How India conducts its subversion & LIC policy

India realised the potential for subversion in South Asia very early on and the
creation of RAW was for this specific purpose. Since then, within the overall
framework of Indian power ambitions, subversion has become a major tool in
the operationalisation of Indian policy aims in South Asia. An earlier survey of
India's interventionist policies within South Asian states through its RAW (its
intelligence services Research and Analysis Wing) in this column had clearly
shown India's policy of subversion whereby it has isolated primarily ethnic
groups within its South Asian neighbourhood. And the Indians constantly assert
that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been doing the same in
India. However, while the case of India's subversive activities was lent
credibility not only by researched books on RAW by Sri Lankan and
Bangladeshi scholars [Rohan Gunaratna's Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka and
Zainal Abedin's (an ex-Mukhti Bahini fighter) RAW and Bangladesh] but also
by the Jain Commission report, there has yet to be any substantive publication
to establish Pakistan's subversive role within India through the ISI.

Also, earlier in this column, there has been a detailed study of how sub-national
conflicts in South Asia have been exacerbated as a result of external
interventions (see Pulse Vol 7, No 1). Unexplained bomb explosions and
random acts of terror, as well as the increasing militarism of ethnic/sectarian
groups can all be understood within the heightened importance of subversion
and LIC in South Asia.

However, one form of subversion being practised by India very effectively has
tended to be ignored - yet it is perhaps most lethal in its long term effect. This
is cultural subversion - spreading Indian/Hindu culture as the representative
South Asian culture. Go anywhere in South Asia and Indian films and music
are present - with their diverse lingual and cultural strains, all given the 'Indian'
stamp. In fact the very use of the word 'Indian' to basically denote
Bharat/Hindu interests has been one of the most successful propaganda ploys of
India. One reason why India has been so effective in this area of subversion is
that it has chosen to own all the multiple cultural strands that have reached the
subcontinent over centuries. Wherever it has suited Bharat's interests, it has
owned up to the non-Hindu art strains that evolved in the subcontinent -
including the very rich literary and musical traditions of the Moghuls. India has
been so effective in projecting all literary, musical and art strains that evolved
in the subcontinent as part of its national development that even today no one
associates Moghul cultural developments as part of Pakistan's evolution. The
tragic irony is that Pakistan has also failed to acknowledge its rich and varied
cultural moorings.

Anyhow, through the use of electronic media entertainment, India today is

seeking to push through political messages to an unsuspecting South Asian
public hungry for entertaining relief from the drudgery of their daily grinds.
The message that comes through, especially for Pakistanis - in indirect ways,
plugged briefly but repeatedly to wear down subconscious resistance - is that
the partition was a mistake and there are too many ties binding the people of
Pakistan and India. The historical reality of the caste system, of treating
Muslims like the Shudras is all conveniently bypassed and an uneducated
public in Pakistan laps it all up. Indian artists are used to raise money for
charity in Pakistan, Indian artists are sent by India as 'peace' committees, and so
on. Pakistani artists perform for Indian 'peace' programmes, and the lie gets
substantiated that art and culture know no boundaries and are 'above' politics.
Of course, the reality is that art and culture are the most effective political tools
of subversion - if used cleverly. And so Pakistan's ruling elite continues to
sacrifice national interest for short-term factional and personal interests as it
falls in line with the Indian desire of multiple levels of people-to-people and
cultural exchanges even as the Indian military continues to kill Kashmiris in
droves.

Opportunities for Pakistan

While India has, on many fronts, perfected the art of subversion, Pakistan even
now has many opportunities it needs to exploit in order to counter India's
subversive activities. Pakistan needs to operate on two fronts:

One, on the military level Pakistan needs to prepare specialised units for Low
Intensity operations that cannot only be sustained over a period of time but also
contained within very precisely defined and limited parameters of escalation.
Such preparedness would require not only special doctrines but also specialised
conventional arms.

Two, on the subversion level Pakistan needs to act on all the fronts identified in
the illustrated table. To begin with there are many conflicts prevailing in India -
from the Sikh problems to the insurgency in the north east to any number of
ethnic conflicts - that can be exploited. Pakistan also needs to develop a more
cohesive policy on subversion within India.
On the ideas of war India has a tremendous head start and Pakistan first of all
needs to claim and own up to the South Asian part of its cultural legacy. Only
then can it fight India effectively on this front. Also, unless it can use the
electronic media rationally and provide messages through gripping
entertainment it will be unable to claim back its own audiences that have
already been lost to Indian propaganda channels like Zee. The Muslim linkages
need to be strengthened but as long as there is violent sectarian conflict in
Pakistan it is hardly going to allow Muslim unity across the border. On this
front, the Indians have been very effective so far.

But Pakistan has tremendous potential in terms of its literary and musical
heritage if it owns up to it and popularises it. For instance, the richness of
Kathak dance - which has its origins in Muslim Moghul traditions, as opposed
to the Hindu moorings of Bharatnatyam - needs to be developed and
popularised as does the whole range of Muslim musical traditions of the
subcontinent. Additionally, we also need to develop our Central Asian and
Persian cultural heritage so that we can finally evolve a rich and diverse literary
and artistic tradition on which future generations can develop their evolution.
Through developing these traditions we can attract audiences across the border
and thereby send our own subtly couched messages through the entertainment
medium. Already our TV dramas have a wide following in South Asia but we
have failed to capitalise on it.

Finally, Pakistan must be wary of playing the Indian game of 'people-to-people'

contacts and cultural exchanges while Kashmir continues to suffer Indian
bullets. It may be wonderful to have Indian singers and film stars arriving here
by the drove - and especially so if they happen to be Muslim - but it would
serve us well to remember that an Indian is an Indian first and a Muslim,
Parsee, etc. second, and it serves Indian policy to allow such open access to
these Indian showbiz groups while India remains intransigent on Kashmir.

Also, while India has been quick to conduct random acts of terror in Pakistan
every time its army suffers a bloody nose in Occupied Kashmir at the hands of
the freedom fighters, the latter are very restrained in how they conduct their
freedom struggle against Indian occupation. But perhaps the Kashmiri freedom
fighters need to be reminded of history: That freedom struggles like the
Algerian only succeeded when the freedom fighters took the war to the French
homeland. And the British only compromised with the Irish once the IRA took
the war to the British Isles and London. These are the cruel realities of military
struggles and so the Kashmir war must be taken to the Indian mainland,
especially South India to make the ordinary Indian realise the costs of his
government's occupation policy in Kashmir. If freedom is to be won through
the barrel of a gun then niceties cannot prevail and efficiency and effectiveness
should be the primary considerations. That is what India has been doing and it
is time Pakistan woke up to the realities of LIC and subversion for this is the
new battleground in South Asia - the fight for the hearts and minds of the
people. And it is a war that has to be waged on many fronts simultaneously.