The press interview of Indian politician Satya Pal, who was the last Governor of Indian Occupied Kashmir before it was broken into two Union territories after the abolition of its special status under article 370 of the Indian Constitution, is explosive, and portrays Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a garish light. Mr Pal told Wired’s Karan Thapar, how Mr Modi almost took India to war over the Phulwama incident. He disclosed he was told by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to keep quiet about the refusal of the Home Ministry to provide a plane for the CRPF soldiers killed in the road, the failure to man the roads where a car with 300 lbs of RDX explosive wandered for days, and the intelligence lapse which left the vehicle undetected. Mr Pal agreed that, as soon as the incident happened, Mr Modi had decided to blame Pakistan.It has been alleged that the attack was staged by the Indian government for this purpose. Mr Pal’ disclosures support this allegation, or else it shows the Indian forces as incompetent indeed.
Mr Modi seems to have two things in mind. First was the general election he faced later that year. He appeared ready to risk the peace of South Asia, and run the risk of a war with a nuclear-armed Pakistan, just to boost his electoral chances. By blaming Pakistan for this incident, he also hoped to isolate Pakistan internationally, building its reputation as a sponsor of terrorism, and specifically build pressure for FAQTF to blacklist it, or at least keep it on its grey list. It was only the desire of Pakistan’s leadership for peace that prevented war, when they returned the pilot of the MiG 21 shot down while attacking Pakistan.
Mr Pal has disclosed nothing new, though his confirmation of facts that had been circulating already was useful. It should not be forgotten that Mr Modi’s actions were not just inspired by a desire to win elections, but also by a visceral hatred of Muslims, and thus Pakistan. Pakistan needs to be wary because Modi faces elections again, and there is no sign that his second term has instilled in him the responsibility that his first clearly didn’t. The risk was not just to the 1.7 billion people of the two countries, but because of the global nuclear winter caused by a nuclear exchange between the two, all the 7.8 billion people on earth.
