Pakistan and Shia-Sunni Alliances of the Muslim World

Here the word “Alliance” would not be used in its true diplomatic meaning; instead the “agreement” and “alliance” shall be used interchangeably.

Soon after her creation in 1947, Pakistan faced conflicts on its borders with Afghanistan (over Durand Line), India, and in Kashmir. Afghanistan was not ready to admit the Durand Line as the boundary between the two countries. To face these challenges, Pakistan needed strong alliances. In early 1950s, Pakistan started a long-term relationship with USA and Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan made a historic visit to USA. This forced Afghanistan to seek aid from the Soviet Union. Due to Kashmir issue, India did not have cordial relations with Pakistan and therefore, India too found itself inclined towards the Soviet Union. Thus both India and Afghanistan found a common ground for cooperation.

In 1961-62 Daud Khan was prime minister of Afghanistan when the Pashtunistan movement (or rather crisis) reached its pinnacle. Tensions rose so high that Pakistan closed the Afghan Transit route. Pakistan Air Force launched air strikes into the FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas) and also arranged for a mega show of firepower in Jamrud in 1962. Royal Afghan Air Force was quite well-equipped in the 1961-62 but surprisingly they did not come to the help of FATA tribes (or not in substantial numbers). The crisis situation ended through the mediation of Shah of Iran between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Rohingyas, Myanmar and Pakistan

Before the arrival of Islam in the Indian sub-continent, the main religions in the region were Hinduism and Buddhism. In those times, Buddhism was burgeoning and gathering mass acceptance as shown by the rampant statues and monasteries in Bamian (Afghanistan), Swat and Taxila (Pakistan). Hindu leaders must have been seriously concerned about the rise of Buddhism. The first major clean-up operation against Buddhism in the India in recorded history is the attack by the Hun barbarians. They damaged and destroyed Buddhist monasteries but damage to the Hindu temples is not mentioned to be excessive which alludes to the possibility of Huns acting as mercenaries. The very fact that Buddhists had taken refuge in far away and hardly-accessible valleys like Bamian and Swat shows that they were facing a threat of survival.

After the arrival of Islam in the Indian sub-continent, no major confrontation occured between Muslims and Buddhists. They could have been potential allies too. The Buddhists remained safe in their far-flung sanctuaries of Tibet, Sikkim, Myanmar, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Things started to change during the British East India Company's colonization of India. Myanmar, Tibet and Sikkim were all invaded. In 1772, Bhutanese and British troops clashed in Bengal with a treaty signed in 1774. Sikkim was perhaps the only Indian state with Buddhism as state religion. In the Sikkim expedition of 1888, Tibet lost its suzerainty over Sikkim. Later on Sikkim was annexed into India. Myanmar's Buddhist kings had many border issues with British India and in a series of wars starting in 1824, they lost almost all of their country to the British East India Company. Buddhist kingdoms were faced with a survival threat.

Sacred Corners of the Indian Triangle

If we imagine the Indian peninsula as a giant traingle, then its three corners would be Kashmir to the North-West, Arunachal Pradesh to the North-East and the Southern Cap as the third corner. Historically the Hindus of India have imparted great importance to these three corners as if these were “the sacred corners of India”. Indians have tried throughout the ages to keep these three sacred corners as independent territories. The Muslim conquerors of India (both Delhi kings and Mughals) mainly concentrated on the Northern plains. Mughals did annex Kashmir but the other two corners remained out of reach for them. Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled from 1658 to 1707) led military expeditions in the South and in the North-East and brought (temporarily) huge tracts under his control but at that time the Mahrattas had established a barrier in the Central-India against any expansion to the Southern most tip. Let us examine this “sacred corners theory” in a little detail.

Winning Wars Through Miracles

I was in 7^th grade in 1991 when the first Gulf war started. Allied air forces were targeting Iraqi military with all their precision guided munitions in conjunction with latest target acquisition systems. I was traveling to Peshawar in public transport and heard people discussing the war. They were saying confidently that due to the shrine of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani RA in Baghdad (Iraq), the US and Allied bombs are not exploding. They believed in the miracles. Later on, we came to learn that Iraqi military has been expelled from Kuwait and now Allies are going into Iraq itself and that Iraqis have suffered serious losses. People of low development have shown such behaviour in almost all parts of the world, regardless of their religion. Belief in miracles, witchcraft and superstition induce naive and credulous men to become cannon fodder. A General does not depend upon miracles for success of his campaign. He calculates and plans for everything that he needs to have before going to the battle. One reason that the mutinies and numerous armed movements of the Indian Muslims against the British power in India (1757-1947) did not succeed is that calculating and experienced British Generals were fighting against locals led by priests (or baba), pirs and fakirs (a hermit) who relied upon miracles and divine intervention for success. Lets take a tour of the military history for some case studies.

Kamikaze Winds of Japan

The China-Japan enmity is perhaps as old as the civilization of China itself. Towards the end of the 13^th century, when the Mongol prince Kublai Khan had become the King of China, he prepared an expedition against Japan. A great naval fleet was sent towards Japan but due to strong storm winds, the whole Chinese fleet was dispersed and Japan could not be conquered. Interesting, this happened once again, hurricanes preventing the Chinese fleet from landing on Japan. Japanese called these as “heaven-sent or Kamikaze” brought by the God of Wind. Later on during the Second World War, the name Kamikaze was given to the pilots flying suicide missions against US Naval fleet, giving them a divine aspect. It was of course a desperate measure and could not turn the tide of the war.

