India Towards Another False Flag Operation against Pakistan

By Sajjad Shaukat

Continuing his anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan approach, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sworn in as India’s prime minister on June 9, this year for a rare third term.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), together with its National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has won a majority, despite a sharp reduction in their seats compared with the 2019 elections, yet, final election results showed that Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, well below the 272 needed for a majority. Modi has been elected leader of the NDA alliance led by him, secured 293 seats in the 543 lower house of parliament.

It was a huge setback for the Indian opposition’s alliance and Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, which has won just over 230 seats and doesn’t have the numbers to cobble together a government.

Critics say “he’s [Modi] undermined India’s democracy and its status as a secular nation with attacks by Hindu nationalists against the country’s minorities, particularly Muslims.

Modi unveiled on June 10, 2024 his coalition government with 11 posts going to coalition allies who extracted them—including five in the top 30 cabinet posts. But, Modi’s BJP old extremist guards who are against the Muslims and Pakistan dominate the list—signalling broad policy continuity, which includes BJP loyalists Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar Telugu Desam Party etc.

Meanwhile, at least 10 people have been killed and 33 others injured on June 9, this year after a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) was attacked by Kashmirs’ freedom fighters.

Reasi district’s police chief Mohita Sharma told reporters: “Militants ambushed the bus and fired at it indiscriminately. The bus fell into a gorge, leading to the death of nine pilgrims, and 33 are injured”.

In this regard, most of the Indian media entities allegedly blamed Pakistan for the assault on the bus.

Business Today on June 10, 2024 wrote: “Pakistan-backed the Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Jihadist terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir' Reasi district…the TRF warned of more such attacks “.

NDTV on June 12, this year allegedly said: “Anand Jain, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, who is supervising the anti-terrorist operation…An encounter is on between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda after they attacked an army base late night lost five soldiers and a special police officer (SPO) were injured in the shootout…This is the third such incident in three days in Jammu after terrorists opened fire in Kathua, injuring a civilian, and at a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi…Security forces are now using drones to hunt for the second one in Hiranagar area of Kathua…called the Kathua attack a fresh infiltration and pointed at Pakistan”.

However, Ronak Shahi, a resident of Hyderabad, shared his anxieties with DW, stating, “I think Muslims are more insecure now than in the past…This sentiment reflects a broader fear among minorities about their safety and rights under a government perceived as promoting Hindu nationalism”.

He elaborated: “The return of Modi to power has implications beyond India’s borders. His administration has had strained relations with neighboring countries, and there is concern that these conflicts might escalate further. The situation in Kashmir, which lost its special status during Modi’s rule, is particularly tense and is expected to deteriorate further”.

Therefore, the newly elected PM Modi can arrange another false flag operation against Pakistan to keep his coalition (NDA) united, and to divert attention from his weak government.

It is mentionable that during his interview with local broadcaster CNN News 18 on April 5, this year, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that India will enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes over the border after trying to carry out terrorist activities in the country.

The Guardian reported on April 4, 2024: “Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed new light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019. The Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) is directly controlled by the office of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi…The fresh claims relate to almost 20 killings since 2020, carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan…This is the first time Indian intelligence personnel have discussed the operations in Pakistan…RAW’s direct involvement in the? assassinations”.

India regularly accuses Pakistan and its superior intelligence agency ISI of supporting and arming rebels in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad always denied.

Notably, Political strategists agree that in nuclear deterrence, weapons are less usable, as their threat is enough in deterring an enemy who intends to use its armed might.

But, situation of the Sub-continent is quite different where without bothering for the eruption of atomic war between India and Pakistan; New Delhi has been ignoring the tenets of nuclear deterrence.

In fact, the BJP won the Indian general elections of 2014 and 2019 on the basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans. Since Modi, the leader of the extremist ruling party BJP, became Indian prime minister, he started implementing ideology of Hindutva (Hindu Nationalism). Again, during the election campaign of 2024, Hindu majority had been mobilsed especially on ‘hate Muslim’ slogans.

Very tension escalated rapidly between New Delhi and Islamabad in the aftermath of the false flag Pulwama terror attack in the IIOJK—when on February 27, 2019, in response to the Indian so-called pre-emptive air strike near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir, which resulted into no causalities, Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian Air Force fighter jets and launched aerial strikes at six targets in the IIOJK.

Once again, India wants to recreate the Pulwama drama to obtain political goals. Global media reports also confirmed that Indian forces are spreading terrorism along the Line of Control (LoC) to achieve political ambitions.

It is noteworthy that BJP leader Dr. Subramaniam Swami had stated that India needed only two years to defeat Pakistan militarily, and the only solution of Kashmir was war, as “there is no peaceful”.

Pakistan’s civil and military leaders had repeatedly indicated that India is planning another false flag operation against Pakistan in order to divert attention from its internal issues and from failure of its external policy with the real aim of wining general elections 2024. They have frequently stated that Pakistan’s armed forces “are ready to respond any Indian aggression with full might.

Nonetheless, Modi can stage another false flag operation against Pakistan to strengthen NDA coalition government without bothering that full-scale conventional war with Pakistan may culminate into atomic war, enveloping the entire region and probably the whole world.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is the author of the book, US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations.

Email: [email protected]