On Saturday, 29th June 2019, the Forum for Awareness of National Security (FANS) , Tamilnadu Chapter organised a discussion on National Security – with the concept of “No More Pakistan” in Chennai. Intellectuals cutting across various walks of life participated. The programme was presided over by Dr V.P.Nedunchezhiyan, Associate Professor, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Guru Nanak College, Chennai.
Lt.General L.Nishikant Singh, VSM, former Principal of the Army War College, Pune and Military Strategic studies Institute delivered the key note address on the intricacies of civil disturbances in various regions in Pakistan and the People’s movement for freedom.
Shri Golok Behari Rai, Organizing General Secretary of the Forum addressed the gathering and explained as to why there shall be and there will be No More Pakistan in the near future. Earlier the Forum’s National Secretary, Shri Era.Meyappan welcomed the gathering. Shri N.Umasankar rendered the vote of thanks at the end. The program concluded with the National Anthem.
Dr V.P.Nedunchezhiyan spoke at length on the origin and the manner in which dissatisfied elements in the society are slowly and steadily transformed into hardened terrorists. A person who gets into the prison on remand for a petty offence gets into contact with hard core elements within the prison and the continuing contacts when he gets out of the prison guides him to training sources and after various stages of stray incident, organised crimes, handling small weapons, media publicity and so on. The PWG from Srikakulam to Khammam in Andhra recruits its cadre from this process and has grown into a notorious gang. The militants are taught that their common enemy is the Government, Police, Elitists, Zamindars and land owners and the rich. Once the person gets media publicity, he gets funding from China, Myanmar and Pakistan for acquiring weapons. He even gets trained upto the level of handling rocket launchers.
Dr Nedunchezhiyan stated that terrorism is a profession or business rather than on the basis of ideology, as the amount generated and distributed is in the order of Rs 3000 Crores in a week. He gave an insight into the quantum of funds operating in this business. Based on the performance and need of the operatives, sums ranging from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 1 Crore are being transferred for further activities. The terrorists have three types of targets, soft, hard and weak. They invariably attack the weak targets like the public gathering because this is where they are able to get maximum media attention and publicity.
The agitations in Tamilnadu are thus the first step towards recruitment of operatives. Tamilnadu today is the breeding and fermenting ground for terrorism. The agitations in Koodamkulam, Jallikattu, Methane, Neduvasal are the ones in which suitable operatives are selected by the recruiters, contacted, nurtured, brain washed and trained. Actually, there is no starvation in Tamilnadu as right from rice to basic clothing and minimum employment support, there is no cause for starvation. Thus the communist ideology is as good as dead. Therefore sundry issues are taken up and highlighted for nurturing the thought of dissatisfaction among the people. He highlighted as to the manner in which the number of churches have grown manifold and that all churches are modern and well equipped. The foreign funding sources stand exposed now. These churches have had a hand in the agitations in Koodankulam, Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi.
In his key note address, Lt. General Nishikant Singh outlined the manner in which Pakistan was created as a New State founded on lack of confidence and trust from the very beginning. The Pakistani leaders always feel insecure from the outset and the result was the wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971. Pakistan was literally cut to size in 1971 and Bangladesh was born. Thus Pakistan realised that it cannot create problems to India on straight wars and ended up as a terror breeding ground for creating problems inside India and made terrorism as its foreign policy. What created Pakistan was not its integrity on the basis of borders or geography but only religion. All the regions in Pakistan except Punjab are not happy. The Punjabis are happy only because they are spread across the board into every area of administration, government, defence forces, judiciary, business and industry. At present, there is a great opportunity for division of Pakistan into many independent States and this must be exploited now. If we do not do that now, history will not forgive us.
He gave a detailed account of how the Durand Line was made in 1893 and its geo-political importance in its internal politics with the Pashtoons and the neighbourhood relations with Afghanistan. The Taliban and the Al-quaida emanated from this area. The 4.5 million Pashtoon population is not happy being with Pakistan and are craving for independence. The Police have committed many human rights violations. The Pashtoons are heavily discriminated against. The UN has reported that 40000 pashtoons are missing but the Government of Pakistan has booked only 1400 cases. In February 2018, a young Pashtoon Naquib was killed in fake encounter. Only 10 of the missing persons were released by Pakistan. The Pashtoon people are very agitated over the issue. Nowhere in the world, we will find that the Government itself plants land mines and Pakistan has done that in Pashtoon region.
He also outlined that the Baluchis were demanding independence from 1931 onwards. The Mohatir people of Sind are also unhappy with the Pakistani Government and are seeking a separate Nation for themselves.
In the Pak occupied Kashmir lies the Gilgit region with population of 1.5 million. This region is one of the richest even in global terms. It has an earning of USD 13 to14 billion in a year whereas the total American Aid to Pakitan itself is only about USD 8 to 10 billions. The Pakistan Government is Sunni Muslim controlled and the Gilgit region has Shia population. The Sunnis and Shias do not get along well globally too. There had been mass murders of Shias, discrimination against them and heavy human right violations committed by Pakistani Army in Gilgit. There is no democracy, elections in Gilgit and it is just Military Rule by Pakistan in that region. Those who do not support Jihad are being summarily imprisoned and tortured. Even till date, the people of Gilgit observe 22 October 1948 as a black day as that was the day on which the Pakistani Army occupied that area. People from Mirpur are very rich and they had settled all across UK and Europe since 1850s. In Gilgit, the ‘Go back Pakistan’ by JK National Federation is very popular.
