Sangh Parivar

All that Sonia-Manmohan’s damaging concession to Musharraf has done is to get him off the hook before he went before the UN General Assembly, in a context in which every government in West Europe is uncovering terror modules.

Any military or intelligence expert will testify that a massive manhunt using the resources of the US could easily have uncovered bin Laden, and the survival of him, his 47-member immediate entourage and his entire senior leadership is because of this Faustian bargain, that keeps the US homeland immune.

The plan that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are openly midwifing can have no other result, should it get implemented. According to Sonia-Manmohan, Pakistan “is as much a victim of terrorism” as India.

Pakistan itself has remained in the grip of terrorist fever, with no letup in the offensive against India. Indeed, reports are that a Chinese company dealing in telecom neworks has been helping the Pakistan networks to get through the jamming devices installed by the Indian security forces to prevent Islamic terrorists from communicating with each other across the India-Pakistan border.

The Upa Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s warmth towards the Pakistan ruling structure is not the only reason why Manmohan Singh is so deferential towards Pervez Musharraf, the man who has spent his adult life helping to create and sustain the terror machine that his armed forces—through the ISI as well as two Corps Commanders—have unleashed on India, a country the defence of which Singh has sworn a solemn oath to protect. The other reason is the Bush administration, which is desperate to hand Musharraf a victory that would stabilize his shaky standing within the Pakistan army (any other structure, such as the National Assembly or the public at large, are irrelevant).

There seems to be some “fire” behind the theory that Musharraf has struck a secret deal with Osama bin Laden: Keep off the US and in exchange, remain alive. Any military or intelligence expert will testify that a massive manhunt using the resources of the US could easily have uncovered bin Laden, and the survival of him, his 47-member immediate entourage and his entire senior leadership is because of this Faustian bargain, that keeps the US homeland immune so long as Bush and Musharraf remain in office. What is at stake is, therefore, the protection of the only positive legacy of George W. Bush, the prevention of another terror attack on US soil, and hence the massive pressure on Manmohan Singh to give the dictator concessions that—while making India bleed—would rescue him from the anger of his own colleagues in uniform, who increasingly see him as an albatross around their necks.

If Manmohan succeeds Sir Creek and Siachen, and large chunks of the Kashmir valley will go to Pakistan, and also end up with the losing of territory to Maoists and other insurgents' movements across the country, so that the map of India will look like a chunk of Swiss cheese, full of gaps.

The plan that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are openly midwifing can have no other result, should it get implemented. According to Sonia-Manmohan, Pakistan “is as much a victim of terrorism” as India. Try telling that to the families of the 187 martyrs who died in the Mumbai blast-murders. The reality is that neither the Pakistan army nor its intelligence wing—the ISI—will give up terror operations, for the continuation of this (together with its allied industry, narcotics) is essential to the financial well-being of the officer corps. Once the Sonia sarkar’s plan for joint patrols with the army of Pakistan begins to be implemented, one can be certain that advance warning will be given to infiltrators, so that almost none will get captured, thus “proving” the Pakistani contention that the terrorists are indigenous. As for the sharing of intelligence that Sonia-Manmohan is hysterically pushing for, all this will result in is that the camps mentioned to the other side will disappear from their present locations and get shifted elsewhere. In other words, the bank robbers will at every stage be informed by the police force as to the location and timing of patrols. In less than a year, the situation in Kashmir will return to the

1993-95 years, when the Islamic terrorists ruled the streets and much of the state, especially at night. All that Sonia-Manmohan’s damaging concession to Musharraf has done is to get him off the hook before he went before the UN General Assembly, in a context in which every government in West Europe is uncovering terror modules that are run from locations in Pakistan, usually by the very men in khaki that the UPA government seeks to ally with.

Four years ago, the extremely harmful effects of Vajpayee’s cossetting of Musharraf at Agra included the giving of legitimacy to a man who had illegally usurped power from a democratically elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. Later, the Ramzan ceasefire gave oxygen to the Islamic terrorists, a breather that resulted in the lives of more than 900 security personnel since then, all over the country. Today, Manmohan Singh is ignoring the lessons of past compromises, and embarking on a path that is even more negative for India’s security, prodded as he is by Sonia Gandhi and the Viceroy of George W. Bush, Nicholas Burns. According to friends in Washington, Manmohan’s favourite diplomat, Shyam Saran, is in the city privately assuring Senators that (1) India would not conduct any more tests (2) build up its nuclear weapons stocks to a reasonable level or (3) oppose the US line to Iran or elsewhere. Of course, Saran is also spending quality time with his two children, both of whom have moved to the US.

