The Business | EDITORIAL/OPINThursIdaOy , DecN ember 030, 24020 Reminiscing 1971 war Chief Editor Irfan Athar Qazi in the North Arabian Sea MUHAMMAD AZAM KHAN Bangladesh’s claim of genocide of an innovative operational thinking and guish a submarine to be the most cred - E-mail: [email protected] three million as “gigantic rumour”. audacious action by Pakistan Navy ible platform in any naval arsenal. Not he remains of the famous She also dismisses that 93,000 Pak - Submarine Hangor commanded by the only that, in strategic sense too, a sub - [email protected] American naval hero, John istani soldiers were ever in Indian cus - then Commander, late Vice Admiral marine armed with nuclear tipped Paul Jones lie buried at the tody, the figure was much less and Ahmad Tasnim. The submarine torpe - missile is the strongest limb in nuclear Tijarat House, 14-Davis Road, Lahore UnTited States Naval Academy at An - included thousands of non-combat - doed and sank Indian Navy frigate INS triad. In any case, moving up north napolis, Maryland. A Scottish emi - ants, according to Bose. But as if ob - Khukri off Kathiawar coast along and searching for prey, PNS 0423-6312280, 6312480, 6312429, 6312462 grant to British colonies in North sessed to oblige an overbearing Modi’s Gujarat. It was the night of De - HANGOR finally had luck smiling at America, Jones quickly made his neighbour and to sidetrack internal cember 9. This one incident had a it. On December 9, PNS Hangor got a Cell # 0321-4598258 name as a first rate naval officer at the unrest, Hasina’s government is deter - telling psychological impact on the In - breakthrough when two Indian onset of American Revolution in minedly trying to open old wounds by dian Naval mindset. From an overly of - frigates were spotted patrolling in 1775. Later, during an encounter with executing those who opted to side fensive posture, the entire Indian close formation. The targets were the British fleet off Yorkshire, Eng - with Pakistan during the civil war. Western Naval Command withdrew to tracked for considerable period of 1st Floor Ahmed Plaza near Zong Office land in 1779 when asked by opponent This, it does much against the 1974 a defensive position. It also changed the time till about 1900 hours in the Susan Road, Faisalabad, Ph: 041-8555582 if he has surrendered, he delivered his tripartite agreement that embargoes tide of war in the North Arabian Sea in evening. At 1957, PNS Hangor fired immortal reply: “I have not yet begun trials on grounds of clemency and in - favour of Pakistan. To Pakistan’s mis - a homing torpedo at the northerly ship to fight.” The phrase has since guided ternational outcry on the dubious and fortune, close to midnight of 2nd De - in the formation. No explosion was, ISLAMABAD / RAWALPINDI generations of US naval officers. In unfair conduct of trials. For such rea - cember, PNS Hangor detected a large however, heard. At this moment, the N-125 Circular Road, Ph: 051-5551654, 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra sons, many impartial analysts view formation of Indian Navy warships. But Commanding Officer decided to fire 5532761, Cell # 0300-8567331 Modi visited Bangladesh. While ad - the incumbent government in the war had not broken out and the sub - another shot, this time at the ship in KARACHI dressing at Dhaka University, he Bangladesh only as an extension of marine was yet to receive the code the south. After tense five minutes, a 3rd Floor Kehkashan Mall 172-I Block II PECHS blamed Pakistan for spreading terror - India. Dhaka must think hard if it is word for attack. PNS Hangor, there - loud explosion was heard; the torpedo Opp Rehmania Masjid Main Tariq Road ism. Modi reminded the local students really independent and sovereign fore, had no choice except to observe in had found its mark. It was INS Ph: 021-34524550, Cell # 0300-8251534 of how India intervened in today, something it bitterly fought for sheer frustration the lucrative Indian Khukri, the ship of the squadron com - Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war. some 49 years back. targets disappear in distance. There was mander was hit by Hangor’s torpedo. Pronouncing India’s sinister role in Both New Delhi and Dhaka also con - intense exasperation onboard for the Khukri sank within two minutes or so the run up to 16 Dec, 1971, Modi was veniently exclude from their respective command and the crew of PNS taking down the squadron commander only restating the obvious; a fact quite narratives and brutalities committed by HANGOR since as it turned out later, (Captain Mullah) and entire crew of Circular debt well-known and which exists as a their sides. Little do they realise that one of the ships in the formation was 18 officers and 176 sailors onboard. grim chapter in the annals of South opening this can of worms over four INS Mysore, the mighty Indian Navy The sinking of INS Khukri was his - Asian history. The fateful events of decades later, is only a disservice to the cruiser. It would have been one of the tory in the making. It was an epic, the the period have been recounted by region longing for cooperation and po - highest prizes of the war for the coun - only such action following WWII. many of historians, academia, jour - litical stability than further schism. On try, had PNS Hangor been able to take The encounter and destruction also No problems relating to the Independent Power Pro - nalists, but one stands out for its ob - Modi’s part, while