PIED PIPERS OF NAYA HYBRID PAKISTAN By Lt Gen P R Shankar (Retired)

This narration is not fiction or a flight of imagination.

 It is drawn from writings of either learned Pakistanis or from international opinions.

This is not based on an Indian wish list or source.

 It is based on fact.   

The Strategy of Pied Pipers

The space between the ears of the hybrid Pakistani establishment is occupied by the Kashmiri demon which goes by the name of “Abrogation of Article 370”. The Indian political rapier has cut hard and cut deep. The “Deep State” does not seem to have recovered from it. However, its shocked silence conveys a lot. Its standard options of promoting violent reprisals in the Valley through its sword arm (ISI) and its surrogates (JEM, LET etc) seem to be off the table presently.  It is waiting to unleash them once restrictions are gradually eased in the Valley. Of course, they will be morphed as local “independence” enterprises for which they are giving moral support. Till then the Pied Pipers of the Deep State threaten with the other option – nuclear holocaust. The problem with this hybrid formulation is that before embarking on a nuclear option some conventional option must be gone through, in which they get defeated. Afterall if you are winning why would you use the nuke?   Back to the nuke on defeat. Using a nuke is hara-kiri.  The international community and India will then ensure that Pakistan as we know now will end. That also means that Pakistan as an Army with a State is finished. It means milking the state is out. Corner plots are out. Farms are out. Military businesses are out. Swiss bank accounts are out. Power is out. Historic ignominy is in. For perpetuity. Too much at stake for the Deep State. So?

Their best bet is back to hybrid warfare - foment strife in the Valley and revive insurgency. For that, restrictions on communications must be eased. India must be arm twisted into easing restrictions post haste through the international community. Hence the grand strategy. Use the Pied Pipers of the bandwagon to raise the din and kick up the muck! Their Lead Piper is of course – Imran Khan. Wait a moment. Reflect. In this grand design, are he and his pack of Pied Pipers leading to Pakistani disintegration? Let us see both sides of this coin.

The Merry Band

The Lead Piper. Imran Khan, the lead piper of the Deep State cacophonic realm is proud of his nom de guerre - U Turn Khan since “A leader who does not take 'U-turns' [in the best interests of the nation] is not a real leader”. Wow! Never heard that in all the leadership lessons. His ignorance from the time he proclaimed that Germany and Japan had common borders to the time he claimed support of 58 countries on an UNHRC which has only 47 members is solid. However, he is single minded and fixated about Kashmir to the exclusion of all else. Rarely a day goes by when Kashmir is not on his agenda for the day. His lead tunes include that ever since India has annexed Kashmir through Abrogation of Article 370, it is no more a disputed territory. If it is not a disputed territory, what is the issue? But Pakistan Army has solid information that India will attack Pakistan and then Pakistan will give a befitting response and teach India a solid lesson. Why on earth will India attack Pakistan when it is their most stupid option. Because the Deep State feels so. Catch 22! He claims he will not start the war, but it is imminent and will go way beyond the Indian subcontinent. He says he will not start nuclear war but assures the world that when two nuclear countries fight and when Pakistan is losing, then nuclear war is on. He is a self-proclaimed Kashmir ka “Safir” who will ensure Pakistanis fight till their last breath for Kashmiris.  He claims that a fascist India wants to carry out ethnic cleansing and that Indian Muslims are in danger. However, this is not about Indian Muslims alone but about 1.25 billion Muslims worldwide. Catch 22 again. The Uighur Muslims of Xinjian and those put by China into “re-education centres” constitute selective amnesia. He has stated he will lead a mass of patriotic Pakistanis across the LOC in support of the Kashmiri brethren. A well-equipped and well-fed Pakistani Army will wear bangles and sit on own side of LOC polishing Shaheens and Hatfs. It will push unarmed Pakistanis to confront the Indian Army. Of course, Sir Galahad, the lead piper will lead them to their destiny as he promised at a rally. What is that destiny? All those true followers of the Deep State who will be shoved / forced across the LOC will be rounded up by lathi wielding J&K Police forces and put in a stockade. That will be the ideal return gift for the 90000 POWs handed over to Pakistan post 1971 without tangible gains. Thank you, Pakistan. Send more people across LOC. The bargain will be harder this time when these people are returned. Till then we eagerly wait for an all-time classic speech in rambling style without substance at UNGA on 27 Sep like some of the Pakistanis have predicted.

The Second Piper.   Shah Mahmood Qureshi started with the clarion call that no one is waiting at the UN with garlands for Pakistanis. Soon he came out playing second fiddle - “accidental war with India a possibility” and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is a “looming catastrophe”.  Pakistan will be ready for all kinds or war. He claimed that India has transformed Jammu and Kashmir into the largest "caged prison in this planet" after the abrogation of Article 370. He forgot that Baluchistan, where PAF bombed out his fellow Baluchi Pakistanis. He wants UN to probe “genocide” in Kashmir where a single bullet has not been fired since long. Then comes the classic. Pakistan will speak to India only on the condition that he be allowed to meet Kashmiri leaders. Who is in a hurry to talk to Pakistan anyway? Wait. Did he not say somewhere about an Indian state of Kashmir?     

