Freedom, Partition and Terrorism (PDF)

Pakistan employs terrorism as a state policy to achieve its foreign policy goals. There is overwhelming consensus amongst the scholars of South Asia that Pakistan has supported terrorist groups. Evidence exists that for decades, Pakistan has aided and abetted terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, India, and Kashmir. Several high-profile terrorist incidents, including the 11 September attacks, 2001 Indian Parliament attack, July 2005 subway bombings in London, and November 2008 attack on Mumbai, had direct or indirect connections to individuals and groups operating from Pakistan. There are historical reasons why Pakistan turned out to be a nation state where Islamic militancy was nurtured and terrorism was supported as the blatantly shameless policy of the Pakistani military and establishment. This book explores specific connections of the history of Pakistan's creation, specifically the events preceding the partition of India, to radicalism, Islamic militancy and terrorism. Two fundamental events in the history of Pakistan are connected to Pakistan's support of extant terrorism. First is the partition of colonial India. The strategies employed by the Pakistan movement to achieve Pakistan, which culminated in the partition, are directly connected to the use of asymmetric warfare and terrorism by Pakistan after independence. The second event is 1947-48 war between India and Pakistan over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The future trajectory of Pakistan has been predicated on these two momentous events and Pakistan has yet to free itself from the historical baggage of its own creation.