“Modi can strike and  inflict casualties, allow continued conflict and win elections on the one hand, or give Imran a week’s time to handover the trio of Salahuddin, Masood and Hafeez, dismantle all camps and a genuine agreement on the three critical issues, and then strike as per plan,  if Imran Khan is unable to deliver. This would deprive him of the alibi that he would have, if  given a chance.”

Recently, in response to the tough call for a strong action against the perpetrators of the Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy by an explosive laden, vehicle borne,  suicide bomber of Jaish e Mohammed, a Bahawalpur, Pakistan based terrorist organization, leaving 33 of the CRPF men martyred, Imran Khan, the Pakistani Prime Minister has appealed to India to give peace a chance.

India has been  more than fair, transparent and patient in so far as giving a chance is concerned over the past almost three decades

In doing so, India has repeatedly given information about numerous incidents carried out by the various terrorist organizations based in PoK and Pakistan, viz the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Lashkar e Taiba and the Jaish e Mohammad and sought necessary legal action against the named wanted persons as well as moved the UN Security Council to declare them as wanted/banned terrorist persons/ organizations, but due to denial by Pakistan and being supported by China not much success was achieved resulting in continued terrorist attacks and thousands of innocent civilian and security forces persons losing their lives.

The incidents conducted by these organizations have been evidently clear cases of terror as seen in the incidents carried out by the terrorists belonging to these organizations at Akshardhaam, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Indian Parliament in New Delhi, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama. In fact when evidence was sought by Pakistan,  India gave sufficient, well documented dossiers of evidence especially for the Parliament attack and Mumbai attacks. In these cases India went to the extent of giving both technical evidence and documentary evidence some of it being sourced from neutral third country.

In case of Pathankot incident the Modi Government went beyond all past precedents across the world, to invite Pakistani investigation teams to the site of incident for early onsite evidence collection from  an Air Force base, a confidential layout location, at the cost of inviting criticism by the civilian population and certain quarters of the Security forces, under the hope that Pakistan would honor its  commitment and demonstrate fair and transparent legal action against the perpetrators of that attack, however, such hopes were bellied.

On the other hand it was more than evidently clear that the responsibility for all these terrorist attacks lay across Indian borders as the leaders and headquarters of all those terrorist organizations carrying out terror attacks in India were on Pakistani side.

Moreover those organizations had repeatedly themselves claimed responsibility of such terror attacks justifying them as jehadi actions.  Pervez Musharraf and other leaders on numerous occasions had admitted having raised, financed, trained and armed these terrorist organizations. In fact they claimed them as strategic assets.

The tasking, coordination and monitoring of the terrorist actions of these organizations by the Pakistani ISI and well established support to them by the Pakistani Army in housing them at their border outposts both before and after infiltration as well as fire support and bombardment to assist their infiltration into Indian side and exfiltration back was admitted and confessed by both the terrorists and the Pakistani forces on number of occasions and has been well known.

The visit by Pakistani senior Army officers including the self-confessed visit by Pervez Musharraf in Kargil before occupation by them prior to the Kargill conflict if 1999 is well documented.

That Azhar Masood, the Chief of Jaish e Mohammed was a terrorist and was in Indian jail, and was sought to be released by the terrorist hijackers of the Indian aircraft was enough proof of him being an important terrorist leader and that after release he-established Jaish e Mohammad and continues to engage in masterminding terror attacks in India, most of which were self claimed by his organization are enough evidence of his continued terrorist activities at large scale using the Pakistani soil repeatedly, a violation of assurance given to India by Pakistani Government. A similar trend continues to be followed by the Lashkar e Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Even after the Pulwama attack, almost on every day basis the terrorist attacks as well as incidents of cross border firing from Pakistani side towards Indian side are continuing even while Imran Khan is pleading for a chance for peace. This dilutes his credibility and genuineness on one hand and his ability to control either his Armed Forces, Pakistani ISI or the terrorist organizations.

His actions to take control of the Bahawalpur camp of Jaish e Mohammad on the pretext of providing safety to so called students further dents his credibility and genuineness of his actual intentions.

Imran Khan has a very critical and onerous duty to perform and that is to honestly weigh avoidable suffering to his millions of innocent population who may become victims of violence inadvertently on one hand and protect the rogue elements whose time has come in any way.

The world opinion is against terror, it is against mass killings by terror groups operating out of Pakistani soil, the irreversible clamor for retribution among the billions of Indian populations is evident, numerous influential countries and the opposition has been taken into confidence, the intent to take a decisive action has been reiterated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hence Indian action is about to come. Where, when, how much and how will be known as it happens.

In the very narrow keyhole opportunity for reconsideration, the leaders on both sides have that extremely critical opportunity to rise above the normal, usual, common stance and emerge as a global statesman and leader who could take the highest degree of risk of personal indulgence.

Modi can strike and  inflict causalities, allow continued conflict and win elections on the one hand, or give Imran a week’s time to handover the trio of Salahuddin, Masood and Hafeez, dismantle all camps and a genuine agreement on the three critical issues, and then strike as per plan,  if Imran Khan is unable to deliver. This would deprive him of the alibi that he would have, if  given a chance.

Imran has a choice to offer the trio, destruction of camps and a genuine agreement on critical issues, which may earn him the wrath of his people and the Army but give Pakistan a lasting solution and an opportunity to improve the health of its economy and the wellbeing of its population or be guided by the past and by its Army Commanders and risk heavy casualties of both Armed forces, terrorists and may be some innocent civilians, which will eventually earn him ridicule by history certainly. His position is precarious as he is between the devil and deep sea,  something like that of  Lt. Gen AAK Niazi in East Pakistan in 1971. Niazi earned the reputation of a person who surrendered but earned the blessings from the families of more than a lakh families. We wish both leaders the best and hope that they emerge as leaders of substance and not rhetoric. Remember  my dictum “Nation First Character Must”.

Let the Nation win not the people and let posterity remember you respectfully as Statesman of Global order.

I, as a veteran,  have volunteered to rejoin and serve my motherland in a manner desired out of me by my  leaders. Jai Hind.

(The author, a  former Additional Director General of Rashtriya Rifles, has served six tenures in counter terrorist areas, commanded two Counter Terrorist Battalions and is the only officer to have received three citations . He holds unbroken record for academic and operational excellence as well as long term planning for the Indian Army)