JK News Today Commentary
How will Pakistan look in 2025? No one can answer this question better than the country in question itself. But the fact is that Pakistan will never answer it because it wants to hide everything about itself. It wants to hide even what is obvious. But what is clear to the world that it is emerging as a bigger threat to world peace and order in 2025. This assessment is not only that of the Indian experts but of as far off places as the US, which has declared Pakistan as a nation working on enhancing its nuclear capabilities and posing a serious threat to the world peace, including America itself.
Internally, too, Pakistan is embroiled in so many troubles, and the only answer it has is to blame others. While India is a favourite target of its disinformation and propaganda apparatus that works over time, now it is blaming Iran, Afghanistan and even the US, which was once its security partner and helped it with dollars and war –time weaponry, is now a fall guy.
It is clear to the whole world that Pakistan is hit by internal troubles, which are far beyond its control. The political leadership, as always, is seen as a proxy of the military. This time it is much more than that. The army has expanded its role to every field from running the domestic affairs as to how the Government should act and react in certain situations in which the public protests by politicians are included. This suit the government as it gets real time backing from the military, the all-powerful institution in the country.
The 26/11 protests in the capital city of Islamabad by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf or PTI were dispersed with by firing by the armed forces. Though the government, as expected, denied it and took away the bodies of the victims to undisclosed places, the facts were known to the people. The army provided a perfect cover to the denials of the government. A disinformation campaign has been launched against PTI and its leader Imran Khan, former premier.
But other reality that neither army nor the government can deny is that military courts handed down severe sentences to the PTI supporters for their role in the May 9, 2023 insurrection when the highly agitated PTI supporters took to streets and ransacked military cantonments and the residences of the corps commander in Lahore . They were protesting against the arrest of their leader Imran Khan from Islamabad Court premises on that fateful day.
Several nations have come out against the military court judgments, and trials, terming that as undemocratic and against the scales of justice. The action was censured by among others by the US government too. The United States State Department spokesperson had noted: “The United States is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal for their involvement in protests on May 9, 2023. These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency and the due process guarantees.” The spokesperson advised Pakistan to adhere to the fair trials as he stated: “The United States continues to call on Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process, as enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution.”
Pakistan, however, was unmoved. It defended the military courts and their judgments. This was quite audacious as the civilian government instead of asserting its position and authority became a willing partner to ceding of its powers to the Pakistani military. That also was not unexpected as the Pakistani government walks on the guidelines laid out by the Army. The Army chief is the real boss there.
Pakistan’s internal troubles have their external dimensions, and that is where the whole of South Asian region and the world at large should be alarmed. It is right now embroiled between the terror attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan or TTP and its deteriorating relations with Afghanistan .Pakistan accuses the TTP having unleashed a trail of terror attacks in which its soldiers and civilians were killed by dozens under the patronage of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan .This is a story of several situational and political ironies put together.
Pakistan’s army was actively involved in bringing Taliban regime to power in August 2021 when American-led NATO forces were pushed out of Afghanistan in post-haste even as all the commitments made by Taliban as per Doha agreement between the US and Taliban leadership of February 29, 2020 were not adhered to. Pakistan had hailed the development and then premier Imran Khan had stated that the Afghan nation had unshackled chains of slavery. Now the same Taliban and Afghanistan are being charged with launching cross-border terror attacks on the soil of Pakistan. Afghanistan is charged with allowing its soil to be used by anti-Pakistan terror groups, and providing them with sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The matters came to a head when Pakistan launched cross-border attacks in Afghanistan, claiming that it had exercised its right to self-defense against the terrorist camps. This bombardment was carried out by Pakistani aircraft in Paktika province on December 24, in which at least 46 people, most of whom were children and women were killed, according to Afghan Taliban. Afghan forces retaliated and opened fire at Pakistani posts on December 26.
These attacks and counter-attacks between Afghanistan and Pakistan have created a severe security situation in the region. The escalation in clashes can destabilize the whole region. Pakistan has also accused the TTP of hitting at Chinese nationals, working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and charged it further with trying to disrupt the multi-billion dollar CPEC.
China has been very strict with its criticism of Pakistani handling of the situation, highlighting its failure in protecting the lives and properties of Chinese nationals and the project. It had even suggested that it would deploy its own troops to guard its people in Pakistan. The whole analysis that came out of it is that Pakistan is creating foreign policy problems for itself.
The US took very strong measures when it imposed sanctions on four of its entities with a claim that these entities –National Development Complex, Akhtar and Sons Private Limited, Affiliates International, and Rockside Enterprise – helped Pakistan in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The US deputy national security advisor Jon Finer while speaking at an event of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on December 19 said , “ Pakistan’s ballistic missile technology posed an “ emerging threat to the United States and that one day Pakistani missiles could strike targets in America.”
Taking all this what has happened within Pakistan and assessment of its nuclear- weapons programmes, it is obvious that Pakistan in 2025 would emerge as a bigger threat to the world order. India, which has been its prime target of its terror machinery and its export, will have to stay extra vigilant.
