One Stone and Two Birds – The Pak Army Gambit

Is Pak army playing a dangerous game to control its political establishment?

Is Pak army playing a dangerous game to control its political establishment?
Is Pak army playing a dangerous game to control its political establishment?

I will not in the least be surprised if the Pakistani army hangs Kulbhushan Jadhav (KJ) if it has not done so already.

The KJ episode has got to be viewed in the background of a bitter turf war going between the military and civilian administration.

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]he men in uniform had always taken a dim view of any effort by the civilian government to improve ties with India. In fact, the erstwhile Pak army chief Gen Raheel Sharif even plotted the ouster of Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif a la Gen Pervez Musharraf, but a timely tip off from India saved the day for Nawaz Sharif. The present Pak army chief Gen Bajwa is no different from his predecessor. In fact, he is a hawk who frowns at any effort to normalise ties between the two neighbors of the Indian subcontinent.

Gen Bajwa is convinced that Sharif is trying to strike a deal with New Delhi behind his back.

India’s strategy has been to encourage democratically-elected governments in Islamabad under the assumption that a civilian govt will be more amenable to the settlement of the Kashmir issue through dialogue. The other major assumption is that a civilian regime will be averse to aiding and abetting terrorism in the Valley. The Kashmir issue is central to the Pak defence establishment and it views with extreme suspicion any effort to improve trade and cultural ties because it feels that India is trying to dilute the core issue of Kashmir. PM Mody sent alarm bells ringing in the Pak arny H.Q. at Rawalpindi when he made an unschedled halt at Lahore to greet PM Sharif on his birthday.

More recently Gen Bajwa was upset when Indian steel manufacturer Jindal met PM Sharif in private in Islamabad. Gen Bajwa is convinced that Sharif is trying to strike a deal with New Delhi behind his back. What a better way to sabotage this than by hanging Jadhav?

Modi must have a planned response ready in the event of the Pak army going ahead with the hanging of Jadhav. By executing Jadhav the Pak army will be able to kill two birds with one stone: humiliate India in front of the world and the other demonstrate that it is the army which is effectively in the driver’s seat.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

Advocate and Senior Journalist who was formerly City Editor & Chief of Bureau of The Times of India, Mumbai. He has also served in the MumbaiMunicipal Council.
S Balakrishnan
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2 COMMENTS

  1. I very biased article, the issue remains whether Commander Yadev committed acts of subversion and terrorism in Pakistan. Hanging him is a matter for judicial due process. If this is an embarrassment for India then it simply means you got caught and that needs to be exposed. At no time has the army during Raheel Sharif’s tenure or Qamar Bajwa’s term as COAS has the army threatened or plotted to remove the government this is malignant Indian propaganda. There have been enumerable occasions when the army could have ousted Nawaz Sharif but did not. A tip off by India??? Does that indicate Mian Nawaz Sharif has Indian patronage ? India is, and untill it’s murderous illegal occupation of Kashmir is not ended an enemy. So call a spade a spade, the army will not need to oust Nawaz Sharif, he will be dispatched by the courts, his corrupt and treacherous regime will be brought to an end by the end of July when the JIT concludes it’s investigation and the judges see no new evidence to save his neck. Hopefully he and the other corrupt politicians will rot in jail.

  2. as long pakistan is sure that it has no price to pay it surely will continue its bad behavior. India makes it very easy for pakistan with that mindset as India continues with its terribly flawed policy of differentiating pakistan ‘s bad army from its “good govt” or “good people.
    the right policy would be to tighten screws on all polities and people of pakistan, which definitely shake it all up against its army.
    Shutting down train and bus traffic from pakistan, revoking its mfn are a great start. I think dr. Swamy advocates no less.
    Do we really have a pakistan policy? I suspect we keep stumbling from one bad event to another, every time kicking ourselves that we do not know what the heck we are doing. Think.

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