ramana wrote:RajeshA, The Khakees got primacy for two reasons right from the beginging. Shaukat Hayat quoted by Ian Talbott says that the "The large West Punjab Muslim contingent in the Britsh Indian Army is a major reason for the Partition." IOW the Brits would not have decided on Partition but for the large armed forces component from that region. And the military knows that, they are one of the large unstated reasons for the Partition award.
Despite this the ball was snatched from their hands by the Civvies(claiming Muslim League etc got the award) right after Partition. Hence to get the primacy back they created the Kashmir issue so they are in the front seat and sometimes the driver seat. having taken the driver seat under Ayub khan and his ilk, the Army has became a vested interest in TSPA.
In TSP its Military-Civil Relations and not the other way around since 1947.
Ramana,
I find your explanation very convincing. So, historically speaking PA is a kind of rogue faction of British Indian Army.
I saw a bollywood movie on Bhagat Singh or Netaji(dont remember exactly) which depicts that one of the major reasons for the Brits getting ready to declare independence was their apprehension about the loyalty(or lack of it) of the British Army. Also, the Indian soldiers of British Army were inspired by the INA(formed by Netaji) and incensed at the shabby treatment meted out to them as prisoners of war.
So, the army(or more precisely the loyalty of indian soldier) which was the major tool in the hands of the brits in controlling the vast India had also played a decisive role in Independence struggle of India.
It just reiterates the history lesson that the one who controls the army, earns the right to rule.
People keep talking about rogue factions within Pakistan/PA/ISI. But, it seems like the entire PA is a kind of rogue faction of British Indian Army patronized by the brits. It seems that the PA has never grown out of this need for a maibaap. They keep searching for a new maibaap(patronizer) who would look after their needs, give them sense of self-respect by treating them as superior to the Hindus(they dont seem to have any inkling that self-respect can be had independent of bossing around on the Hindus), wink at their naughty deeds towards the Hindus, support and defend them when they put themselves in a tight corner.
Amirkhans played this role to a T. It was a match made in Heaven(or Hell, to an Indian).
I dont know what motivates the Amirkhan thinking. Let me imagine myself in Amirkhan shoes and try to understand their motivations.
We(Amirkhans) needed a vassal in this area who would do our bidding, without any moral, legal, social or political hesitations. There were 3 options: India, China and Pakistan.
There is little doubt that China, the neighbor of Soviet Union, had to be cultivated. But, China turned into a commie nation and as such was always a suspect. It can be used but not to be relied upon.
India was a good prospect, a promising one. A very vital geo-political location(land and seas), markets, raw-materials, and population(waiting to be exploited in various ways). There is little doubt that without the control of India, brits would never have been a force. And they will be relegated to the dustbin, now that they have lost the control of India. It was the reason we(Amirkhans) were very keen on the independence of India from the clutches of brits.
So, India is a good prospect as vassal. However, the commie talk of the regime and its tilt towards Soviet Union was disheartening(if not enraging). Their moral pretensions(going to the extent of trying to imagine themselves as morally superior and then trying to lecture us) got on one's nerves(especially since they were weak). Maybe, they dreamed of ancient times when they had a civilization going before they were defeated and subjugated by all and sundry. Anyway, such attitude is not appreciable and needs rectification. Perhaps, the solution lay in slicing and dicing India, given its size and population(which hopefully will be achieved in due course). Then, more manageable parts which will gladly play ball. Just look at the pakistan that is so eager to be the vassal.
Aha, Pakistan! Not a bad country at all. Manageable size and population. The regime(specially the army fellows) are perfect and pliant. The population is also exclusively Muslim unlike India with its various races. And therefore, India will have to be sliced into smaller parts. Churchill was right, India is not a country anyway. And muslim pakistan will make better allies than hindus of India, that is until India is properly divided with each race with its independent country . At any rate, the alliance of the martial races of pakistan will be very useful. They will do our(Amirkhan) job and perhaps will expect some favours(cash and kind). That is ok. There are no free lunches. Let them quote their price and then let them do our task.
What is their price?
Kashmir!
Hmm...! Why not?!
We(Amirkhans) are thinking of cutting India into smaller pieces anyway. Why not reward one piece to our allies?! Of course, they should not expect free lunches either.
First things first, lets arm the pakis. It is amazing how cheap it is to arm them! Of course, they will use the newly acquired arms to wrest Kashmir for themselves...which will perhaps, start a disintegration of India into smaller manageable states.
What is it? China gobbled Tibet? The bloody chinese are expanding. And they are commies... Not good. But, we need to cultivate them against the Soviets. Lets find some way out.
China attacked India?! The Mao wants to gobble parts of India too? No way! We cant allow that. Help India take on these commies.
So, China and India have a feud. Well, we need to balance them both. We need China against the Soviets. We need India until we can get hold of it in some manner. Pakis can help us deal with the Indians. We also need to find a way to make the chinese rollback from Tibet.
BTW, India is bruised by the chinese, this is the right time for the pakis to launch an attack and get their reward(kashmir).
Pakis failed to get kashmir?!
Even after all the support we provided them?! Hmm, hindus may not be as weak as we imagined. Or maybe the pakis were just unlucky.
What, pakjabis are genociding the bengalis? Why?
So, Bengalis want to rule pakistan(through democracy) and the pakjabis are opposed to it. Well, its an internal matter. And moreover, we are quite comfortable with the present regime in Pakistan. So, no sympathies with the bengalis. Pakjabis should not be genociding their own people, but maybe its a cultural thing.
Why is India making the noise if pakis genocide themselves? Nonsense! We dont believe what these Indians say, they are just using an excuse to vilify the pakis. Anyway, Indians should just shut up and put up until the pakis settle their internal squabbles.
What the hell? Indians want to start a war on east-pakistan? Why are these Indians suddenly behaving so uppity? Well, warn them that no non-sense will be tolerated. BTW, cant the pakis just teach a lesson to the Indians, if they start a war(after all, we have armed them sufficiently)? Oh, so east-pakistan is vulnerable, ok. Fine, warn India to behave and the pakis also need to quickly deal with this issue(of bengalis) without stretching it.
(...will continue later)
and use of such language should be completely banned.
