Pakistan’s establishment is now hoping to use water as a means of focusing international attention to the India-Pakistan squabble and use this as an excuse for third party involvement in the region.
Water is a good way to grab international attention, especially at a time when climate change is a world-wide concern.
Analysts in India believe that with Kashmir no longer a headline-grabber, Pakistan’s establishment is now hoping to use water as a means of focusing international attention to the India-Pakistan squabble and use this as an excuse for third party involvement in the region.
The agenda to make water a major issue between the two countries is being dictated by the anti-India terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and above all Jamaat-u-Dawa (JuD) leader Hafiz Saeed.
According to former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, “It is not Pakistan goverment so much as the LeT and Jaish who are raising the water bogey. The politicians have only taken off from them.” He believes the anti-India groups realise that it is easier to grab international attention and public sympathy with water. The Kashmir issue has been flogged enough since Independence to stir the common Pakistani.
Officials privately agree that Pakistan is keeping its ammunitions dry to use the water issue whenever it is required to impress the international community that “big bully” India is taking away precious resources from the people of Pakistan and building dams to slow down the flow of water to Pakistan.
At a huge rally organised in March by JuD, which India alleges is a front for LeT, Hafiz Saeed thundered against India’s “water terrorism”. He said by water aggression India wants to starve and disintegrate Pakistan. He urged Pakistan’s rulers to stop India’s attempts.
Hafiz Saeed, who India regards as the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks, was wildly cheered by farmers when he blasted New Delhi for “stealing” water meant for Pakistan.
Hafiz Saeed clearly hopes to combine the old issue of Kashmir with the more emotive water issue to create a major anti-India backlash among ordinary Pakistanis.
The fact that the government won’t ignore these sentiments was made amply clear by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Quereshi who raised the pitch on water during visits to his home town in Punjab. But on Tuesday, when Quereshi was asked about water while announcing talks between India and Pakistan on July 15, he emphasised that people in the country should avoid wasting water.
In the past one year, Pakistan has consistently been raising the water bogey mainly because shortage of water has become a major political issue in the country.
“Retired army generals in Punjab grab huge tracts of farm land that consume enormous quantity of water. Punjab is in no position to share with other provinces. So the best way out is to blame India,” retired secretary in the Indian Foreign Service KC Singh said.
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