The belligerent observations made on behalf of Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and by the country’s foreign secretary Salman Bashir against the United States, and more particularly India, on Thursday, speak of a gripping nervousness. For four days after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a secret American operation, there was virtual silence from the Pakistani establishment.
It was evident the regime knew it had been caught sheltering the world’s number one terrorist, and did not know where to look. So the bogey of violation of sovereignty by a foreign power was drummed up at the behest of its security establishment, completely bypassing the question uppermost in the minds of people all over the world: how come Bin Laden was hiding in a military cantonment for five years and the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence had no clue?
Ironically, for the military establishment, the issue of sovereignty it encouraged the populace to feed on has become a millstone around its neck, with Pakistani newspapers and television channels questioning the Army’s ability to defend the country and to protect its nuclear weapons, and even asking for heads to roll! It is probably the first time since Pakistan’s inglorious rout in the 1971 war against India that a public questioning of its capability and role is taking place. The tough noises made on Thursday are clearly aimed at placating domestic public opinion, and reassuring it that the Army is still in good shape and remains worthy of the people’s trust. What better way to do this than engage in familiar sabre-rattling against India? India had indeed expected this kind of diversionary tactic to be deployed by Islamabad in this hour of crisis of confidence in the country, and Pakistan went bang on cue. The basic question, of course, still begs to be answered: do ordinary people in Pakistan believe their military establishment now? The whole narrative of years of using the ruse to play victim at the hands of terrorists has gone up in smoke with the discovery of Osama bin Laden’s lair in the heart of a military area.
All this is for Pakistan to figure out. India will no doubt take all that hot air in its stride. On the day the news of Bin Laden’s killing broke, New Delhi indicated strongly to Pakistan that it would continue with its peace track with Islamabad. In the circumstances Mr Bashir appeared foolish in his belligerence. He chose to slay demons that did not exist. But that is not all. He sounded undignified, irresponsible and reckless as well when he sought to warn India that there would be a “catastrophe” if India chose to run a surgical strike against Pakistan in the manner of the United States taking out Bin Laden. This can only be interpreted as thinly disguised code for a nuclear strike.
It does not behove the head of a neighbouring country’s foreign office to be invoking such imagery. This is truly stupefying. When all is said and done, no one can believe that India is about to launch a strike against Pakistan (it did not do so even in the face of the grave provocation of the Mumbai attacks!). Nor can anyone be expected to believe that Islamabad would reconsider its relationship with Washington if the United States launched another Abbottabad-style strike, as Gen. Kayani threatened. For 60 years, Islamabad has lived off America’s goodwill and bailout funds, or it would have gone bust, thanks to the way the Army has run the country. Then, all that remains of the Kayani-Bashir bravado is the implied threat of a nuclear attack against India. It’s time Islamabad was told to pipe down.