Chanakya’s Ideology: The Root Cause of Problem

The incident of 9/11 brought the attention of the whole world towards Afghanistan. After that, US invaded Afghanistan to solve the issue of terrorism for once and all. Though by killing OBL the US and allies declared themselves to be the ultimate victors of Afghan war, it is a known fact that the names on the list of the most wanted terrorists have been increasing every day. Even after the loss of many precious lives and investment of immense amount of money on the War on Terror, Afghanistan is still a hub of terrorists. Not only this, the virus of terrorism is affecting the whole world. With the passage of time, more and more militant groups are emerging and exposing this world to inevitable destruction. The question is: Despite all the efforts against terrorism, why multiplication of terrorists can’t be controlled?

By dropping atom bomb on the unfortunate people of Japan, Harry S Truman committed the worst crime in the world’s history. But, for better or worse, he taught this world a very good lesson i.e. nuclear weapon is no joke. Though the proliferation of nuclear weapons reduced the chances of direct confrontation, as no country wants a nuclear war on its soil, it could not annihilate the cancer of rivalry. For that reason, apparently there is peace on the borders, but proxy wars within. Since training, equipping and financing terrorists to fight for a country is better than risking lives of its own soldiers, some countries are sponsoring terrorists. If some circles are trying to clear the mess, a few are also strengthening its roots. Under such circumstances, is it possible to bring peace to this world?

Since, different militant groups swore allegiance to Al Qaeda, Afghanistan is considered even more vulnerable to the threat of terrorism. It goes without saying that the stability of Afghanistan is mandatory for the stability of South Asia and particularly its neighboring countries. Not only this, terrorist attacks in different countries of this region are interconnected like the fibers of a spider web. For instance, in 2008 right after the Mumbai attack, Indian authorities started to point their finger towards Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI. Later on, Lt. Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit of Indian army confessed to be the mastermind of this attack. Here it is pertinent to mention that this attack was followed by an amendment to the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). Similarly, the Indian parliament attack was also followed by an amendment to POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act). Attacks on US General, NATO Training Base and Indian consulate in Afghanistan are a few of the many attacks, which were serious setbacks for Pak-Afghan relations.

There exists plenty of evidence that suggests that these attacks were nothing but the gift of RAW-NDS nexus to the people of Afghanistan. The whole world knows who raised Tamil tigers against Srilanka. Not only this, recent terrorist activities in Pakistan, including PAF Base attack and Karachi Airport are also the outcomes of Indian sponsored terrorism. Moreover, India has issues with almost all of its neighbors. These are some of the attacks that show how terrorists are being used for the national benefits.

This chaos has its roots in Chanakya’s ideology, which played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire. The philosophy of dogmatist Hindu Chanakya revolves around the principle of “saam, daam, dand, bhed” (persuade, purchase, punish and exploit the weakness). According to him, to conquer enemy’s land, the first step should be the destabilization of its border. Once the enemy fails to deal with the anarchy, then infiltrate within the land.

With the fall of Dhaka, for the first time Pakistan became the victim of Chanakya ideology in 1971. The main stage of this game has been in Afghanistan for many years. For the first time, India used Afghan soil against Pakistan in 1950 by starting the Baluchistan Liberation Movement. Moreover, support of Afghans also played an important role. For instance, the Afghan president Hamid Karzai fully supported RAW. During his period, India opened almost 28 consulates in Afghanistan, out of which, 6 are on the border. These consulates were used to train militants against Pakistan. Recently, the frequent visits of India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval, the scriptwriter of the entire episode of Gujrat riots 2002, and recent volley ball match attack in Afghanistan show that RSS has not learnt any lesson from its mistakes . The reality is that Modi’sadministration is overloaded with hardcore Hindu extremists and they will not mind spilling the blood of few for meeting their goals.

All the above mentioned facts summarize the story behind mutual issues of mistrust between Pak-Afghan government, Indian aggression on LOC, Indian sponsored terrorism and the blame game of Indian government. Economic stability and military strength is the right of every nation. However, the policy of spilling the blood for national benefits and pointing finger towards the enemy is detrimental not only for this region but also for India. Though the present Afghan government is interested in working with Pakistan to deal with the prevalent challenges of terrorism, the international community is still not interested in even condemning the notorious role of India. Here, the guarantors of peace have a role to play. Or else, more blood will be shed for the sake of Indian hegemony.