For sheer tenacity and longevity this show has few parallels in the media in the country. Right from the day Mumbai was attacked by Pakistani terrorists on 26 November 2008 something or the other about it keeps cropping up both in the print and the electronic media. One thing that has become a regular, a must, on the television channels is a 'debate' which includes participants from across the border.
Occasionally, it also includes articles in Indian newspapers written by Pakistan journalists and intelligentsia, who are said to be ardent about restoring 'friendly' relations with a nation they have viewed since birth as 'enemy'. Perfectly good idea it is to have guests from the 'other side' participate in a debate so that they present their perspective. But after listening to the Pakistanis repeatedly what strikes the listener/viewer is that they join the debate only to unleash a well-rehearsed propaganda line, presumably in the belief that it will impress the Indian audience. Their effort is to obfuscate the issues raised before them and trumpet the by now familiar Pakistani lie about India being responsible for the free run enjoyed by the terrorists they had nursed, trained and armed to decapitate India.
Every Pakistani, all of them supposedly 'renowned' in their country, heard over the Indian airwaves has claimed that Islamabad has 'proof' if Indian 'complicity', 'interference' and whatnot in the troubles their country is facing. It is touching to think that these 'renowned' Pakistanis are sure that but for the Indian devilry the land of the pure would have been a real 'haven' of peace and modernity and escaped the tag of being the 'safe haven' for terrorists and the 'epicentre' of worldwide terrorism, not to mention the diagnosis of a former US secretary of state that Pakistan is an international 'migraine'.
Tell them that the whole world thinks that terrorists breed in Pakistan and they have a ready answer for it: the terrorists were raised at the behest of the United States when Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation and now Pakistan has been left holding the baby. The implied argument is that but for the American nod, nurseries for terrorists would not have sprouted in Pakistan even as it sought 'strategic depth' on its western border and adopted the theory of bleeding India with thousand cuts with the help of 'freedom fighters.'
The very mention of 26/11 invites a torrent of accusations against India for hurting Pakistan and sullying its 'image' with the allegations on terrorism. How? The Samjhauta Express blasts! That is good enough to allege that Indians (read Hindus) are baying for Pakistani blood under a plan masterminded by the Indian government and its Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The Samjhauta Express blast had taken a toll of Indian lives too. But that lone tragedy is enough to wash the sins of all the hundreds of acts of terrorism carried out against India by the Pakistanis and men trained by them, resulting in the death of thousands of innocent Indians in the last two decades.
The Pakistanis pretend not to be aware that the Samjhauta Express blast was condemned by all of India and its victims have been offered compensation, though that is no substitute for the loss of lives. Unfortunately, Indian interlocutors fail to point out a glaring difference between the Samjhauta Express blast and the endless series of terrorism unleashed by Pakistan on India as part of a State policy. The blast near Panipat in the train to Pakistan was not the result of a plan hatched by a government agency. A serving army colonel has been indeed arrested in connection with that blast but there is absolutely nothing to prove that he was working on behalf of the government of India or any of its agencies. There is no organisation in India that can even remotely be equated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and its various offshoots; nor are there trainers and handlers like Lakhvi who delightfully use satellite phones and other fancy gadgets to guide their brigand of murderers in India.
The Indian government does not believe in the pernicious theory of 'bleeding by thousand cuts'. It does not run training camps for terrorists. Even the Pakistanis say that the 'training camps' for 'Indian terrorists' are located in Afghanistan-as if Afghanistan is part of the Union of India. Assuming for a second that there are Indian 'training camps' in Afghanistan, it will surely be easy for Pakistan's proxy, the Afghan Taliban, to destroy them.
It is surprising that the Pakistanis go on talking about the Indian involvement in the troubles in their country on specious grounds. They have talked about small arms and some other items including 'literature' being 'recovered' from terrorists killed by their army inside Pakistan. But they have actually not been able to make a convincing case against India. To hide that fact the Pakistanis say that unlike India they do not go to town when they discover the Indian hand in acts of terror in their country. When India says it has found arms with Pakistani markings Islamabad dismisses that as insufficient proof.
The Pakistanis have no plausible proof that India is creating trouble for them because it is all a figment of their imagination. After the blasts in Lahore and some other towns, they had announced that India was behind them and in the case of the Lahore attack on Sri Lanka cricketers they had even arrested an 'Indian' and given his Indian (Hindu) name. To date nothing further has been heard about the Indian hand behind these attacks nor any information been provided to India about the 'Indian' arrested in Lahore.
