Amid the continuing turmoil on both the political and economic fronts and the Army choosing to remain neutral in the face of social divisions and protests, Pakistan could be on the brink of disintegration into separate parts.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, during a visit to Jammu and Kashmir on October 27 said Pakistan will soon face rebellion, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has been on record stating that Pakistan could be Balkanised into many States and deprived of the nuclear assets in the wake of the all-round failure of the present Government.
Notwithstanding the political turmoil, Pak Army Chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa is staying in Washington for last fortnight to lobby for taking over as the political executive of Pakistan like Pervez Musharraf did in the past. Bajwa was supposed to fly back at 2 PM IST but his return was cancelled, top sources privy to the developments said.
Bajwa has been on record saying that the Army will stay apolitical (read neutral) in the face of ongoing unrest in that country and the US authorities are said to have reminded him to stick to his promise on this count. In further indications trickling in from Pakistan, the separatist leaders from Sindh and Balochistan have shifted their bases to third countries due to the ongoing political and economic uncertainty back home.
Meanwhile, even as Bajwa is away in the United States (US), the Pakistan Army circles are abuzz with the theory that the current Army chief revealed the location of Al Qaeda top boss Al Zawahiri leading to his targeted killing in Kabul by the US precision missile strike.
Highly placed sources said the US has also ramped up consultations with the countries in the region to fine-tune its strategy of containing chaos in a nuclear armed country as also safeguard the region from the possibility of nukes getting into the hands of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State, the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Tayabba and Jaishe-e-Mohammad among others.
Just ahead of the midterm polls back home on Tuesday, the US has also begun hectic consultations with India at the highest level, the sources said.
The sources further said India is keen to take control of the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and back the US’ bid to grant independence to Balochistan and hold a referendum in Sindh.
On its part China has expressed that it will take a stand on the possible new developments in Pakistan in consultation with the regional neighbours once such an eventuality arises.
While the Pakistan Army alone is capable to wrest the country out of the multifaceted turmoil, the US has already rejected Bajwa’s bid to head or control the government.Apart from himself helming the country, Bajwa who has the backing of terror masterminds LeT boss Hafiz Sayeed and JeM chief Masood Azhar, has also sought to put in place a sham democracy in Pakistan.
Pakistan is facing severe insurgency in Sindh and Balochistan provinces. In October alone, as many as 135 Pak army personnel were killed and 2,000 AK 47 assault rifles were looted by the Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) insurgents.
The situation is further compounded by the balance of payment crisis staring at Pakistan in the midst of skyrocketing inflation and burgeoning price rise besides the assassination bid on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan whose protests have galvanized the public against the current regime of Shahbaz Sharif perceived to be failing on all the fronts and leading the country into chaos.
“Our country is watching and feeling the pain of the citizens of POK, where Pakistan is unleashing torture and harassment. Very soon there will be a rebellion in the PoK by the citizens against the atrocities.
Our country is committed to implementing the resolution passed in the Parliament about retrieving Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said in Jammu and Kashmir on October 27.
“If the right decision is not taken, Pakistan will lose its nuclear deterrence … and then it will be fragmented into three pieces,” former Pakistan PM Imran Khan had said on June 6.
He had said Balkanisation of Pakistan is a thought that Pakistanis shudder to even entertain, bringing back memories of 1971—the year East Pakistan became the sovereign nation of Bangladesh.
Imran Khan who is the Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had further warned that once the country’s economy is destroyed, it would go into default, and the world would ask Pakistan to move towards denuclearization—as was done to Ukraine in the 1990s.