In Pakistan, generally human rights violations and persecution of minorities is prevalent. The population of minorities was 23% in 1947 but it is only 2% now in 2018. Draconian laws exist against non-Muslim religions. Pakistan is an Islamic State and religion is not a private affair. The non- Muslims are one level lower than Muslims and there is no equality before law in Pakistan.
Mr Golok Behari Rai in his address stated that Pakistan attacked India in 1948 itself. Pakistani Terror has continued from 1948 to Pulwama in 2019. Pakistan attacked in 1965 in Rann of Kutch, later in Sasand Bhawan, Kargil 1999, Mumbai, Uri and now Pulwama. We are seriously concerned for the last 70 years that China has continued to support Pakistan and its terrorist actions. But despite all these India has emerged as the strategic powers of Asia and the world. China has established Freedom Corridor, Asia Africa Growth Caridor, Cambodia Territorial Road, South North Growth Corridor, Mekong Ganga KTM Growth Caridor, and OBOR. The OBOR runs through Gilgit and Pak Occupied Kashmir and India has protested against this development. China has constantly been trying to weaken India and Pakistan acts as China’s hand maid in this mission. Pakistan is a failed Nation and plays openly in the voice of India's opposition.
He said that only the emergence of "Indian Confederation" will be guarantee regional peace and development. The Indian Confederation shall comprise of Balochistan, Mahajiristan, Sindhudesh, Pashistan, Panjabistan, Valvaristan, Sharadpith Aanchal and other regional countries including the India. This alone will liberate the world from terrorism and humanity will be safe.
Shri Golok Behari Rai said that the people of Balochistan, Pashtoon, Sindh and Mahajir are striving hard to protect their cultural identity since 1948. Pakistan, made up of Islamic fundamentalism, can no longer be organized on such thoughts of linguistic or Islamic fanaticism. Evolution of a separate country in Bangladesh is adequate testimony to this fact.
Shri Golok Behari Rai said that India's present global journey is for all the world to see. India is emphasizing its incomparable presence in the region of Central Asia, East Asia, and many small nations.
Sardar Akhter Mengal resigned from Baloch National Party in 1998 in protest against the conduct of the Nuclear Test in Baloochistan as the Baloch people were not consulted and the honour of the Baluchis was at stake. After the resigned, Mangel reverted back to his traditional Baluch nationalist discourse. In an interview to the Muslim he declared, for instance: ‘We are forced to look for identity.’
The trajectory of the Baluch Nationalist Movement comes as a reconfirmation of three key features of the ethnic issues in Pakistan. First, self-determination movement crystallize in reaction to the overgeneralized and authoritarian methods of the state (as already noticed in the case of the movement for Bangladesh and Pakhtunistan, or Pakhtunkhwa).
Second, the co-operation of the ethnic leaders or the making of alliances between their parties and national parties tend to defuse the centrifugal tendencies: this process reflects the integrative capacity of power that we have already underlined in the case of rural Sindh and NWFP.
Third, the intensity of the nationalist feelings also depends upon the distribution of power and the socio – economic situation: this political economy of separatism, a nation which has obvious affinities with the theory that Ernest Gellner developed on the basis of other case studies, was already evident from the Pakistan Movement before 1947 and from all the ethnic Separatist Movements we have studied so far.
The early 1970s when Bengali, Sindhis, Baluchis and Pathans were attracted to separatist movements. At that time, the ideology of Pakistan remained identified with the minority muslims of British India who had searched for a state to govern and even more with the Punjabis who had gradually dislodged the Mohajirs from political power. While the Bengali were further alienated by the over – centralization of the Pakistani State, and seceded in 1971, the Sindhis, the Baluchis and the Pathans, who had to suffer from the Punjabi domination too, eventually got more integrated when they secured some power or achieved upward mobility. The Punjabi domination is still very much resented, as evident from the protests against the second Sharif Goverment when not only the Prime Minister and 85 per cent of his ministers were from Punjab.
In October 1998, the opposition to the Punjabi ‘hegemony’ found a new expression in the establishment of the ‘Pakistan Oppressed Nationalities Movement’ (PONM). This anti-Punjab front, which has been initiated by ANP leaders, has separatist overtones and, furthermore, all its components, be they Pakhtun, Baloch, Sindhi, Muhajir, Taliban in FATA, Shumali in Gilgit- Galtiyan or Udabhandi in Muzaffarnagar ( Sharada pith Anchal) play the electoral game for your expansion and securities , and every time agitate for your identity, sovereignty to secure nationality. It asks for a truly federal system, proportional representation of all the provinces in the army as well as the administration and the creation of a Sraiki province. The Sraiki movement took shape in the 1970s when the speakers of Riasti (in Bahawalpur), Multani (in Multan) and Derajati (in Dera Ghazi Khan) came to consider that they spoke the same language, an idiom called Shaili. This local identity come to undermine the regional, Punjabi identity.
Shri Golok Behari Rai thus guided the gathering to understand the intricacies of Pakitani polity. The disintegration of Pakistan into 8 smaller entities was imminent.
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