During the time of G20 meeting in London in April 2009, I made it a point to follow the proceedings and the statements of the participating leaders. Barack Obama was obviously the star of the show. He was focused and well informed. Yet as usual, his advisers had kept some of the facts from him.
He didn’t seem to be aware that the terrorist sanctuaries in FATA in Pakistan are located in places that have been the sites of Afghan refugee camps for the last 30 years. Terrorists breed in refugee camps be it in FATA, Palestine, Israel, Kashmir, North or South America, Africa, Australia, Europe or any part of Asia. People who have to live in squalor as second class citizens without identity or any hope for future become desperate and succumb to destructive ideas.
The Afghan refugee problem started in 1969 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In those days India was a close friend of both the Soviet Union and Afghanistan and it is obvious that the Soviets must have consulted the Indian leaders before invading Afghanistan. Had the Indians not encouraged them, the world would have been a different place today. And the Indians encouraged the Soviets to invade Afghanistan because they knew that such action would result in a huge influx of refugees into Pakistan and strain the economy and destabilize the country. Ever since 1947 it has been the policy of the Indian government to create problems for Pakistan so that it would not have time or resource to push for a plebiscite in Kashmir as per UNSC resolutions 38, 39, 47, 51, 80 etc.
The 62 year unrest in Balochistan has also been fomented by India and Iran because the Iranians have been afraid that oil drilling in Balochistan will cause their oil wells to run dry. Although on surface the Iranians have been friendly to Pakistan, the funds for the Baloch rebels have been persistently routed through that country.
The British and the Americans do not need to reinvent the wheel about terrorism. I had personally witnessed the numbing terrorism of IRA in early 70s which was financed from New York and Tripoli. When the funds dried up, things changed. Similarly Barack and Hillary only need to ask their elders what thing were like in Chicago and its Black ghettos or New York and its Bronx district during the sixties.
The American think-tanks, some of which are dominated by extremist Christians and Jews and most which rely on Indian advice have serious misconceptions about Islam and Asia. Muslim intellectuals are by their religious training averse to speculative thinking and fail to impress them. The Hindus, on the other hand make excellent underdog manipulators of opinion.
The West’s common reference to Hinduism is Gandhi who was a believer in the peace oriented Vedas, whereas majority of Indians follow the Aryan Brahmanism based on the war lyrics of Mahabharata which tend to promote a ferociously aggressive, sadistic and deceptive culture.
Religious extremists can be found everywhere and in every walk of life. Examples of politicians are Uk’s Straw and India’s chief minister Modi. Examples of military men are India’s Col. Prohit and USA’s Gen. McKiernan.
Recently a new full fledged war has started in Northern Pakistan resulting in the displacement of nearly one and half million people, who are being put in new refugee camps. I had said even before the operation started that it would not be long term solution. The Taliban will just hide their weapons and move into the refugee camps along with the civilian population and keep in hiding there until they find another opportunity. The terrorists that would breed in the Swat refugee camps may be far more dangerous and resourceful than anything we have seen before.