in Dhaka he perhaps Mysore down. dealt a nerve shattering blow to the In - ducers (IPPs), especially the always rising circular jectivity. forgot that the fires of intolerance now Nevertheless, after prowling in the dian Navy which threw everything to debt, is going to go away till it orders a forensic audit Dead Reckoning’ by a renowned raging in New Delhi’s own backyard assigned area for number of days the hunt down and destroy PNS Hangor. Indian journalist known as Sharmila under his watch are sending shivers commanding officer of PNS Hangor But as luck would have it, PNS of the entire supply chain of the power sector; begin - Bose; a fellow at the University of across world capitals. Regardless, the took a daring decision. Disregarding Hangor managed to deceive and foil ning with the IPPs themselves, of course. In fact if it Oxford dissects the events in perhaps war in the West broke out on all fronts the norms of war which prohibit any all attempts by the enemy. This in - had done this before signing agreements with them a most dispassionate manner. While the on 03 December. The Indian Navy had radio transmission lest the ship or sub - cluded no less than 150 underwater few months earlier, it would most likely not be in the baleful role India played during the planned at least three if not more, mis - marine gets detected by the adversary. depth charge attacks. PNS Hangor awkward position that their refusal to accept Rs400 December war has been captured by sile attacks on Karachi. These com - The submarine sought permission safely entered home waters in billion over three years has put it in. It is a little sur - Bose, New Delhi’s overblown figures menced with opening salvos fired at from higher shore authority for Karachi. In the words of the former prising; actually, that nobody in the prime minister’s and Bangladesh’s exaggerated claims Karachi harbour on December 4. Only change of previously assigned opera - commanding officer, Admiral Tas - rather large energy team saw this coming, especially of atrocities by Pakistan army are per - two attacks could, however, succeeded. tional area. Stealth and undersea nim, “luck favours the brave who are since they had just promised to make a one-time full suasively rejected. The author spurns The third had to be aborted. Thanks to movement are key factors that distin - willing to take calculated risks”. payment. Now everybody has to listen to their typical excuses all over again, especially that the only reason that they could sell the deal to their respective boards was the lump sum payment guarantee. And now that the government is suddenly going back on its word, ac - Desperate in Dubai cording to them, they would have to take the matter RAFIA ZAKARIA facing problems. Young physicians back to their boards as well as their shareholders, etc. who had been planning to move to Needless to say, of course, that all the time the circular few months ago, The the UAE are facing their own chal - debt keeps multiplying and the IPPs continue to make Guardian ran the story of a lenges given the time-sensitive appli - 30-year-old Pakistani man cation and arrival procedures. Many outrageous profits. named Hassan, one of 99 of those applying ex - These are not just delaying tactics but also amount A Pakistanis who have pected to receive their to blackmailing the government by waving past sover - been stranded in Dubai licences authorising eign guarantees in its face especially when the coun - ever since the pandemic them to practise in try is deep in very troubled negotiations with the began in a largely aban - Dubai in March. Some International Monetary Fund (IMF), of which energy doned labour camp on who had already re - sector reforms are a very crucial part, and the sector is the outskirts of the city. ceived employment of - simply collapsing under the burden of unsustainable They have no money fers in Dubai resigned debt. That is why this newspaper has always called for and no way to return from their jobs in an immediate and complete forensic audit of all IPPs. home. Lately, they have preparation to leave. begun begging for food All of those waiting for The unimaginable figures that make up the circular because they are starv - approved licences had debt are, in fact, completely fictitious and have only ing. At the moment, paid the required fees, served to fatten IPP executives and of course the usual they are at the mercy of passed licensing bunch of politicians that helped them seal such lucra - charitable organisations exams, purchased air tive deals. that are trying to provide for this hap - tickets and spent a significant sum of If only the right steps had been taken at the right less population, still living in the money to become eligible for li - time, the circular debt would never have ballooned squalid and cramped labour camps, cences. Then Covid-19 hit, and into trillions of rupees. Now, as things stand, IPPs have and without the means to live. The everything was up in the air. been able to engineer iron-clad official guarantees that construction company that employed All of those who were undergoing them has largely cut ties with them, the licensing process for Dubai have legally protect their abnormal profits whether we buy meaning there is little if any possibil - been left without answers. As the from them or not. And the only thing the government ity that they will be paid their arrears. months passed, their applications can really