At UNGA, Imran Khan Threatens Bloodbath in Kashmir

In a rambling 50 minute rant, Pak PM Imran Khan tried to back-track on Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terrorism while trying to lay the blame squarely on the USA and the west due to cold-war era geopolitics. In seeming self-contradiction, Khan also admitted to Pak supporting and indoctrinating Taliban and other Jihadi forces. Further the Pak PM gave veiled threats of a bloodbath in Kashmir and also invoked the bogey of nuclear war.

Crux of the Matter

1. In keeping with the theme of Climate Change at this year’s UN General Assembly, Imran Khan paid lip service to the issue without mentioning any concrete plans or effort from Pakistan to tackle the same.

2. In a meandering speech that felt like a nervous schoolboy’s first attempt at an elocution contest, Pak PM Khan talked about growing rich and poor divide while seeming to blame the rich for the economic travails of his impoverished country. It is to be noted that Pakistan for all practical purposes has been run like a military oligarchy since its independence.

3. The victim complex tonality continued as Imran Khan talked of Islamophobia and blamed the West and Cold War era geopolitics for Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism. Contradictorily, he admitted to the role of Pakistani Army and ISI in indoctrinating, training and supporting terrorist outfits like Taliban.

4. The Cold War ended almost 3 decades ago, but Pakistan still remains a nucleus for terrorist organisations in the world.

5. Imran Khan capped off his speech with veiled threats vis-a-vis Kashmir. He forewarned of a bloodbath in the valley, predicted further Pulwama-like suicide attacks and expected Indian military retaliation for the same. Feigning helplessness, Imran said that in case of war Pak may go for the self-destructive nuclear option.

Curiopedia

Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts is a military doctrine followed by Pakistan against India that consists of waging covert war against India using insurgents at multiple locations. The origins of the strategic doctrine are attributed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who declared a thousand-year war against India during his speech to the United Nations Security Council in 1965. His plans for the 1971 war included severing the entire eastern India and making it a “permanent part” of East Pakistan, occupying Kashmir, and turning East Punjab into a separate ‘Khalistan’. After the war ended with Pakistan’s own dismemberment, he laid down the doctrine of continuing the conflict by “inflicting a thousand cuts” on India, as Pakistan’s ‘national’ goal of destruction of India would only be possible by “delivering a thousand cuts on its body politic” and not through a direct conventional war. One of the purposes of the declaration was to divert public attention from internal problems facing Pakistan. More Info

Curated Coverage

1. Livemint – At UNGA, Imran Khan warns of ‘bloodbath’ when Kashmir curfew lifted

2. UN News – Pakistan’s Khan warns of all-out conflict amid rising tensions over Kashmir; demands India lift ‘inhuman’ curfew

3. Firstpost – ‘Bloodbath in Kashmir’: Imran Khan’s UNGA speech may have verged on the hysterical, but his call to action for radicals is ‘most dangerous’

4. India Today – Imran Khan brings up Kashmir, repeats war rhetoric in hour-long UNGA rant

5. The New Indian Express – In his maiden UNGA speech, Imran exceeds time limit, calls Modi Indian ‘President’

#UN #Geopolitics #India #Pakistan #World