ALI SUKHANVER
According to the Times of India, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has warned Pakistan of breaking into ten pieces. While speaking to a gathering in Indian-held Kashmir a few days back, he said, “Pakistan has been divided into 2 countries in 1971. If it does not stop cross-border terrorism, it will soon be in 10 pieces.” It is possible that this statement of Rajnath Singh might have elevated his political status within a limited circle but for Pakistan such foolish statements have no importance or value. It has been a very old tradition of the Indian politicians, particularly of those belonging to the BJP to blame, threat and to warn Pakistan because they are misguided by their misconception that by doing so they can win the hearts of the Indian people. It is a day-light fact that there is no hatred for Pakistan among the Indian people. Every year so many delegates from India come to visit Pakistan and so many go there from this side and no one ever complains of any misbehave or maltreatment in either country. Different businessmen from Pakistan have very close business relations with the Indian business community and there are so many who are engaged in joint trade ventures in other parts of the world too. India is a country of more than 138,188,240 Muslims according to India’s 2011census. This number equates to roughly 13.4 percent of the country’s population which at the time was over 1 billion people. Even today Islam is the second most popular religion in India. So it is almost next to impossible for the people of Pakistan to hate a country where their Muslim brothers are living in such a large number. It is also true that there is a small fraction of the Hindu extremists who are a continuous threat not only to the Muslims but also to the Christians, Sikhs and to the low-caste Hindus too. But in BJP, these Hindu extremists are in majority.
The present statement of Rajnath Singh has another reference too. Just three days ahead of the anniversary of Fall of Dacca, this statement was issued simply to claim the responsibility of the Bangladesh conspiracy but dear Rajnath Singh innocently forgot that Pakistan of today is not the Pakistan of 1971. Those were the days when Pakistan was still in its infancy; lack of resources, shortage of means and deficiency of the required reserves; Pakistan was facing a lot of problems and above all the biggest problem was the distance. The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Bangladesh and Pakistan is 2,208 km which is about 1,372 miles. If we travel by air on an airplane with average speed of 560 miles per hour it takes 2.45 hours to reach Bangladesh from Pakistan. Those days there was no direct route between East Pakistan and West Pakistan There were two indirect routes: the Sea Route via Colombo to Dhaka and the Air Corridor over India. Mr. Rajnath Singh might be remembering that in 1971 India suspended its Air Corridor for Pakistan. It was Pakistan’s old friend Srilanka who came forward to support Pakistan and provided aerial as well as sea route to Pakistan Air Force to reach West Pakistan though that route was too lengthy and costly as well. But today Pakistan is a nuclear power with its own ordinance and ammunition factories where from fighter planes to tanks and missiles, all war weapons of finest quality are manufactured. Pakistan was not need of the world those days, but now it is the focus of the whole world. Pakistan has become the game-changer with the marvelous China Pakistan Economic Corridor. So Mr. Rajnath Singh must come out of his world of oblivion and instead of dreaming of Pakistan’s dividing into ten parts, he must take care of his own country’s ‘indigenous’ separatist movements which are getting stronger and stronger day by day. Since he is the home-minister of India, officially it is his moral and political responsibility to concentrate upon the separatist movement in Assam, the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency, Dravida Nadu movement and the Khalistan movement and the ‘Atoot Ang’ Kashmir. There are issues regarding the uneasiness and restlessness of the low-caste Hindus, Christians and other minorities; there is a state of agitation over ban on currency notes; crime and corruption rate is rapidly increasing; Mr. Rajnath Singh must come out of his stupid day-dreaming and concentrate upon these serious issues. These issues need more of his attention.