do is go ahead with that forensic audit that I had read Hassan’s story when it have expired, meaning that they everybody seems to appreciate the need of yet nobody was first published and was alarmed would have to pay for an entirely new seems willing to press the button, so to speak. Already at the fact that even as late as this au - application, take the exams again, needlessly expensive electricity has not just forced a tumn, these stranded Pakistanis had etc, just to become eligible for the li - lot of people into corruption and stealing it, but also not been able to return to Pakistan. cence. Some attempted to restart the practically priced our industry out of the region’s com - But returning to Pakistan is itself a process in September when travel re - petitive market. The government cannot just sit and complicated issue, not only because strictions were lifted, but things are watch this problem grow like this. Pakistan Tehreek-e- of the pandemic but also because of once again up in the air as the UAE the ways of the middlemen who get recently suspended processing visas Insaf (PTI) should not forget that it made a pretty big young Pakistani men into the Emi - for Pakistani citizens. deal about the circular debt when it was in opposition. rates in the first place. Pakistan’s young people who are Follow up to dossier on Indian mischief The despair and darkness of that in or bound for Dubai are confronting inherently exploitative process, when tremendous challenges in this mo - MUHAMMAD USMAN Indian macabre scheme is not India from within and without from Amendment Act 2019 and revok - combined with the continuing prob - ment. Their stories must serve as a only confined to the fron - what India is doing in its neigh - ing of its 370 and 35-A Articles re - lems caused by the pandemic, were warning for others who are looking to t is the first time tiers of Pakistan. Its mis - bourhood. It is playing with fire lated to IoK manifest this beyond revealed yet again in the responses to go to Dubai. The pandemic has ex - that Pakistan has chief is also equally and fire tends to produce explo - doubt. India is no more a Secular last week’s column that dealt with posed once more the cruelty of labour aggressively un - active abroad. This sions and between two nuclear State but an authoritative state with visas. One of these was from a young supply companies that gather up veIiled an all-encom - could be seen at FATF armed neighbours, a nuclear con - tyranny of Hindu majority. Its en - man from the Upper Dir region in young men who are used as the fuel passing dossier, where it is trying flagration too. Pakistan is a nuclear suing implications for a heteroge - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. that power Dubai’s gaudy skyscrap - containing irrefutable ceaselessly to under - state and has the capability to con - neous country like India needs no A graduate of the University of ers and gluttonous excesses. The cal - evidence of Indian-spon - mine Pakistan’s efforts to front India point blank. Its patience elaboration. This has made India Agriculture in Peshawar, this young lous licensing agencies that have not sored terrorism inside Pak - get out from the grey list. Its is not also inexhaustible. Though virtually a tinderbox. The world man tried his best to find employment provided special concessions for istan. Undoubtedly, this shows the exclusive purpose is economic co - the dossier carries information and could only ignore it at its own per - in Pakistan. Eventually, like many those who have paid for procedures real face of India, masked behind ercion of Pakistan. The evidence of evidence about Indian mischief ils. In tandem with this, the world others in the same situation, he gave and licences are representative of an democracy and secularism. Pak - extensive lobbying by India is too specific to Pakistan but for the sake also needs to be made aware of re - up and decided to move to Dubai. It inhumane mindset that refuses to istan did not mince words to un - obvious to miss out. of regional peace/interests of the sistance of Kashmiri people in was then that he came into contact consider the humanity of those it ex - cover Indian machinations, down Pakistan intends to present world, Pakistan needs to apprise backdrop of Indian occupation, with an agent who was referred to as pects to run its health systems. to tactical levels to destabilise Pak - dossier to UN, OIC and P5 to un - them of what Hindu majority is continuing repression and attempts Ali. Ali’s job is to gather up young In these specific cases is the story istan. Indian objectives are multi - derline dire realization of the threat doing internally to subjugate their to change demography of the area men from all over Pakistan and help of an emirate that used to be rich and faceted: Impede Pakistan’s to peace which India poses to en - minorities. Indian Constitution, after abrogation of 35-A Article of them procure visas to Dubai with the lucrative but is now merely an un - progress towards peace, cause eco - tire region and equally the need to promulgated by Nehru was basi - Indian constitution. promise of getting them well-paying sustainable desert playground for the nomic instability, create political restrain India. Surely, Pakistan cally a façade, being bereft of na - The repression is violence and jobs. To allow him to pay the agent world’s former dictators, political turmoil and trigger chaos in Pak - would also