Can anybody really believe that the Pakistanis would not have gone ballistic had they some real solid proof of Indian involvement?
Central Chronicle - Madhya Pradesh's News Portal
Occasionally, it also includes articles in Indian newspapers written by Pakistan journalists and intelligentsia, who are said to be ardent about restoring 'friendly' relations with a nation they have viewed since birth as 'enemy'. Perfectly good idea it is to have guests from the 'other side' participate in a debate so that they present their perspective. But after listening to the Pakistanis repeatedly what strikes the listener/viewer is that they join the debate only to unleash a well-rehearsed propaganda line, presumably in the belief that it will impress the Indian audience. Their effort is to obfuscate the issues raised before them and trumpet the by now familiar Pakistani lie about India being responsible for the free run enjoyed by the terrorists they had nursed, trained and armed to decapitate India.
Every Pakistani, all of them supposedly 'renowned' in their country, heard over the Indian airwaves has claimed that Islamabad has 'proof' if Indian 'complicity', 'interference' and whatnot in the troubles their country is facing. It is touching to think that these 'renowned' Pakistanis are sure that but for the Indian devilry the land of the pure would have been a real 'haven' of peace and modernity and escaped the tag of being the 'safe haven' for terrorists and the 'epicentre' of worldwide terrorism, not to mention the diagnosis of a former US secretary of state that Pakistan is an international 'migraine'.
Tell them that the whole world thinks that terrorists breed in Pakistan and they have a ready answer for it: the terrorists were raised at the behest of the United States when Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation and now Pakistan has been left holding the baby. The implied argument is that but for the American nod, nurseries for terrorists would not have sprouted in Pakistan even as it sought 'strategic depth' on its western border and adopted the theory of bleeding India with thousand cuts with the help of 'freedom fighters.'
The very mention of 26/11 invites a torrent of accusations against India for hurting Pakistan and sullying its 'image' with the allegations on terrorism. How? The Samjhauta Express blasts! That is good enough to allege that Indians (read Hindus) are baying for Pakistani blood under a plan masterminded by the Indian government and its Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The Samjhauta Express blast had taken a toll of Indian lives too. But that lone tragedy is enough to wash the sins of all the hundreds of acts of terrorism carried out against India by the Pakistanis and men trained by them, resulting in the death of thousands of innocent Indians in the last two decades.
The Pakistanis pretend not to be aware that the Samjhauta Express blast was condemned by all of India and its victims have been offered compensation, though that is no substitute for the loss of lives. Unfortunately, Indian interlocutors fail to point out a glaring difference between the Samjhauta Express blast and the endless series of terrorism unleashed by Pakistan on India as part of a State policy. The blast near Panipat in the train to Pakistan was not the result of a plan hatched by a government agency. A serving army colonel has been indeed arrested in connection with that blast but there is absolutely nothing to prove that he was working on behalf of the government of India or any of its agencies. There is no organisation in India that can even remotely be equated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and its various offshoots; nor are there trainers and handlers like Lakhvi who delightfully use satellite phones and other fancy gadgets to guide their brigand of murderers in India.
The Indian government does not believe in the pernicious theory of 'bleeding by thousand cuts'. It does not run training camps for terrorists. Even the Pakistanis say that the 'training camps' for 'Indian terrorists' are located in Afghanistan-as if Afghanistan is part of the Union of India. Assuming for a second that there are Indian 'training camps' in Afghanistan, it will surely be easy for Pakistan's proxy, the Afghan Taliban, to destroy them.
It is surprising that the Pakistanis go on talking about the Indian involvement in the troubles in their country on specious grounds. They have talked about small arms and some other items including 'literature' being 'recovered' from terrorists killed by their army inside Pakistan. But they have actually not been able to make a convincing case against India. To hide that fact the Pakistanis say that unlike India they do not go to town when they discover the Indian hand in acts of terror in their country. When India says it has found arms with Pakistani markings Islamabad dismisses that as insufficient proof.
The Pakistanis have no plausible proof that India is creating trouble for them because it is all a figment of their imagination. After the blasts in Lahore and some other towns, they had announced that India was behind them and in the case of the Lahore attack on Sri Lanka cricketers they had even arrested an 'Indian' and given his Indian (Hindu) name. To date nothing further has been heard about the Indian hand behind these attacks nor any information been provided to India about the 'Indian' arrested in Lahore.
Can anybody really believe that the Pakistanis would not have gone ballistic had they some real solid proof of Indian involvement?
Central Chronicle - Madhya Pradesh's News Portal