Author: ANI
Publication: Thaindian.com
Date: May 10, 2009
URL: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/pak-soldiers-prefer-fighting-hindu-india-than-taliban-muslim-friends-report_100190583.html
Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting
its 'own war' in the North West Frontier Province's Malakand and Swat Divisions,
and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite
evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their 'muslim
friends' rather they prefer fighting against India.
Amid all frantic calls being made by the international
community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat
to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of
its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat,
the Telegraph reports.
The report stated that eventhough the Pakistan
army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained
and dedicated to the idea of fighting "Hindu India" resent the idea
of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.
"I do not like the Taliban but I do not
want to fight against them.They are our Muslim brothers. I do not want to
fight America's war," said Zulmay Khan, a soldier with Frontier Corps.
The statement perhaps clarifies all the speculations
regarding Pakistan Army's will and capability to counter the extremists.
Officers, who have been in the thick of things
for long planning out strategies for the army, also believe that Pakistan's
primary concern is India despite the fact that the Taliban's advancing writ
poses an 'existential threat' to the nation.
The report quoted a retired Major of Pakistan
Army, Major Ikram Seghal, as saying that most troops would remain on the Indian
border, despite the increasingly frantic calls from Washington to concentrate
on the enemy within.
The problem is that now Pakistan is battling
jihadis whom it trained to fight wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which was
directed by the country's leadership itself.
Nobody believe that the Taliban would be flushed
out of the country or the region by the Pakistan military, but fear is growing
that whatever happens in the current operation, Swat will prove a self-inflicted
wound that will fester for years, the report said.
