By: Malik Abdul Hakim Kashmiri – The powerful circles in Pakistan had already devised a strategy for Jammu and Kashmir long before August 5, 2019. Simply put, what belongs to India remains with India, and what belongs to Pakistan remains with Pakistan. Before August 2019, the establishment and its government were discreetly maneuvering to absolve themselves of responsibility for relinquishing the “jugular vein.”
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), despite their limitations, were mature enough regarding the issue of Jammu and Kashmir not to include any unpopular decision in their political profiles. Hence, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) became the preferred option.
Imran Khan was brought to power in 2018. To free his government from military pressure, Khan engaged Bajwa’s team in back-channel negotiations with India. Let’s review the sequence of events that unfolded as per the script:
To appease the Punjabi Sikhs strategically, the foundation stone of the Kartarpur Corridor was laid in November 2018. On February 14, 2019, a suicide attack in Pulwama resulted in the death of 40 Indian soldiers. On February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force conducted a surgical strike inside Pakistan. On February 27, 2019, Pakistan shot down an Indian aircraft in Azad Kashmir’s Samahni area, capturing the pilot, who was returned to India within 48 hours.
On August 5, 2019, India imposed martial law in its administered Jammu and Kashmir to establish permanent control. In an extraordinary situation, Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation, reiterating the traditional stance and warning that any action taken across the Line of Control would be considered against the ideology of Pakistan and the Kashmir freedom movement. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir was on an extended foreign tour. Members of both the opposition and the government remained silent. In private gatherings, Azad Kashmir politicians spoke the full truth but feared public discussion.
The PML-N and PPP joined forces with Imran Khan to grant an extension to Bajwa on August 19, 2019. In November 2019, the Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated, accelerating back-channel negotiations to improve relations with India.
During this period, a ceasefire on the Line of Control was agreed upon in February 2021. Journalist Hamid Mir writes that “suddenly, on March 23, 2021, on Pakistan Day, a letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Imran Khan arrived, raising concerns within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The news broke through UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba that secret talks between ISI Chief Faiz Hameed and Ajit Doval in Dubai had progressed significantly. One day, Bajwa approached Prime Minister Imran Khan and informed him that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Pakistan on April 9, 2021. Modi would first attend the annual Hindu festival at the Hinglaj Mata temple in the Lasbela hills of Balochistan before meeting with Imran Khan in Islamabad to announce the resumption of Pak-India trade and cricket matches. Imran Khan asked about the Kashmir issue, to which Faiz Hameed replied that the Kashmir issue would remain unresolved for twenty years, after which a solution would be sought. This was when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned Imran Khan that Pakistan had a parliament, and they would have to answer to it. They also had elections to contest, and they would be accused of selling out on Kashmir. The general elections in Azad Kashmir were due in July 2021. There was a concern that if Modi visited in April, PTI would be wiped out in the July elections in Azad Kashmir.”
August 5, 2019, and August 5, 2024 — 1,825 days later, the situation remains unchanged. Over these five years, much has been done to erase the identity and control the resources of this region, and much more is yet to be done. The story of the golden bond of La ilaha illallah is being written amidst the chaos.
The policy remains the same, as do the policymakers, in the world of Bajwa and his subordinates.
