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Friday, March 29 2024
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Opinion

Middle overs: Googlies abound

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Lots of things are happening midway through India’s national elections and they seem to be helping the Prime Minister pull back the election test match in the middle overs – raids on opposition leaders, reminders of surgical strikes, a Hindutva tilt with the nomination of Sadhvi Pragya, scripted interviews to select TV channels, a ‘non-political’ interview with a popular Bollywood film star. And now the news of China tilting India’s way on Masood Azhar’s designation as a global terrorist. He has been listed as such by the UN Sanctions committee because he heads two previously proscribed organizations- the Jaish-e-Mohammed and its predecessor, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which came into being shortly after the BJP government released him in 2000 in exchange for a plane-load of passengers who had been hijacked to Kandahar – there is no mention whatsoever of his role in the recent attacks in the UN Notice.

Were terror tactics used to get the Chinese to change their mind? (Pun intended). Unlikely; they don’t get terrorized easily. Or was it a politically shrewd bargain as in the case of the Princess from Dubai which fetched India three extraditions that were milked for all they were worth just before the elections? it is unlikely that China had a change of heart on the vices of Masood Azhar. Certainly, however, they would have calculated the gains of giving in to a long-standing demand from India, knowing fully well that while the UN declaration will have little effect on Masood Azhar’s activities, they can earn India’s goodwill post the election of a new government be it of the incumbents or any other… and that might include India joining the Belt and Road project, which so far India has steadfastly refused to do, saying it impinges on its sovereignty.

The Modi Government has put in a lot of effort to get China to tone down its opposition as part of its electoral strategy which included biopics, anti-terror and Hindutva rhetoric, caste combinations, reservation and financial sops and raids on Opponents. And with the UN declaring Masood Azhar a terrorist on the day 15 policemen were martyred at the hands of Maoists in Maharastra, the strategy seems to be paying dividends even as the terror rhetoric now includes the Congress’s closeness to, ironically, the Peace TV founder who some say is the inspiration behind the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka.

China it appears pushed the decision to the mid of elections because it was busy with its Belt and Road Project forum held in Beijing last week. A forum in which more than 30 heads of state and government participated including Pakistan’s Imran Khan, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the IMF chief Christine Lagarde.  Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had visited Beijing in mid-April, ostensibly for ‘routine consultations’, which provided a much yearned for the outcome.

It goes without saying that the ruling party will milk the Masood Azhar declaration to the maximum as it has with every terror event and its aftermath. But is Masood’s being declared a terrorist by the UN really going to make much of a difference to India’s situation on the ground? Doubtful. His funds and movement may be restricted, but the funds have been diverted long ago. Hafiz Saeed the mastermind of the 26/11 attacks who finds himself in a similar situation continues to practice his trade both within and across the border.

The Government of India claimed victory, naturally, because it was concerted effort to get the international community to put their signatures on the same page, but the Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal rejected the world body’s move as a “victory for India and validation of its stance” as projected by the Indian media. However, it did say “it would immediately enforce the sanctions”. It also claimed that it agreed to his listing after all “political references”, including attempts to link him to the Pulwama attack were removed from the proposal. India’s counter: “the listing is not meant to be a biodata of terror attacks” The US, the UK and France had moved the proposal to designate Azhar as a “global terrorist” in the UN Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February, just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack carried out by the JeM in Jammu and Kashmir but China only recently removed its objections to the proposal.

Faisal said of the proscription – “Pakistan maintains that terrorism is a menace to the world…the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee listing is governed by clear rules and its decisions are taken through consensus. Pakistan has always advocated the need for respecting these technical rules and has opposed the politicization of the committee”.

Certainly, the proscription is a boost to the ruling party’s campaign and a boon for the anti-terror campaign of the country.

But real outcomes as always take time to become visible and all we can do right now is wait and watch.

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Brian Fernandes

Brian is an alumnus of Roshni Nilaya’s Post Graduate School of Social Work, HR Department and has 30 years of local and international HR and General Management experience. Journalism, poetry, and feature writing is a passion which he is now able to pursue at will. Additionally, he loves compering and hosting talk shows. He loves learning and imparting it; so, when time permits, he provides leadership facilitation and soft skills training to Postgraduate students and Corporates in Mangaluru and Bengaluru. Besides, he is an accomplished Toastmaster under the aegis of Toastamasters.org and a designated Distinguished Toast Master.

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