I find it difficult to wish away the visible signs of a development that is still in the state of unfolding and that concerns a sinister aspect of the US efforts aimed at stopping China in its tracks by resorting to the most heinous, despicable tricks in the book, never mind behind the veneer of its democratic pretensions. It appears that the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan may have a larger dimension to it than is widely known in terms of the widely known successful US gameplan of plotting to dislodge the PTI government led by the “recalcitrant” Imran Khan by closing ranks with the most disreputable, corrupt politicians in Pakistan in cahoots with the Pak army as their chief proxy in the region. In pursuit of its long known larger goal to put paid to the rise of China as a superpower, the US seems to have no qualms resorting to the most questionable means to promote its single-most agenda of continuing its international ‘dadagiri’, never mind its willingness to resort to the tools of ‘dehshatgardi‘ to achieve its goals at whatever cost.
Before elaborating on the ‘larger dimension’ having been referred to above, it’s appropriate to spare a few thoughts on why the Pak army is going the whole hog and lending its prodigious weight behind the efforts to see an end to Imran Khan and his Pakistan Insaaf Party, the PTI
playing a part in the polity of that country. The first and the familiar reason for its obsession to humble Imran Khan and his massive support base along the length and breadth of the country in all possible ways is surely the firm resolve of Imran Khan to deliver Pakistan from the cancer of corruption especially in high places and to restore the rule of law where justice would prevail and to be dispensed as much to the high and might as to the dregs of the society. Sadly, that’s not acceptable to the army, used as it has all along been, to unaccounted wealth and resources that it has unobtrusively managed to access and own, without attracting the provisions of the state’s law and order machinery that it has successfully managed to monopolise along with other important institutions of the country including the police and the judiciary.
The other ‘less visible’ reason, as I see it, has to do how India would wish to seek a role for itself in the ongoing crisis in Pakistan as an important, though pesky neighbour, or how India fits into the US laid out chessboard involving the containment of China? Come to think of it, India sees itself in a win-win position considering that apart from its global implications, the currently raging kerfuffle in Pakistan is actually a confrontation between India’s betenoire no.1, the Pak army being pitted against its other betenoire in the shape of Imran Khan whose credentials as a strong leader is no music to the ears of the Indian political establishment which finds itself more comfortable with those in power with questionable credentials while dealing with Pakistan as a hostile neighbour, never mind the restoration of the rule of law and justice that Imran Khan is seeking to prevail in that country. As it stands, whereas the army is seeking to continue its larger than life role in running the politics of that country as has been their wont since the inception of that country in 1947, the fact is that contrary to its bounden duty to secure its borders while staying apolitical, Khan on the other hand is fighting for justice and democratic order to prevail where the army shall have no role to play whatsoever, other than to ensure security from internal and external threats to the country. So India has a huge stake in the ongoing turmoil in Pakistan to go on till one of the parties vying for space in the political landscape there eats the dust and sidesteps to pave the way for the other to prevail. Right now though, there are no visible signs of either of them blinking first.
All the same, in the US-conceived global scheme of things regarding the containment of China, India sees itself playing a role in the region effectively and to the US and its own satisfaction only if the widely perceived “professionally trained” Pak army was neutralized in a way that it would cease to hold a threat to India. In India’s perception, a main stumbling block in the realisation of that goal is the strength that the Pak army derives from a curious sort of love affair that the people of Pakistan have been having with the Pak army that they have put on the highest pedestal ever since the birth of that country almost eight decades ago. However, following the US – sponsored coup d’état against the Imran Khan-led government in 2022 of which the Pak army has been the chief facilitator-enabler, the sheer majority (+80%) of the people of Pakistan have stood solidly behind Imran Khan. Curiously, it’s this firm popular support for Imran Khan among the people of Pakistan that has pitted the people against the army which is stopping at nothing to stifle the voices of dissent in Pakistan against the US and the Pak army itself. Of a piece with this self-inflicted misery and in complete surrender to and in unconditional compliance with the voice of their Masters, the Pak army has ordered closure of work on the ongoing CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) in Pakistan which was started as part of the ambitious BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) and which was operationalised in the region about a couple of decades ago as a great strategic move by China to expand its influence across and beyond the region.
However, having been irked by how the Pak army has conducted itself including the massive, irreparable damage that it has caused to itself and to their country at large while subordinating itself to their benefactor hook, line and sinker, the people of Pakistan have suffered untold pain, misery and indignity at the hands of the Pak army that has been having no compunction in using extrajudicial, inhuman means, including acts of forced disappearance, abduction and murder of its adversaries to silence them and to get them fall in line. That has resulted in the Pak army losing its sway upon the masses and as a result, to an undesirable backlash from the people of Pakistan in the shape of a breakup of that deep and fabled love affair having now given way to hatred for the Pak army that, I surmise, was initially planned by the big plotters that they hope, perhaps justifiably, would pave the way to facilitate the entry of India as an important cog in the (over)ambitious US project of stopping the Dragon raising its head in the region.
The contention that what has been said above is not without reason, it’s worthwhile to draw attention to a couple of recent developments that betray unmistakable signs of the “big plot” as delineated above having been put into place in pursuit of the US-India-Pak army nexus. Both these developments are one of a kind in many ways as we would see in what follows. The first such case that was in witness and broadcast live on the social/national media had come about when during the recently held parliamentary elections in Pakistan, a group of Pak army soldiers in proper military uniform, and in a brazen, blatant display of muscle power had barged their way into the polling booths and then run away with the election related material after thrashing the PTI officials/volunteers there who were on duty at a time when the PTI was projected to be on the threshold of an historic, unprecedented landslide victory. As a result of how the Pak army has forced its hand in engineering pre – and post-election rigging to somehow stop the PTI from winning the elections and thus forming the government, a (minority) government comprising the most dubious characters of the PML(N)-PPP-MQM combine has been installed to rule the country even as it boasts of no more than a measly 5-20 % of the vote share.
The other development is more recent and pertains to an open confrontation between the Pak army and the Panjab police following the latter filing a case against and arresting some criminals who, it turned out later, enjoyed proximity with some top officer(s) in the Pak army. True to its long nurtured credo as an extra judicial/extra constitutional institution, the army goons in their army fatigues were seen to storm the police headquarters and severely beat up the SHO and some cops who had dared to go against those who were involved in a brazen case of dacoity and abduction.
The display of such brazen conduct by those owing allegiance to the Pak army is intriguing inasmuch as it goes against the grain of its reputation as a professionally trained outfit. How upon earth would one expect it, or for that matter an individual or an institution being involved in such extra-legal operations go overboard to reveal their identity as the perpetrator in the skulduggery. Rather than take care to conceal their identity, the perpetrators of these crimes have done so in broad public view, giving away their identity as affiliates of the Pak army and ending up bringing the hitherto viable institution of the country into further disrepute.
Following these unpalatable developments involving the Pak army, there’s a palpable sense of disenchantment, even resentment, among the people of Pakistan towards their long cherished, now estranged Pak army. That to me betokens a method in the madness involving a subtly executed strategy to bring the Pak army into disrepute in the eyes of their people who would hold their “defender in chief” in awe and reverence not long ago. That’s something that is expected by the conspirators to achieve the dual purpose of cutting the Pak army to size while facilitating the US goal of slowing down the emergence of China as a superpower.