Alert For India?

The Taliban and their Pakistani masters are behaving with India like the Kauravas did with Pandavas in the ancient times. We all know the fate of the Kauravas and it now appears – after the massacre of the innocent school children in Peshawar on 16th December – that dastardly act could yet prove to be the last straw that will break the Pakistani camel’s obdurate back.

In spite of all warnings and alerts by the world community, Pakistan has never tried to control the global terrorism and anti-Indian activities of the many Sunni Islamic jihadi outfits operating from within its territory and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. I think the attack on the Peshawar military school is the direct outcome of the permissive attitude of both the Pakistani military establishment and the political milieu which used Islamic fundamentalism to create constituencies within the many terrorist organisations operating under the umbrella United Jihad Council. That the young Malala Yousafzai should win the Nobel Prize for standing up to defy the jihadi diktat against education of the girl child in Pakistan is a commentary on the depth to which the Pakistani society has descended that such groups can revel in the slaying of the innocents.

There is now no doubt that there exists a nexus between the Pakistan government led by an Ahle Hadith-believing Prime Minister, the Pakistan Army Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the various terrorist outfi ts be they the Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Taiba or the rabidly anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to name a few. The admission by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan that it conducted the massacre in Peshawar in retaliation for the Pakistan Army and Air Force Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan robbed the Pakistan government of any excuse to accuse India and Afghanistan for the Peshawar massacre Lashkar e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed’s rantings against India notwithstanding.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s assurance that his government would take strong action against the perpetrators was rendered useless with the release from jail two days later of one of the handlers of the Mumbai carnage of 26/11, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Worldwide condemnation forced the Nawaz Sharif government to put him back in jail under a law that allows only three months incarceration. Sufficient proof of his involvement has been handed over to the Pakistan government but threats to public prosecutors and judges have ensured that no action will be taken against Lakhvi.

After the Peshawar massacre Indian defence and security forces and the intelligence agencies have become more vigilant against any similar attack on Indian schools. The role of Indian Army has become more challenging now considering the various threats internally as well as externally. The entire security paradigm has changed in the last one decade. The ultras using the latest technologies to destablise peace in India are the biggest challenge for the Indian Army which is now well equipped with the latest telecommunication devices and arms and ammunition. The Indian Army has kept the Pakistani game plan at bay and has blunted the many proxy attacks it has conducted over the past two decades which have been characterised by a “no war, no peace” state of affairs. The coordination of the Indian Army with border state governments and the paramilitary forces has stymied Pakistani plans to destroy Indian unity and territorial integrity. I am confident that our Army will play the role of a catalyst to safeguard India’s security and national interests in this changing security paradigm.

I am happy to inform you that veteran journalist and leading strategic analyst Nitin A Gokhale has joined team DSA as Executive Editor with this edition. We are also introducing a new feature ‘Know the Chief.’ As this edition is Indian Army Special we are featuring the Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh. Team DSA commemorates the Indian Army Day and salutes each officer and every jawan of the Indian Army by dedicating this edition to the Indian Army. I wish you all a very Happy New Year 2015 and a joyous Republic Day!

Jai Hind!