advertisement
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim & Mohd Irshad Alam
Camera: Abhishek Ranjan
Pakistan got itself into a near-war situation with the conventionally superior and nuclear-armed India, but that's hardly where its problems end.
From separatist insurgencies to irate neighbours, on at least seven important fronts, Imran Khan's 'Naya Pakistan' is under a lot of pressure.
Two days after the Pulwama attack, Iran issued a statement that more or less supported the Indian line on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Iran’s Major General Jafari was referring to the militia called 'Army of Justice'. It's an anti-Iran terror group based in Pakistan that has bombed buses killing Iran's armed forces personnel, and abducted their border guards multiple times in the past.
Iran claims that these militias are backed by Saudi Arabia and given cover in Pakistan.
Sound familiar?
The Afghan army is baying for the Pakistan Army's blood, and the Afghan government isn't pleased either.
In January, it took Pakistan to the UN for its attempt to host the Taliban for peace talks. In February, Afghanistan wrote to the UN AGAIN saying the Pakistani military was "interfering" in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
In 2017, there was a deadly border skirmish between the two armies – Pakistan claimed it responded to ‘unprovoked firing’ by the Afghans and killed 50 Afghan soldiers, while Afghanistan claimed it lost only two of their own and killed four Pakistani soldiers.
Sound familiar?
This area is an integral part of the CPEC project. Balochi fighters released a video just a few days before the Indian air strike in Balakot which shows their ambush on a Pakistani convoy. In recent weeks, more than 15 Pakistani security forces personnel were killed in attacks by Balochi fighters.
- The Loralai attack, in which two Frontier Corps personnel were killed
- Dera Ismail Khan attack, in which four police personnel were killed
- Turbat attack, where 9 were killed on CPEC route
...that's to name a few. The Baloch separatist movement wants liberation of the western part of their province from Pakistan. Activists claim that the province has been deliberately kept poor by the state and its resources are being plundered to fund the wealthier Punjab province.
Pakistan is facing major civil unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Pashtun Protection Movement.
Its largely peaceful rallies regularly attract thousands despite a total media blackout by the Pakistan government. The government has even gone so far as to censor an NYT article accusing the Pakistani Army of carrying out forced disappearances, kidnappings and killings of ethnic Pashtun activists.
The activists want an end to extrajudicial killings, to forced disappearances, end to racial profiling of Pashtuns, and for the government to clear landmines in tribal areas.
The Pakistan army has been heavy-handed in the face of a Sindhi separatist movement.
In January, protesters took out an anti-Pakistan march, alleging the abduction and killing of Sindhi activists by Pakistani security forces. Shafi Burfat, exiled leader of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), a separatist group, said in January:
Burfat used all of these protests to call attention to Pakistan's brutality in the form of torture of Sindhi activists, abductions and killings. He has even called on the international community, including India to 'demolish' the Pakistani state but to spare civilians and Sindhudesh.
This disputed region has seen protests from its majority Shiite population against the China-sponsored CPEC project, against land grabs and against demographic change.
There were clashes here in 2018 over a Pakistan government order that wanted to strip the region of its autonomous status and bring it under the purview of the Pakistani state as a fifth province. Police had to resort to air firing and tear gas to disperse protesters who were heading to the Assembly for a sit-in.
Pakistan is reeling from a severe debt crisis and PM Imran Khan has openly said the country is desperate for money. It has reached out to China and Saudi Arabia for urgent help. Saudi Arabia has given about $26 billion in loans, oil payment deferments and investments. China is being tight-lipped about how much it has given.
Meanwhile, the IMF refuses to serve up yet another loan without full transparency about Pakistan's finances
With all of this going on, Pakistan could hardly afford a protracted war with India... and that too so close to the election.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)