like to remind the world tive egalitarian spirit but somehow violence breeds violence. Pakistan and airfare to Dubai, the women of drifters and the royal family that sits istan. Its brass tacks include diverse about its sovereign right to defend it managed to hold India together. is under obligation to support just his family had to sell all of their gold. atop them all. The oil crash and the strategies/tactics to achieve its ulti - itself in every way possible never - With Nehru’s demise in 1964, it cause of Kashmiri people for their When he arrived in Dubai, Ali and pandemic have revealed Dubai to be mate aim of destabilizing Pakistan. theless, this exercise is not new. started decaying. Now it is rotting right of self-determination. Hope - some of the other agents met them at a place that is devolving. Its inability Indian intelligence agencies are pa - Pakistan also did it in 2015 where it full-blown at the hands of BJP, rid - fully, a narrative, composed of all the airport. They provided him and to promise citizenship to anyone, tronizing terrorist outfits, hostile to presented three similar dossiers to ing on the ideological bandwagon above, would elicit positive re - all the other young men who had ar - even after decades of working in Pakistan namely, TTP, BLA and the UN but to no avail. Underlying of RSS which is the holding com - sponse from the world because it is rived accommodation for a few days. there, is one reason thousands of ex - JuA, flushed out of Pakistan but reason was non-pursuance. Rest, it pany of Hindu supremacism. Basi - also in their interests. There is a Then, they were taken to the com - patriates have chosen to leave after now housed in Afghanistan. They is futile to be talked about. Now cally, it was the personality of definite need to pool up diplo - pany run by Ali and his compatriots. the pandemic. are doing it to the extent of estab - Pakistan has a government which Nehru, not the Constitution which mats/intellectuals who could hold Before long, he was sent off to work Many complain about the com - lishing a consortium between them. shows resolve to guard national in - did the trick. Probably, this was the against the best and employ them at a labour camp. plete lack of social services for the They are busy day and night to fi - terests regardless of what it entails. reason which prompted Zulfiqar imaginatively to trump Indian Even though he had been promised vast population that does not enjoy nance, train and harbour them to Traditionally, world listens to India Ali Bhutto to predict – key of In - diplomatic manoeuvres/sub - a good job for an educated graduate, citizenship, a factor whose signifi - perpetuate terrorism/insurgency in and whatever Pakistan talks, falls dian unity has also gone into Ganga terfuge. Our media has the poten - he was now sent to do manual labour cance has been underscored by the Pakistan. Recent upsurge in vio - on deaf ears. Main reasons are the River with ashes of Nehru. Possi - tial to overhaul Indian media blitz. 12 hours a day, every single day. His pandemic. The only people who will lence in Pakistan is a direct conse - huge Indian consumer market, bly, he saw the rise of Hinduism They need to rise to the occasion. passport and documents are still with be left in Dubai, then, will likely be quence of their intensified diplomatic resourcefulness and soon which happened in 1978. BJP Lastly, our narrative needs to be the labour supply company. He has the completely desperate, and too engagements with them. A clear media wiles. Pakistan needs to appeared on horizon and took it by communicated repeatedly. Ironi - not been paid and so he has no money many Pakistanis belong to this cate - correlation could also be seen read - counter these to bring home the storm within a couple of decades cally, repeated statements are per - to go home, and going home in itself gory. If their lives and livelihoods ily between CPEC and terrorist at - message it intends to give to the and blissfully, India is reaping the ceived more truthful than is a challenge because he does not are important to the country and to tacks in Balochistan to throttle its world to understand. India offers a harvest of fissures within its polity statements made infrequently be - want to dishonour the sacrifice his the government that is supposed to pace of development and sow huge market to the world. A busi - under its watch. The state institu - cause repetition breeds familiarity family has made. When he wrote his serve them, immediate interventions doubts about its viability. A strong ness could only flourish in an at - tions: Judiciary, EC, investigative which in return, invokes trust. letter, he said he was contemplating need to be made to help the young militia of 700 men has been put to - mosphere of peace and tranquillity agencies and media have fallen to suicide to get out of the hell that that men and women who are suffering gether to sabotage CPEC under a which is fast becoming obscure in what Hindu majority hints at. — The writer, a retired his life has become. from the unthinking negligence of commission of 24 members which Indian landmass. The ever rising Hindu-dominated Parliament is Lt Col, is freelance It is not just those who are being the Emirate’s exploitative bureau - also includes 10 RAW operatives. Hindu chauvinism could implode after the Constitution. The Citizen columnist based in Islamabad. forced into manual labour that are cratic machinery.