Surprisingly, India’s blitzkrieg-type bombing of three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) terror camps in Pakistan caught new Prime minister Imran Khan’s Government off guard. Given the warlike rhetoric emanating from both countries during the last few days following the Pulwama terrorist attack, precautionary vigil should have been at the highest alert in Pakistan.
As operational details became public about India’s retaliation, leaders in Islamabad were left fuming and rudderless, desperately looking for answers to inconvenient questions. By late Tuesday afternoon, the situation looked pretty demoralising for Islamabad. In the South Asia region, Chinese authorities provided cautious coverage to India’s air strike on the official CGTN channel. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the first few words on the biggest military flare-up in China’s immediate neighbourhood. In West Asia, the influential Al Jazeera channel carried the Pakistani version of India’s air strike, claiming that Indian planes had violated the line of control and dropped their payload within Pak territory. No mention of 12 Mirage jets, backed by a formation of Sukhois, carrying out a 21 minute long strike targeting terrorist camps at Balakot, Chakoti and Muzaffarabad. This is where an estimated, trained contingent of 300 terrorists and 30 of their commanders lived. Most officials as well as commentators were convinced that of these people, very few could have survived such a blitz. A Delhi-based army spokesman gave the precise figure of 245 deaths, with at least 50 other casualties. India had collected specific intelligence about these camps over a long period which enabled its strike to be carried out with pinpoint accuracy. The location of the targets were significant, Muzaffarabad was in Pak-occupied Kashmir. But the other targets were well within Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistani territory. The implicit message: any more provocations from Pakistan or its proxy terror warriors would invite retaliatory strikes with interest from India, without much concern whether the POK or Pakistan proper were hit.
Further, Pakhtunkhwa is a known stronghold of Imran Khan himself. There were reports of Prime Minister Khan being loudly booed as he came to office. Foreign Minister, the usually unflappable Shah Mahmood Qureshi, claimed the right to hit back against India. Another leader threatened that India’s tricolour would no longer fly in Delhi! This was of a piece with Imran’s own warning to India two days ago: bells would stop ringing in Indian temples in case India took on Pakistan.
Today, if Pakistan is not getting support from any quarters, it is because of the fact that the country never kept its promise of zero tolerance against terror. Rather, it still provides a safe haven to terrorist outfits. Clearly, the world has sided with India in its ‘pre-emptive non-military strike’ on terror facilities. So Pakistan should do well if the neighbouring country keeps its promise and take effective measures to curb the menace of terrorism. The job is not easy. Initially, the effort will face a lot of resistance. But if Pakistani authorities do not deviate from its path, success will ultimately come. India has shown Pakistan the way to combat terrorism. It is now the Pakistan’s turn to prove that the country too is for a peaceful world, free from terror. Otherwise, the future of this subcontinent is bleak to say the least.
