Water woes

Can India counter Pakistan’s bellicosity?

By J N Raina

May 2010

The ‘devil’ is in deep distress. Now it is Kashmir plus water woes. The path of conflict-resolution between India and Pakistan is shadowy. Our neighbour is distrustful.

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has exhibited his willingness to walk the ‘extra mile’, Pakistan has opened a new sinister plot called ‘Karachi project’, to step up terrorist violence in India. Under such  circumstances—when Karachi sweets are offered—can the ‘incorrigible’ and spineless Pakistan administration be expected to turn off terror tap? The heedless Pakistan government, in sync with the terrorist and military leadership, has started leveling grave charges of ‘water terrorism’ by India. The aim is to derail progress and unsheathe new weapons to counter India.

Instead of getting down to brass tacks, Pakistan believes in continuing proxy war. A new phase of militancy has dawned in Kashmir. Militant leaders in Kashmir now receive terrorists from across the border on LoC. Fresh attempts are being made to halt economic development in Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to different modes of violence, on one pretext or the other.

Zardari Government has been ‘brainwashed’ by the powerful Army, making it to believe that terrorism is the only weapon in possession of Pakistan to defeat India.  US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has observed that “ Islamabad’s conviction that militant groups are an important part of its strategic arsenal to counter India’s military and economic advantages will continue to limit Pakistan’s incentive to pursue an across-the-board efforts against extremism.”

It indicates that Pakistan will never ferret out terrorism from its soil for strategic reasons. Now a new picture is emerging. This is why Pakistan has been selectively grooming militant outfits like banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), both regarded as assets by Pakistan, gunning down others who are considered a non-essential commodity.

A chilling disclosure was made by a captured Indian Mujahideen(IM) jihadist, Salman aka Chhotu, hailing from Azamgarh district of U P, about ISI-LeT plot to engineer fresh terrorist activities in India’s metros, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Many a ‘sleeping cells’ of the IM have been activated.  As a quid pro quo measure, the militants are being paid hefty amounts to do the ‘needful’.

Pakistan’s political leadership, which remained dwarfed during prolonged military rule, wants to resume dialogue process with India, to ensure peace. However, its Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is eager to continue its ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not want India to gain a foothold in Afghanistan, where it has rendered a yeoman service to the people. India’s role is being globally appreciated for speeding up economic activity there.

It is not only the terrorist leadership in Pakistan which has raised a new pitch against India’s ‘water terrorism’, but the main political party, Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz) has described the ‘blockade of water to Pakistan’ as ‘Indian terrorism’. These issues of mutual interest could well be settled amicably on the table at designated official-level talks. Having bred terrorism, Pakistan’s terror phraseology has gone deeper into its psyche. A leader of another faction of the ML(Q) has sought to further damage the Indo-Pakistan relationship by asserting that India intends to ‘starve’ Pakistan by blocking its water share in the name of  ‘construction of new dams’.

Pakistan’s intentions are doubtful. So far that country has just been raising the bogey of Kashmir problem at international fora, although it is a bilateral issue. But now, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has raised the decibel level further, punctuated with queer and baseless charges against India.

Asking India not to lecture Pakistan, Islamabad now claims that it is the ‘Indian network’ which was behind Mumbai blasts and attack on Parliament. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said a terrorist attack of the magnitude of Mumbai carnage, could not be possible without the backing of the ‘Indian network’. Can this kind of vituperative language help in normalizing relationship between the two nations?

The Jamaat-ud-Dawaah (JuD), acting as a front runner for LeT, has been issuing threats to India that there will be no peace with ‘Indian water terrorism’. Either war or peace, JuD continues chanting. The Lashkar provokes Pakistan to wage war against India.

Pakistan’s National Assembly (Parliament) too has expressed similar misgivings over the construction of dams by India in ‘violation’ of the Indus Basin Waters Treaty. India has now decided to explain its stand to the world community. India is concerned that Pakistan’s political leadership has begun upping the ante. Kashmir is now being put at par with water woes.

The truth is that Pakistan has been, as per India’s assessment, ‘underutilizing’ its water resources, entitled to it as per the 50-year-old permanent Indus Commission. Pakistan’s water troubles are because of ‘poor water management’. The three rivers of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, belonging to Pakistan under the Treaty, are estimated to have four times more water than the Indian rivers of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. 

Pakistan, overtly or covertly, has been hugely spending on armament and nuclear arsenal, needlessly and beyond its capacity, at the cost of economic development. It pays scant attention on the development of water resources. Terrorism is another factor which has negated Pakistan’s development. Water woes are only because of its own volition. This is in addition to climatic changes taking place differently in different regions.

Infiltration from Pakistan is continuing unabated. Several hardcore terrorists were gunned down in Kashmir valley recently. India lost many young officers in fighting the terrorist menace.  Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has warned of ‘dark forces’ inside Pakistan, who are ‘implacably opposed to India.’ They want annexation of Kashmir. The terror from Pakistan is ‘undiminished’. The ISI is reviving terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Highly trained militants are being sneaked through the LoC. The pattern is different. Methods of training militants and provoking people in the valley are different. It was discernible to ISI that people in Kashmir were paying little heed to die-hard elements. Now the people are being forced to abide by the dictates of extremist forces like the Hurriyat Conference, led by Syed Ali Geelani, ignoring the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, led by Mirwaiz  of Kashmir. People are sternly warned by the militants to obey Geelani, who has been invited by Pakistan for discussions on the Kashmir issue. It is a pity how New Delhi can allow it to happen. It looks as if Pakistan is the second home (maternal place) for Geelani and others of his ilk. Should this be India’s response to Pakistan’s belligerent attitude and nefarious activities?

Chidambaram is ready to welcome the Kashmiri terrorists, ‘holed up’ in Pakistan’s terror camps, if they surrender. It is on the plea that they are Indian nationals. But are they ordinary citizens? They are not in hundreds but in thousands. India should understand the magnitude of the problem. How much do we spend daily on Ajmal Kasab ? To say “…. The idea (of surrender) is accepted …” is preposterous. This is another sort of ‘healing touch’ therapy as enunciated by former Chief Minister and PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayed. The Union Cabinet is already divided on the issue.

It sounds well for Chairman of the U S Senate Foreign Committee John Kerry that India should remain engaged in talks with Pakistan, but the question arises, who should be engaged; the name-sake civilian government, the Army  or the JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been browbeating India almost every day, and directing Manmohan Singh to talk to him, or  face consequences.

*(The author is a senior journalist based at Pune).