Whether it is the giving of instructions to the army that set rules of engagement so restrictive that these days fewer Islamic terrorists are in danger of capture, or ensuring a “joint” survey designed to hand over Indian-held space in the Sir Creek area to Pakistan, or a withdrawal from Siachen or a catastrophic softening of the Kashmir border, or the nuclear deal, the compromises that Manmohan Singh is making on the directions of Sonia Gandhi and Nicholas Burns will exact a horrible toll on the country in the years ahead. By that time, of course, those responsible for the disaster would be safely ensconced in foreign retreats, confident that the Indian tradition of refusing to regard the sale of Indian interests as a crime or even a misdemeanour will protect them from accountability. Together with planning for another Partition of India, the UPA is ensuring that not only its Pakistani patrons are satisfied, but China as well, by the destruction of the Indian economy.

Meanwhile, since 2004 the neighbourhood around India has steadily become unfavourable both to overall regional stability and to India’s own security. Bangladesh has begun a China-supported nuclear programme that Beijing probably intends to use as a lever against New Delhi, the way China has converted Pakistan into a nuclear device power. Already, Bangladesh has been given shore-to-ship missiles by China that are intended for use against the Indian navy, and a facility such as Fatehjung in Pakistan, where the Chinese build missiles for their allies, is on the anvil for Dacca. The total support given by China to the Islamic extremist-friendly Khaleda-Tariq combo in Bangladesh has emboldened that regime into openly supporting outfits that kill minorities, Shias and non-Wahabbi Sunnis, as well as give logistical support to terrorists operating against India. Now that Yangon is refusing to play Beijing’s game of using third countries against India, Dacca has stepped into the gap. In the same way, there has been a sharp deterioration in the internal situation in Nepal, with anti-Indian elements now in effective control of the state machinery, and working closely with the ISI to ensure that the existing launch-pads for infiltration into India get augmented. Pakistan itself has remained in the grip of terror fever, with no letup in the offensive against India. Indeed, reports are that a Chinese company dealing in telecom networks (that has several friends in India) has been helping the Pakistan networks to get through the jamming devices installed by the Indian security forces to prevent Islamic terrorists from communicating with each other across the India-Pakistan border. Naturally, the Manmohan Singh government is pretending that such assistance is inconsequential, and the Chinese company’s active help to Pakistan’s army has been glossed over, with the PMO in fact angry with those within the security establishment who bring up the issue. In UPA, it pays to be a stooge of Pakistan and an enemy of India.

Manmohan Singh’s obsession is to remain in favour with Sonia Gandhi, and he is aware that massive compromises with the ruling structure in Pakistan is the best way to her heart. It is this weakness for our western neighbour that led the UPA Chairperson to look to “Hindu fanatics” as being behind the Malegoan blasts, a hint that was so faithfully picked up by Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil that both gave several impromptu and private hints to investigators so as to steer them towards this Sonia-inspired red herring. Efforts were made to coverup the fact that RDX was used in Malegaon, or that several intelligence inputs had come in that the ISI was planning to target Muslims to enrage the community enough to get more of them to join in terrorism against India. The efforts by Manmohan Singh and others to mendaciously place the blame for this on Hindu activists would have played completely into this ISI game plan. Will Sonia come out with her “private” views on the perpetrators of the blasts, views repeatedly conveyed telephonically and personally to her minions in the UPA government? Will she reveal the remarks she has repeatedly been making to her confidants about Hindu activists and their leaders?

The “economist” Prime Minister (who does not have a single respectable economic paper to his name) does not care. He is too busy seeking to give concessions to Pervez Musharraf. After all, that way lies the approbation of Sonia Maino Gandhi, that steadfast friend of Pakistan.

(The writer is Professor of Geopolitics Manipal Academy of Higher Education U26C/8 DLF QE-III, Gurgaon-122002.)