In a speech loaded with powerful meanings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has again warned Pakistan not to indulge in any terror act against India. In the same speech, Modi, without naming China, asked people to boycott sale and purchase of foreign (read Chinese) products.
Addressing a rally in Gandhinagar, Modi made it clear that Operation Sindoor is continuing , and for India, the days of ‘proxy war’ are over.
Modi reminded people about the first Kashmir war of 1947-49. He said, “it was Sardar Patel’s wish that until PoK is taken back, the army should not stop. But Sardar Sahib’s words were not followed….For 75 years, India suffered, and what happened in Pahalgam was a “distorted form” of that attack”.
Modi said, “In 1947, Mother India was cut into pieces. Instead of cutting off her chains of slavery, her arms were chopped off. The country was divided into three parts, and the same night, the first terrorist attack took place on the soil of Kashmir.”
The Prime Minister said, Pakistan with the help of tribal invaders occupied a part of Indian territory. “If we had killed those Mujahideen at that time, we wouldn’t have lost PoK. We should have listened to Sardar Patel, who wanted the Army not to stop the war, until we got back PoK,” Modi said.
Modi said, “the new India will not tolerate this. Time has come to teach the enemy a lesson and this has begun with Operation Sindoor”.
Fort our new generation, many of whom may not be aware of how Pakistan occupied a part of Kashmir, let me explain in brief.
The war that began between India and Pakistan soon after Partition in October, 1947 ended in January, 1949 through a UN-brokered ceasefire. Pakistani army was backing the tribal invaders. The then Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession and India sent its army to Srinagar. Our troops repulsed the invaders from the Valley. Our army could have thrown the invaders out from the rest of J&K, but the then PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru went to the UN and Pakistan continued to occupy PoK.
That is why Modi said, “had there been a full and final settlement of Kashmir issue in 1947, Pakistan would never have gained the courage to attack India in 1965 and 1971. After losing wars, Pakistani army realized it can never win a conventional war against India and created an army of terrorists”.
Modi also spoke about another historic blunder by Pandit Nehru when he signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960. Modi revealed, under this treaty, India agreed not to desilt its dams without Pakistan’s prior permission. The result was: both Salal and Baglihar projects, because of lack of desilting, were working at less than half of their capacity. India could not object.
Because of this treaty, the Ratle hydropower project and Wullar barrage work also came to a standstill because Pakistan raised objections every time India started work on these projects. India could not use even its rightful share of Indus water because of this treaty, Modi said.
Modi said, “we have only kept this treaty under abeyance…we haven’t started anything yet and Pakistan is already sweating”.
Clearly, Modi is hinting at a comprehensive review of the conditions mentioned in this treaty. This relook can happen only after Pakistan stops sponsoring terrorism.
To summarize: let’s see how Modi changed India’s policy towards Pakistan in recent years.
Earlier, when Pakistan used to carry out terror attacks in India, we used to complain to the US. But now, we display to the entire world how our armed forces took 22 minutes to destroy multiple terror headquarters deep inside Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan used to hide behind the fig leaf called “non-state actors” (used for terrorists). Now, India does not tolerate such ‘proxy wars’ and our air force damaged 11 air bases inside Pakistan.
Earlier Pakistan used to give threats to use nuclear warheads against India. Now, Pakistan hollers in fright and goes to the US seeking protection of its nuclear installations.
It is a fact that India committed historic blunders in the past. It allowed Pakistan to occupy a large part of Kashmir in 1948, and signed the one-sided Indus Waters Treaty in 1960. Now, for each of the actions taken by India, there are already reactions in Pakistan. The tables have now been turned.
Stop buying Chinese products!
In an oblique reference to China, which supplies most of the missiles and fighter planes to Pakistan, Prime Minister Modi said, people in India must now gear up not to import or buy products made in foreign countries (read China).
Modi said, “nowadays we find idols of Lord Ganesha with slit eyes being sold in India. During Holi and Diwali, the markets are flooded with colours and ‘pichkari’(water gun) made in foreign countries….We, as part of 140 crore people of India, must show our might to the world. We must promote Made in India products. We must shun foreign products. Only then can we achieve our aim of Viksit Bharat in 2047.
It is a fact that China has occupied a large chunk of world markets by flooding them with cheap products. In India, we use at least 62 per cent products of daily use, made in China. We use 55 per cent electronic gadgets made by China. These include cellphones, TV sets, Bluetooth devices, toys and sundry other products. Even Chinese-made textiles have flooded Indian market. Most of the idols sold in India during Holi, Diwali and Janmashtami are made in China. Nearly 35 per cent decoration products come from China.
For China, India is a huge market. If we stop buying Chinese products, we can teach China a lesson. Even the US has realized this and President Donald Trump has imposed steep tariff on Chinese products to make them unviable in American markets.
Will Yunus be dethroned in Bangladesh?
In Bangladesh, the army and the interim chief of government Mohammed Yunus are now at loggerheads. Bangladesh army has demanded that Yunus must hold early parliamentary elections and hand over power to an elected government. Indirectly, the message has gone that Yunus should pack up his bags soon.
The reason: Yunus government wants to open a Rohingya humanitarian corridor with Myanmar to provide safe passage to Rohingya refugees to enter Bangladesh. His government has also granted Elon Musk’s satellite broadband system Starlink to operate in Bangladesh.
The army says, both these decisions are dangerous to national security. An army spokesperson said, a corridor to Myanmar would not be allowed at any cost and Starlink will not be allowed to operate.
This confrontation has come at a time when Begum Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party has demanded early elections, but Yunus wants to carry on with his interim government till next year. Yunus was appointed head of interim government, after the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s government, with the consent of Bangladesh army, but now Yunus has made his objective quite clear. He doesn’t want to quit easily. He will continue to change deadlines for elections, but the people of Bangladesh have lost patience.
Now that the army is against him, the path is now open for a direct confrontation.