guard. As India goes into the election mode from anytime now. The new elected government will surely have a task cut out. That will be to ask Pakistan to lay off from meddling in its internal affairs. Recently, India has reprimanded Pakistan in the United Nations for this unwanted interference. Within days its Prime Minister has again resorted to adopt hostile stance. It must give the Indian state clear view that something sinister is cooking in Islamabad and the present government is nothing but the puppet of Rawalpindi. It is an open secret now that whether it was the former cricketer turned politician and Prime Minister, Imran Khan or the incumbent one. There is complete eclipse of the Pakistan Army and ISI on the political system of Pakistan. Existence of Pakistan as a state has been based on the war mongering against India and rhetoric Kashmir issue. That has led to an economy based on terrorism. It is a paradox that Shehbaz Sharif in the same speech expressed concern as to how Pakistan will pay the salaries of its army and civil servants and in the same breath he asks to use Kashmir as the rallying point by inciting people in the name of freedom of Kashmiris. In such a grave economic crisis Pakistan still wants to breed terrorism. This is ridiculous. Pakistan must work for the revival of its economic stability and focus on the welfare of its people who are facing the intense destabilisation. Even International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown the red signal. There seems to no end to miseries of Pakistan and its people. Pakistanis are suffering from the employment and livelihood crisis. In the recent editorial in the Rising Kashmir it was underlined that India must keep the fingers crossed when it comes to respond to Pakistan’s diplomatic overtures by resuming its activities at the Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi. We have been vindicated .India will have to devise its Pakistan policy in such a manner so that the security gains made on the ground in Kashmir are not squandered. Pakistan and its mercenaries must not be given any foothold to violate the peace and development that has unfolded on the ground after the neutralisation of Article 370 and 35 A. People have invested with lives for this peace. They now want an end to bloodshed and terrorism with a focus on Jammu and Kashmir that offers opportunities to its youth. People don’t want their children to lose lives in the prime of their youth. And children don’t want to get orphaned. Pakistan needs to be told in uncertain terms that there are no takers for bloodshed and mayhem. When the new government will take the reins of power at the centre. It will have a task cut out and that is not to give Pakistan any scope to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir.