Organized Propaganda Campaign against Pakistan

By Sajjad Shaukat

If we take note of the US strategy about Pakistan in the past few years, we observe that American policy goals are quite unclear, as America follows a double game. Sometimes, US top officials admire Pak Army’s action against the Taliban militants including arrests of the top Al Qaeda commanders by Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), sometimes, they revive their blame game, ISI allegedly linking it with the Haqqani network, sometimes they accuse that Al Qaeda Shura has been operating from Pakistan, sometimes, they misconceive that Pak nukes are not safe, and sometimes, they held Pakistan responsible for extremism and cross-border terrorism. When in the recent past, Pakistan’s armed forces broke the backbone of the militants by achieving successes against the ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb, and particularly cleared the areas of North Waziristan Agency (NWA), while restoring peace in Balochistan and Karachi, the US high officials and those of other countries highly appreciated Pakistan’s war on terror.

The fact of the matter is that US has been acting upon a twofold diplomacy towards Pakistan.  In this context, based in Afghanistan, secret agencies such as American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad have perennially been destabilizing Pakistan through subversive acts which have again started in Pakistan, because it is the only nuclear state in the Islamic World. Washington which signed an agreement of civil nuclear technology with New Delhi also wants to counterbalance China by India. Therefore, CIA and Mossad and RAW have continuously been assisting the Baloch separatist groups and Baloch Sub Nationalists to conduct subversive acts—and using terrorist elements in Balochistan to threaten Chinese interest in the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, Afghanistan has become a hub from where  these external secret agencies have been funding and arranging subversive activities in other parts of Pakistan—especially in Balochistan through their affiliated militant groups at the cost of Pakistan, China and Iran. In the past few years, they abducted and killed many Chinese and Iranian nationals in Pakistan.

In fact, overtly, American high officials remark that they seek stability in Pakistan, but covertly, they continue to destabilize it, especially with the assistance of India. Indo-US lobbies which are well-penetrated in the US administration, think tanks and universities leave no stone unturned in continuing their endless propaganda against Pakistan.

In this respect, as part of the organized propaganda campaign against Pakistan, Georgetown University of the US has launched ‘Georgetown India Initiative’, a forum with the stated aim to strengthen research, teaching, and outreach to India.’ Scholars across Georgetown’s Main Campus, Medical Center, and Law Center explore multidisciplinary issues related to India, and faculty collaborations with institutions on the subcontinent are increasing. In addition to these partnerships, Georgetown students and scholars have the opportunity to engage with key policy institutions and cultural centers in Washington, D.C., which enhance their work related to India. In 2011, Georgetown hosted the first U.S.-India Higher Education Summit. 

Although ‘Georgetown India Initiative’ aims to create a platform for high-level dialogue among American and Indian leaders from government, business, the academy, and society which acknowledges political and ideological divides, while promoting mutual understanding and collaboration, yet its main purpose is to distort the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations. Hence, Irfan Nooruddin, a highly biased scholar of Indian origin, who closely associates himself with C. Christine Faire has been appointed as its director. Reportedly, the forum has been established with the total funding of around US $ 10 million of which large part is known to have come through the Indian diaspora, while a part of it has been funded by US administration. Contrary to the natural objective of fostering closer partnership between America and India, it organized an event titled ‘Re-imagining Pakistan’ on 27 Jan 2016. It featured Pakistan’s most loud critics in the town including Christine Faire and former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani. This event which was co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program via the ‘Georgetown India Initiative’ and the Mortara Center for International Studies clearly reflects that the forum is being used as a vehicle to undermine Pakistan through Christine Faire and Husain Haqqani.

It is notable that on January 13, 2016, Farahnaz Ispahani, the wife of Husain Haqqani was invited by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), RAW affiliated think tank in New Delhi to launch her newly written book titled ‘Purifying the Land of the Pure–Pakistan’s Religious Minorities’. A good number of Indian foreign analysts, diplomats, retired defence and intelligence officers attended the launch ceremony. Highlighting the plight of minorities in Pakistan, Indian participants mainly focused on Pakistan’s identity and argued that national identity for Pakistan was not Islam, but their being part of Indian civilization was more realistic.

During her presentation, while exaggerating the plight of minorities in Pakistan and targeting the ideology of Pakistan, Farahnaz said that religious minorities are not safe in Pakistan. Following the foreign agenda against Islamabad, Farahnaz Ispahani totally ignored the plight of religious minorities in India. She did not take cognizance of the  facts that since the leader of the ruling party BJP Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India, various developments like unprecedented rise of Hindu extremism, persecution of minorities, forced conversions of other religious minorities into Hindus, ban on beef and cow slaughter, inclusion of Hindu religious books in curriculum etc. clearly show that encouraged by the fundamentalist rulers, Hindu extremist outfits such as BJP, RSS VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena including other similar parties have been promoting religious and ethnic chauvinism in India by propagating ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism).

It is mentionable that Husain Haqqani who also leaves no stone unturned in distorting the image of Pakistan and it armed forces, while showing Pakistan a fundamentalist state in order to please his external masters. As regards Husain Haqqani, while serving as Pakistani ambassador, he was protecting American interests. He had issued visas to many CIA agents like Ramond Davis to weaken Pakistan. Besides, working at various American institutes, Husain Haqqani developed secret liaisons with Indo-Israeli lobbies and became covert element of anti-Pakistan campaign. Particularly, this could be judged from his book, titled, ‘Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military.’ In this book, Husain Haqqani targeted both military and Islamic ideology. While pointing out relationship of the Pak Army and its primary intelligence agency, ISI with the Islamic militants, Haqqani allegedly wrote, “since September 11, 2001, the selective cooperation of Pakistan’s military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf—sharing intelligence with the United States and apprehending Al Qaeda members—have led to the assumption that Pakistan might be ready to give up its long-standing ties with radical Islam.” He advised America, “Washington should no longer condone the Pakistani military’s support for Islamic militants.”

American famous writers and authors exaggeratedly praised the book of Husain Haqqani.as it was in accordance with the hidden agenda and blame game of the US and Indian high officials and their media and which still continue against Pakistan and its security agencies. Especially, Stephen P. Cohen, author of the book, ‘The Idea of Pakistan and The Pakistan Army’ allegedly wrote, “We are in Husain Haqqani’s debt for providing the authoritative account of the linkages between Pakistan’s powerful Islamists and its professional army.”

Moreover, Husain Haqqani also escaped to America to avoid judicial inquiry of the famous memogate issue, which proved his disloyalty to Pakistan.

It is of particular attention that during his briefing to the National Assembly, on January 19, this year, while confirming anti-Pakistan lobbies in the US, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif revealed, “Pakistan is trying to acquire eight F-16 fighter jets from the US on lease, but Husain Haqqani, the former ambassador to the US is campaigning along with India to malign Pakistan and to block delivery of F-16 fighter jets.”

Nonetheless, ‘Georgetown India Initiative at the Georgetown University is part of the organized propaganda campaign of India and the US against Pakistan, which continues unabated.

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com