India: Why it Stages False Flag Operations?

In Blog
December 30, 2020
Syeda Shahbee Zaidi
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India’s frequent false flag operations does not only threaten the fragile Indo-Pak relationship, but also endangers the promise of International stability and security that South Asian nuclearization has promised. Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence has played a significant role in countering the traditional Indian exercises, but with plots like Pulwama False Flag Operation, there is an increasingly

India’s frequent false flag operations does not only threaten the fragile Indo-Pak relationship, but also endangers the promise of International stability and security that South Asian nuclearization has promised. Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence has played a significant role in countering the traditional Indian exercises, but with plots like Pulwama False Flag Operation, there is an increasingly possibility for both armed rivals to respond to one other in unconventional ways.

These operations purposefully misrepresent the appearance of a particular party, group or nation to delegate responsibility of an event to them, so the actual source of responsibility can be concealed while the aggression towards the accused can be rationalized. India has a history of carrying out such deceptive schemes to provoke or justify a warlike action against Pakistan. The earliest one can be traced back to 1971: Hijacking of the Indian Airplane by two alleged Pakistani men. Though it was later revealed that the airplane was not operational and only brought back into service two days before the hijacking event, Pakistan had already suffered the consequences. The restrictions in the Indian Airspace led to delayed food supply deliveries to Pakistani forces deployed in the East Pakistan at that time.

Similar to this, there have been many other occasions when India fabricated a claim towards Pakistan to disguise the real culprits in attempts of avoid civil unrest. India is a hub of different cultures, ethnicities and religions, which navigates its efforts of nation-building. In 2008, the Ahmedabad bombing wounded approximately 250 Indians. The blame was immediately directed towards Pakistan, only to be revealed later that the bombing had been carried out by Indian religious extremists who had been involved in communal violence in the past. It is evident in such cases India constructs a narrative which declares Pakistan a common enemy of all those living in India irrespective of their cultural, ethnic or religious identities because providing a sense of national identity, it blurs these differences and comes off as a strong nation.

The Pathankot Air Base incident and Uri Attack in 2016 sheds light on how significant the rivalry between India and Pakistan for the ongoing affairs of India. The timing of the attacks, once again, reflect these were simply Indian False Flag Operations as Pathankot Air Base attack happened shortly after Indian Prime Minister Modi had visited the former Pakistani PM showing hope of a better Indo-Pak relationship. On the other hand, the Uri Attack which has been reported as “the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades” by BBC, was aimed at setting in motion a tense environment at Pak-India border, as well as launching a so-called surgical strike in Pakistan. India’s fraudulent claim of holding Pakistan responsible for these attacks was challenged internationally and realized to be a move for diverting the attention of the global community from the crimes committed by Indians in Kashmir.

Pulwama attack in 2019 was also staged by BJP India as a part of their political movement motivated by propagating Pakistan. By anchoring a false flag operation of such nature, they presented an external threat which could be removed by BJP in return of public confidence and vote. The attempt to malign Pakistan as an electoral campaign had been very effective as Indian sympathy and hatred had given BJP the electoral victory it had been unable to conquer previously.

The readjusted portrayal of facts by India to meet its political or strategical objectives have caused some major inconveniences to Pakistan, but it could go beyond a simple hybrid warfare between two nations. Whether the motive is to sabotage the image of Pakistan in the international community, assist an election campaign or strength Indian propaganda, these deceptive schemes not only jeopardizes India’s own image as too often these accusations have been rejected by the Indian judicial systems and international investigating teams, but also cause a security dilemma in the South Asian region. After all, though Pulwama attack has been pinned as the most controversial false flag operation, it could have pushed the whole globe under the threat of nuclear Armageddon.