The Indo-Pak Imbroglio & The Future

 

(This is the map of true India drawn by The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram after the partition of India. It includes Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka and the 5 provinces constituting Pakistan.)

The purpose of India’s Operation Sindoor was to avenge the killing of 25 Indian tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22nd April 2025. It was achieved on 7th May by destroying terrorist infrastructures at 9 places in Pakistan while avoiding any military or civilian targets. This was the only practical reaction possible, as capturing all the gunmen who actually shot the tourists and putting them to judicial process is near impossible due to the large number of sympathisers the terrorists may still have in Kashmir and Pakistan's outright denial of any role in the massacre. The terrorist sympathisers would also exploit the long legal process of India before conviction to get the terrorists released or, if convicted, make them martyrs of their cause. The immediate destruction of terror camps within Pakistan would deter the state and the terrorists from attempting anything similar, at least in the near future.

There is widespread disappointment in India with the ceasefire between India and Pakistan announced on 10th May. Some social media activists project this as a failure of the government and praise Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who broke Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971. They overlook that while Indira did great by invading East Pakistan and liberating Bangladesh, she failed to invade at least 7 months earlier when the East Pakistan Army started massacring civilians there and refugees started fleeing into India. By the time Bangladesh was liberated, 4 lakh civilians had been massacred by the East Pakistan Army, and 1 crore refugees had entered into India, who never went back, causing a great setback to India's economy. Indira also did not tell the Indian Army to invade West Pakistan or liberate even the part of Kashmir still under Pakistan occupation. She also released the entire East Pakistan Army who were taken prisoners of war unconditionally by signing the infamous Shimla agreement in 1974. In the following years, an all-out war with Pakistan became inadvisable as they acquired nuclear bombs.

Those in India disappointed with the ceasefire also fail to note that the Indian government had no objective to invade and liberate any part of Pakistan, as it might be provoked to attack India with nuclear bombs as a service to Allah as a part of its jihad (religious war) against the still largely Hindu India. Also, Pakistan’s ally China, with its superior military power, may then attack and invade India. China's involvement might draw in the militaries of the US and other Western powers in support of India and possibly start World War III.

Operation Sindoor actually got prolonged because Pakistan retaliated by attacking Indian military installations and also killing civilians, thereby escalating the conflict. The ceasefire agreed upon between India and Pakistan on the 10th of May, is a welcome development. 

It is better for India to concentrate on uniting all Indians by rising resolutely above religious differences and seek for all prosperity, progress and peace. That will make Pakistan disintegrate from within - the five provinces making the present Pakistan were, after all, part of India for thousands of years - and the separating parts join in a confederation with India. 

Manekshaw's refusal to go to war against East Pakistan early in 1974 cost lakhs of civilian lives and brought ten million refugees into India