mr-president-it-is-terrorism-not-kashmir-at-the-core

 By Vimal Sumbly

 

A wise enemy is always better than an ignorant friend. That is what US President Donald Trump is proving to be for India - the proverbial “ignorant friend”. That Trump is so casual about facts and history is quite well known, but India learnt and realised it the harsh and hard way when he attributed the current phase of hostilities between India and Pakistan to ‘Kashmir’ instead of terrorism. Betraying his encyclopaedic ignorance, he even said the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan has existed for over 1,000 years! Pakistan came into existence just 77 years ago.

 

It was on April 22 that terrorists from Resistance Front, a decoy name used for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a US designated terrorist organisation, selectively killed 25 tourists and a pony operator in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, after verifying their religious identities. The Resistance Front, after owning up to the killings, later backed out, claiming that its website was hacked. This was quite an afterthought.

 

Pakistan army, which was clearly behind the attack, realised that the Resistance Front will straightway mean it was Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was involved. And Lashkar-e-Taiba in turn means the Pakistan army as they work in close coordination with each other. This fact was admitted to by Pakistan Defence Minister Asif Khawaja in Pakistan’s National Assembly that the “students” trained in the Madrasas, which Lashkar-e-Taiba is operating, are used as a second line of defence by the Pakistan Army.

 

Pakistan’s protestations that it was falsely being accused of sheltering the culprits notwithstanding, within a few days it became known as who was the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack - none other than the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquartered at Muridke in Punjab part of Pakistan.

 

India, as it had been saying right since the day terror attack took place in Pahalgam, that it will chase the culprits and their masters right in their den, precisely did that on the night of May 7, when it struck at nine places, quite infamous for training terrorists.

 

According to India’s Defence Minister, about 100 terrorists were killed in the strikes and the purpose was served. These included close relatives and associates of Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo Masood Azhar, a designated terrorist by the United Nations. He operates from Bahawalpur. On the fateful night, while apparently apprehending strikes he moved to some other place to save his life, several of his relatives and terrorist associates were killed.

 

In Muridke, the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarter, senior Pakistani army officials attended the funeral services of terrorists who were killed in Indian strikes, thus further proving close links and coordination between the terror group and the Pakistani Army.

 

It is in this background that India had no option but to strike at the terrorist camps. Apparently not having studied the issue properly, Trump made a sweeping statement, attributing the hostilities to a dispute between the two countries on Kashmir. That Trump’s ignorance was so encyclopaedic was proven by the fact when he said the two countries were fighting over Kashmir for over a thousand years. This was absurdly ridiculous. Pakistan came into existence just 77 years ago and Trump is talking of “1,000-years of hostilities”.

 

Also read: When Pak leaders admitted terror was ‘a foreign policy tool’

 

With such extreme ignorance about facts and history, it would be too naïve and simplistic to expect Trump to act in a prudent manner. Given his brash and uncouth approach to things, on May 10 he again went ahead with his announcement that a “ceasefire” had been reached between India and Pakistan. He clearly had a personal interest in doing that. He has so far miserably failed to bring in a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and also between Israel and Hamas. So announcing a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan, although there was no full-fledged war so far, might have been a self-consolatory as also self-congratulatory feeling for him, without realising its diplomatic consequences.

 

Trump, out of sheer ignorance, has brought out Kashmir as the core issue and the reason behind hostilities between the two neighbours, while as it is actually Pakistan-sponsored terrorism that has been the bone of contention. It took India a long time, plus the events of 9/11, that made the US establishment realise that the issue between India and Pakistan was not Kashmir, but terrorism.

 

All US presidents, whether Democrats or Republicans, understood and appreciated India’s position as a victim of terrorism. There never was any mention of “Kashmir” during the last more than two decades, before Trump brought it up.

 

It is not that there has been any policy shift in the United States. It is only because the US President is ignorant not only about South Asian affairs, but even the stated US policy against terrorism. The Government of India will have to put in a lot of efforts to update and refresh the US President’s knowledge of South Asia.

 

This all happened in spite of so many pro-India officials holding influential positions in Trump’s administration. In fact, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a great friend of India and so is FBI Director Kash Patel and United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

 

One thing is for sure that Trump is not hostile towards India. His approach towards terrorism is not at all at variance with India. The current confusion appears purely because of his preoccupation with the United States, which he has preferred and prioritised over everything else. But that should not mean that he ends up letting down trusted allies like India and his “good friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Trump certainly needs to make some amends and corrections not just for India’s sake, but for the stated and pronounced policy of his own country, that of “zero tolerance” towards terrorism. The current conflict between India and Pakistan is because of terrorism sponsored and supported by Pakistan and not because of Kashmir.

 

Given Trump’s current stance about India and Pakistan, there are strong doubts if he knows that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was provided shelter by Pakistan and was killed by the US inside Pakistan itself. There again is a doubt whether Trump knows who Osama bin Laden really was. Because, Trump’s ignorance is encyclopaedic, which he betrays off and on from time to time.