NEW DELHI: Pakistan expert Tilak Devasher said that Pakistan is unable to handle internal insurgency and is blaming India for the ongoing Baloch atrocities to divert attention from its inability to manage the situation.
Devasher pointed out that Pakistan has a history of externalizing its mistakes instead of acknowledging them.
He said, “Pakistan is not able to handle its internal insurgency and has been blaming India and Afghanistan for it.”
While addressing the blame Pakistan has placed on India for the ongoing situation of the Baloch people, he added, “This is just an excuse, and they are not able to tackle the situation, so they are blaming India.”
The Baloch insurgency has been ongoing since 2003, and Pakistan hasn’t been able to control it. Devasher pointed out that the main issue lies within the Pakistan Army, suggesting that they either lack the capability to manage the situation or they deliberately choose not to do so.
“For the last 2.5 years, the Taliban government has been in power and they have been harboring the Taliban for 20 years now; there is no such influence on them. So how can they blame India for it…? The basic problem is that the army is not able to control this situation. Either they don’t have the potential to do it or they don’t want to do it, neither with TTP nor the Baloch,” he said.
Devasher mentioned the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, explaining that Pakistan is pressuring the Taliban as they believe the Taliban isn’t cooperating.
“They said that the Taliban is not cooperating with us, so to put pressure on the Taliban, they have pushed out 8.7 million undocumented Afghans from their country in these harsh winters,” he said, reiterating, “But the problem is with the Pakistan Army.”
He also noted that the Pakistan Army wanted to keep this information hidden, but it’s now been exposed. When asked if the worldwide concerns and protests would affect Pakistan, Devasher said, “Yes, of course.”
He also said, “Baloch people who are currently settled in London, the US, Germany, and New York, whenever they protest, people will get to know what exactly the issue is and why these people are protesting in this bitter cold.”
“It will definitely impact Pakistan, but we still have to see how much it will impact the media and the politicians,” he added.
Regarding the upcoming Pakistani general elections on February 8, he said that the Pakistani army is trying to ensure that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan does not contest the elections, raising concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.
“The Pakistani army is trying to ensure that Imran Khan does not contest the elections and the PTI does not get enough seats; this is one of their strategies,” he said.
Devasher said, “Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N comes as the single largest party but not with a majority of its own. If there is a coalition or it gets support from smaller parties, then it can be controlled.”
He pointed out that the army has two options to keep Imran Khan out of the elections: “either to hold elections that are not credible or to postpone the elections.” To which he added, “Both of these options are not good.”
Devasher pointed out that Pakistan has a history of externalizing its mistakes instead of acknowledging them.
He said, “Pakistan is not able to handle its internal insurgency and has been blaming India and Afghanistan for it.”
While addressing the blame Pakistan has placed on India for the ongoing situation of the Baloch people, he added, “This is just an excuse, and they are not able to tackle the situation, so they are blaming India.”
The Baloch insurgency has been ongoing since 2003, and Pakistan hasn’t been able to control it. Devasher pointed out that the main issue lies within the Pakistan Army, suggesting that they either lack the capability to manage the situation or they deliberately choose not to do so.
“For the last 2.5 years, the Taliban government has been in power and they have been harboring the Taliban for 20 years now; there is no such influence on them. So how can they blame India for it…? The basic problem is that the army is not able to control this situation. Either they don’t have the potential to do it or they don’t want to do it, neither with TTP nor the Baloch,” he said.
Devasher mentioned the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, explaining that Pakistan is pressuring the Taliban as they believe the Taliban isn’t cooperating.
“They said that the Taliban is not cooperating with us, so to put pressure on the Taliban, they have pushed out 8.7 million undocumented Afghans from their country in these harsh winters,” he said, reiterating, “But the problem is with the Pakistan Army.”
He also noted that the Pakistan Army wanted to keep this information hidden, but it’s now been exposed. When asked if the worldwide concerns and protests would affect Pakistan, Devasher said, “Yes, of course.”
He also said, “Baloch people who are currently settled in London, the US, Germany, and New York, whenever they protest, people will get to know what exactly the issue is and why these people are protesting in this bitter cold.”
“It will definitely impact Pakistan, but we still have to see how much it will impact the media and the politicians,” he added.
Regarding the upcoming Pakistani general elections on February 8, he said that the Pakistani army is trying to ensure that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan does not contest the elections, raising concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.
“The Pakistani army is trying to ensure that Imran Khan does not contest the elections and the PTI does not get enough seats; this is one of their strategies,” he said.
Devasher said, “Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N comes as the single largest party but not with a majority of its own. If there is a coalition or it gets support from smaller parties, then it can be controlled.”
He pointed out that the army has two options to keep Imran Khan out of the elections: “either to hold elections that are not credible or to postpone the elections.” To which he added, “Both of these options are not good.”
