Why Congress is backing PM Modi's bold strategy in Balochistan

[GANESH65]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp Email Share Link

​

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Congress has backed the PM's idea of raising Balochistan issue to counter Pak on Kashmir
• Congress leader Salman Khurshid had slammed Modi for raking Balochistan issue in his speech
• However, Congress distanced itself from his statement citing Khurshid's view as his “personal opinion“

Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes guard of honour at the Red Fort.NEW DELHI: The Congress gave its thumbs up to the idea of India raising rights violations in Balochistan

+​

in response to Pakistan's Kashmir rant, bringing about a political convergence that may decisively shift the national policy on the recalcitrant neighbour. After PM Narendra Modi made a strong reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, former foreign minister Salman Khurshid made a distinction between POK and Balochistan. He said Balochistan was Pakistan's internal matter, even warning that raising the restive province in public would weaken India's claim on POK. But the Congress swatted aside Khurshid's view as his " personal opinion " and stressed that Balochistan had everything to do with India. In a statement hours after Khurshid slammed Modi, AICC spokesman Randeep Surjewala said: "Whether it is Balochistan or POK or other parts of Pakistan, there are violations being committed by Pakistani agencies and armed forces. The Congress feels the violations in Balochistan, the way democracy and democratic dissent is being stifled, India should raise it in bilateral and international fora." For the party which has identified with the traditional consensus of playing the victim on Kashmir while keeping its hands clean on Balochistan, Congress's decision to play ball with Modi's aggression stems less from policy considerations and more from its impact on domestic politics. With the revival of disturbance in Kashmir coupled with Pakistan behaving like an "enemy state", the popular mood appears inclined towards a "muscular" response to the neighbour. The most susceptible to the anti-Pak rhetoric are the middle classes and the youth. Pakistan has a different place in the nationalism debate. it brings in the element of Hindutva polarisation. Any whiff of a catalyst that can consolidate these demographics, like the PM's "tit for tat", would worry the anti-BJP camp ahead of key assembly elections, including UP .Congress manoeuvre to espouse Modi's offensive appears designed to position it in a political safe zone. Modi has, in the past, painted the Congress weak on nationalism. However, it's not the first time that Congress has let its political instincts overrule policy on Balochistan.The party leadership had red-flagged, and buried, the Sharm-el Sheikh declaration signed by Manmohan Singh. The declaration agreed to discuss Pak claims that India had a hand in the Baloch movement.The Congress hopes its stance would leave the Centre answerable if Modi's gambit flops, given that it takes India on unchartered waters internationally .

 

[athimber]

I think every single party should Modi on this. This is the best way Pakistan should be handled.

 

[GANESH65]

Ya, hopefully there will be a unanimous decision in this matter.

 

[GANESH65]

Modi turns Kashmir issue on its head: Pakistan is obviously outraged but this may lead to conflict

Of course, Pakistan media would slam Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving Balochistan a speaking role on his stage. And what a role. If our neighbour is gnashing its teeth in anguish, so be it. For sure, Modi is not one of their most popular folks at present. After 70 years of pussyfooting around and being on the backfoot over Kashmir, this man has taken the genii out of the bottle and it is not going back.
Suddenly, the equations have changed. When a Prime Minister publicly accuses his neighbour of air bombing its own people, the gloves are surely off. An undiplomatic uppercut out of the blue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI

He is using exactly the same cards that Pakistan has used against India all these years and it is, in Islamabad’s mind, reminiscent of 1971 and the creation of Bangladesh. The Baloch connection has come out so strong and with so little warning that it has to be causing great concern in the Islamabad corridors of power. That Modi chose the twin Independence Days as the occasion to send out the message that India would be an eloquent supporter of the Baloch freedom movement not only gives that PoK region a huge ally but neutralises the often soaked-in-righteousness rhetoric with which successive Pakistani regimes attack India at home and in global forums.
They may have won the PR war but this is a game-changer.
Of more concern is the fact that with terror strikes, a regular phenomenon in Pakistan, the opening of another aggressive front would send panic signals and spread its security resources very thin.
While in Islamabad, the Sharif regime, the army and the ISI may well label Modi a warmonger, it is pretty much certain that footage of atrocities and excesses committed in Balochistan will now awaken the world to another troubled spot that has largely been overlooked. It will embolden the muted freedom movement and we will see more Balochis living in other countries voicing their opinion. Vociferously.
The Baloch problem has come to stay and the Modi regime will fuel it.
Does this bring these two inimical neighbours closer to open conflict? Yes, it does. Whether they go for it or not in this customary post-monsoon season when armour can move, the weather cools off and the terrain in the west is not hostile to infantry cannot be totally eliminated as an option, especially with Pakistan’s despair now tangible.

 

[athimber]

It is a cut in their worst wound. Very difficult to heal.