oppn parties Peace is a Pipe-Dream With Intransigeant Pakistan

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Peace is a Pipe-Dream With Intransigeant Pakistan

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2016-02-09 19:15:53

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
Pakistan denies JeM or Masood involvement in Pathankot attack
Even as David Headley has been exposing the network of terror directed at India in Pakistan, the neighbouring country has categorically said that it finds no evidence of the involvement of either Jaish E Mohammed or Masood Azhar in the recent attack on the Pathankot airbase. Headley has said that he was handled by Hafiz Saeed and the ISI was directly involved in training of recruits and planning of terror strikes on India. He has also confirmed that the Mumbai strike was meticulously planned and executed by people in Pakistan. But Pakistan is going to deny all this.

Rubbishing evidence means Pakistan is not serious
While postponing the Foreign Secretary level talks in January, the government of India had said that it will wait and watch to see what Pakistan does with the evidence it had supplied on the Pathankot attacks. While many in India were skeptical of Pakistan’s intentions, others, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh had then said that we should not doubt them. But with its outright rejection of JeM involvement, Pakistan has shown that it is not serious in stopping terror attacks on India, finding out who is behind them, punishing those found guilty and engaging in talks.

Denials will not work in the face of evidence
Pakistan has allowed an elaborate network of terror to develop on its soil just to conduct a proxy war on India. It hides behind the excuse of “non-state actors” whenever presented with evidence. It denies that these people enter India from Pakistani soil. It denies the existence of terror camps on its territories. It denies that any of its agencies give material, training or logistics support to these terrorists. It denies all this despite evidence pointing to the contrary. Yet, it wants India to talk peace with it.

Who decides India policy in Pakistan?
Even if India decides to return to the negotiation table, which under the present circumstances it will not, there is no guarantee that whatever is discussed or agreed to will be implemented. The problem with Pakistan is that when it comes to India, it is not the democratically elected government of that country that is the sole decision maker. There is the Pakistani army that is deeply interested in the developments. One feels that even the bigger terror groups are involved. There is nothing to be surprised for if Pakistan can openly insist on talking to Kashmiri separatists before talking to India, it can covertly consult terror groups within Pakistan before deciding on any policy regarding India.

Peace, or even talking about it, is a pipe-dream
Pakistan had given birth to monsters in the form of terror groups targeting India. These groups have now become uncontrollable. They, or their masters in the ISI and the Pakistani army, will not allow the two countries to engage in any meaningful dialogue for peace. If Pakistan has any pretensions of having peace between the two countries, it will first have to dismantle the terror network and ensure there are no further terror attacks on India from terrorists based on its soil. But it can never agree to that. For if it does, it will expose Pakistan for what it had been all these years – a haven for terrorists. Hence, any talk of peace under the present circumstances is a pipe-dream.