The Background Chorus.  The background chorus of pipers is led by the science and technology minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry who thinks through a contraceptive haze, exhorts Punjabis in Indian Army to deny duty in Kashmir, proclaims all suicide bombers are students of Pakistani madrassas and makes fun of India’s Chandrayan 2. Even Pakistanis are embarrassed by him! Then there is the Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who predicts that full-blown war between the two nations is “likely to occur in October or the following month”. He is described as “the most prominent jewel in the crown who appears very keen to start a nuclear war” and that instead of taking care of railways he talks of Pakistan having tiny nuclear devices. Of course, they are represented by the evergreen Maleeha Lodhi in UN who “committed the unforgivable mistake of producing a fake photo that is not only going to embarrass Pakistan in the decades to come but has also dented its rightful stance on Kashmir”. Then comes the ace of the chorus pack. Popularly known as “Ghafoora” by India’s Twitteratti, the DG ISPR comes out with gems from Solomon’s mines starting from the missing “Doosra Banda” in the Military Hospital.

The Silent Intent

Pakistanis say war is no option, but all the Pied Pipers talk of nothing but that. The unspoken and underlying intent is revenge. Revenge against India is consuming the Deep State after a straight 5-0 loss in four wars which have been fought and the current unfought war, in which they have been finessed. Their response through the Pied Pipers is typically military and typically Pakistani and typically Hybrid. Human rights hype.  War hype. Nuclear Hype. Arm twist India into international scrutiny. Ease restrictions and start chaos in Kashmir. Familiar plot but circumstances have changed. “Kashmir banega Pakistan”. That reverberating heart-warming chant! Wait a minute. Is it not against the UN resolution calls for plebiscite to allow Kashmiris to decide their own future? As per a Pakistani analyst all these “utterly nonsensical remarks on sensitive issues come in handy for those who look for any opportunity to prove Pakistan to be an irresponsible state”. The Military and its Pied Pipers, unable to think beyond this paradigm are taking Pakistan towards an abyss. Let us peep into that.

Is Pakistan Burning?

Imran khan and his merry band of pied pipers are leading 215 million Pakistanis at the behest of the Deep State to the promised land – Kashmir. Logically, they should have asked themselves the question. Is Pakistan not burning? If the answer was no, they are justified to get hold of the promised land. Is Pakistan really burning? The drone attack on Saudis complicated security matters in the Gulf. It relegates Pakistan on Saudi agenda.  The Afghan Taliban, initially trained by Pakistan, as Mujahideen to fight the Russians, as admitted by their hybrid PM, have bombed the peace process. Self- Goal! Saudi Chacha or Sam Uncle are not going to need Pakistan in a hurry. So, no more doles from both. Unless of course you do their dirty work. If you do that forget Kashmir and India. However, get a new enemy called Iran. That means an even more unstable western border. Look at Pashtun regions. TTP is making a comeback and PTM is enemy No 1. Two diametrically opposite movements in the same space. Someone in Al Jazeera has already spoken of Pashtun land a la Bangladesh. Just add Baluchistan, Sindhudesh and Balwaristan to the mix. The cup is brimming with the joy of impending disintegration. All mainstream opposition parties and leaders in jail. A seasoned Islamist of JUI, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is now posing a threat to the government. The cup has started to overflow.  What about water and food security? What about the economy? Look at the charts and decide if the predicted 3.1% growth is achievable. What about “Seepeck”? The mega project to transform Pakistan into a world class economy through mega Chinese loans. Well, as per recent analysis, these loans need not be paid back. They can get converted into equity for the Chinese. Hmm. Little Chinas all over Pakistan. Consider energy next.  Energy kis chidiya ka naam hai bhai?  10-12 days of oil storage capacity and no gas storage capacity. Possibility of complete disruption in case the Gulf situation deteriorates. Energy is chidiya ka naam hai dost.  Is Pakistan burning? No, you idiot. Paris is. Have you not read the novel by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins?  If Pakistan was burning, we should have picked up our fiddles! No sir. We, the Pied Pipers of Pakistan are into a new novel – O Kashmir. The story line is from O Jerusalem. Read the book. It is all about ‘Pakistan banega Kashmir’.

Conclusion

Imran Khan has remarked in the context of Kashmir - “We have two options: either we hide, or we take decisive action. Hiding is not an option; we must take decisive action”. Very profound statement. View it in the context of Pakistan beyond Kashmir. The Deep State and its Pied Pipers are hiding from the worsening situation within and beyond the Naya Hybrid Pakistan and taking decisive action in Kashmir. This is beyond Catch 22. It is Catch 44. The more you headbutt against Kashmir, the more the chances of your breakup. Strategy of indirect approach

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Read The Originals!

The Pied Piper and the Lost Children https://www.dawn.com/news/1126305  

The Pied Pipers of Pakistan https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/12/pied-pipers-of-pakistan/ 
Pied Piper of Pakistan https://www.thefridaytimes.com/pied-piper-of-pakistan/