PAKISTAN is showing more and more symptoms of cracking, the latest being the violent protests in Occupied Kashmir. Just a few days ago, Pakistani Armed Forces had bombed areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region to kill dozens of people -- adding fuel to the already burning fire in Balochistan. Every region of Pakistan, thus, is on the boil, showing clear signs of its government’s inability to handle the worsening domestic situation. Steeped in politics of utterly selfish and deceptive nature, the leading lights of the Pakistani establishment appear to have no clue about how to control the rising unrest, leading many international observers to wonder if the country is rapidly marching towards its disintegration in the next some years. Of course, Pakistan’s arrogance is on the rise all this time. Even though it got a terrible beating from India during “Operation Sindoor”, its leaders showed the temerity of stressing that Pakistan called for suspension of hostilities “from position of strength” in speeches at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

 

That was the reason why India showed Pakistan the mirror. The protests in Occupied Kashmir are of a serious nature. As the people in that part of Kashmir see the glorious development in Kashmir in India’s control in the past 5-6 years, they realise the stark difference between the two segments. Their own pitiable condition of utter neglect at the hands of Pakistani authorities for decades on end has begun to hurt them all the more in recent years. The violent protests point to that unrest that is surfacing in PoK every now and then.

 

hat surprises the world is the Pakistani attempts to gloss over the unrest. In a fresh bid to improve its image internationally, Pakistan entered what is described as a defence deal with Saudi Arabia, its long-time friend on whose sumptuous money-grants the country has survived for the past several years. The two countries stated that any act of aggression on any one of them would be treated as an aggression on the other, too. Pakistani leadership appears to be under an impression that it is expanding its strategic security cover. The trouble with strategic security is that it stands on the ground of internal security -- which Pakistan just cannot claim to have. With almost every of its provinces steeped in deep trouble, with two or three freedom movements raging in different provinces such as Balochistan, Occupied Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, the world knows that Pakistan’s internal boiling may singe the country in the next some time; and that the Pakistani authorities would have no effective answer to that ever-expanding problem. Other problems such as the failure in completing the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor -- CPEC -- (which is part of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative) also haunt Pakistan. International observers believe that China has already stopped making investment in Pakistan because the host country’s failure to make its contribution.

 

One of the most daunting challenges before the CPEC is the terrible domestic churn in areas such as Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Another reason for a fresh eruption of trouble in Balochistan is that there are rumours that Pakistani rulers are reportedly eager to hand over the region to the United States for the extraction of Rare Earth materials that are described to have been found in good reserves in the region. The Baloch people are enraged about such possibilities and are opposing every official move by Pakistani authorities to silence their voice of freedom. The recent bombing that claimed many lives is one such move by the Pakistani Armed Forces -- which has evoked strong international reaction, confirming the impression that Pakistan is headed for cracking down under the prevailing conditions.