Kabul, Karachi and Islamabad blasts

There was a suicide bomber attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on Monday, July 7, in which 42 persons were killed. The victims included the Indian Defence Attaché, Brigadier R Mehta, and Press Attaché V.V. Rao. President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (of India) pointed the accusing finger at the ISI of Pakistan. Even The Times of London could not restrain itself from editorially commenting that “rogue elements” of the ISI are un-reconciled to the break with the Taliban. That is utter nonsense.
No intelligence organisation acts overseas without explicit government authorisation. There is no possibility that a segment of the military, which is under the discipline of military law, can tolerate let alone operate a “rogue” within. The ISI surely keeps a close eye on the Taliban, as it must. But other intelligence organisations including those from India, USA, UK and Israel maintain contacts with them too. How else can they infiltrate them? How else could they have used them to target the Chinese in Pakistan and Xinjiang?
In Pakistan, such comments by the foreign press and politicians are seen to be a proof of the deep hostility of India towards Pakistan and West’s habitual support to India’s line in politics. The truth is that all the parties in the ruling coalition in Pakistan are seen by the public to be in the “pocket of India” to a varying degree. That does not merely discredit politicians and politics but also democracy. The majority in Pakistan wants their government to play an active role in liberating Afghanistan and Kashmir from US and Indian occupation whereas they see the Zardari-led administration to be visibly appeasing them. Most politicians privately admit that they are unpopular because they fail to espouse the cause dear to the people. But they say that the cost of supporting Afghan and Kashmir liberation struggle is too high.
They point towards the ruthless bombing of Taliban ruled Afghanistan and Saddam ruled Iraq for “one time defiance” after a long history of friendly cooperation. The Taliban are the product of the failure of the rulers. The Taliban are willing, and now they have shown to be able, to deliver where the governments failed. That is why the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are perceived as “illegitimate” even though the elections that led to their formation were largely free and fair.