Prospects of Civil Nuclear Explosions in Pakistan

On 18 May 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in the Rajhistan desert which was labeled as peaceful explosion (for civil applications). In short, nuclear explosive was tested as a super dynamite for mega projects of the civil engineering. Prior to the test of India, almost all nuclear powers had considered using nuclear explosions for civil engineering mega projects. With the adoption of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), all nuclear testing has been banned, whether military or civil. As both India and Pakistan have still not signed/ratified the CTBT, they can at least theoretically conduct nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes.

Another international treaty to consider is the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In fact Article 5 of NPT allows peaceful nuclear explosions (for adhering countries without nuclear arms) [1]. But as India had not signed NPT, it had to face sanctions. Although announced as a peaceful test, it triggered a strong reaction from the nuclear states. Soon after the Indian test of 18 May 1974, nuclear states formed Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which was initially known as London Club. NSG aimed to control and regulate the export of nuclear-related technologies.

Nuclear explosions can be used to make artificial lakes for hydroelectric power stations, to blow open Thar coal mines, Iron ore mines in Swat and many other mineral mines in Balochistan. They can be used to build deep sea ports on the Sindh / Balochistan coast and also to build large canals from the coast to the Inland cities. These canals can also be linked to inland submarine bases for the Navy submarine fleet. Belgium is known for its long canals from the coast to the inland cities like Brugge. During the WW-I, German Navy used this canal system to hide its submarines in the inland bases of Belgium.

Tackling Extremism in Pakistan

The turbulent and tumultuous history of the Indian subcontinent has given it unique characteristics. From the numerous invasions from the North, the religious movements, conflicts between races and religions, the colonization by the British, the uprising against the British in 1857, and the freedom movement of 1947 to India-Pakistan wars, the Kashmir issue, the Soviet Afghan war, and the recent US/NATO Afghan war, all have left their marks and have shaped the society in a way where the extremist behaviour is dominant. Pakistan, being financially and militarily weaker than the bigger India, is more prone to extremism. Lets look at some of the elements that contribute to the promotion of extremism in Pakistani society and then the strategy to contain it. Although extremism starts right from the cradle, lets start with the educational institutions.

Syllabus of Government Schools and Colleges

The educational syllabus in the government sector schools and colleges of Pakistan does not promote thinking, analysis, brain-storming and research. Memorizing and cramming remain the main mode of learning. Apart from a syllabus that curbs the creativity and discourages unbiased analysis, the students are beaten into submission through physical punishments. Physical punishments in government schools are so rampant (at least they were in 1990s) that they look almost legal. It is lamentable that such illegal practices are routine in the institutions where the future generations of Pakistan are educated and trained. Some physical punishments were specifically designed to hurt the self-esteem of students. This educational milieu creates a mind-set which is susceptible to develop the extremist tendencies. Social workers, philanthropists, journalists and educationists regularly evoke this issue on different media platforms from time to time but nothing concrete is done. In fact nobody has seriously analysed as to why this is happening. Is it financially beneficial?

Indigenous Air Defence Systems

Air defence is needed for the protection of naval vessels, moving or stationary army units, air force bases and all strategic installations and infrastructure. Air defence units may be based on ground (Surface to Air missile (SAM)) or airborne (air force fighter jets). Both types of units need radars for target detection and tracking. For ballistic missile defence, the radar may even be located in space. Radars are also needed for space surveillance (against spy satellites) like the GRAVES radar of France but the scope here is limited to aerial surveillance only. For those who do not know, radar works in air and space whereas sonar is used underwater (as used by ships and submarines) for surveillance. Surface to Air missiles are mostly conventional weapons although nuclear versions (e.g., Nike Hercules) were also made during the Cold war by super powers.

In order to engage a target or an airspace intruder (aircraft or ballistic/cruise missile), it must first be located and this is the job of surveillance radar. For low-level intrusions, low-level radars are needed if they are on ground. In general, low-level radars have short range and medium-to-high-level radars have long range. A good example of long-range surveillance radar network would be the Canadian NORAD system for providing early warning of Soviet Union's nuclear bombers and ballistic missiles. The low-level shortcoming of the ground-based long-range surveillance radar (due to Earth's Curvature) has been overcome by airborne radars. Once an intruder is located, it is passed on to the nearest tracking radar of a SAM system or the information is relayed to the air force fighters and they pick up the target on their own airborne radars.

Pakistan and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

On 4th February 2005, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan appeared on television and took the entire responsibility of nuclear proliferation activities upon himself. The world media protrayed him like a terror trader and he was held responsible for nuclear proliferation activities (to Iran, Libya, North Korea and offers to Iraq and Syria [1]). 

Numerous articles, books and documentaries (e.g.[5]) appeared on the activities of A.Q.Khan and his network. His confession added more confusion to the issue. He was repeatedly accused of stealing documents from his firm (Urenco) in the Netherlands, using them to manufacture nuclear weapons for Pakistan and then selling it to other countries. 

In reality, Urenco had nothing to do with nuclear weapons. The firm Urenco worked in the civilian domain and made Lightly-Enriched Uranium (LEU) for civil nuclear power plants. A.Q.Khan did not work on nuclear weapons and not even on Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) during his stay in Netherlands. It is HEU that is needed for the nuclear bomb. LEU is used as fuel in light-water nuclear reactors for the generation of electricity. Therefore, even if some documents were copied from this firm, these were not enough to make HEU. LEU and HEU are two worlds apart.