By Justice Markandey Katju
Many Pakistanis, including the Pakistani media, are celebrating, exulting, gloating, and going gaga over Pakistan becoming the mediator between the USA and Iran, as if it shows that Pakistan has become an important player and force in the world.
In particular, fulsome praise is being lavished on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the army chief Field Marshal Munir, who are being hailed as great statesmen who have brokered a peace in a world which was on the verge of a nuclear holocaust.
But the truth is very different.
Everyone knows that the Pakistani government and army are just puppets of the US Government, who will do the latter's every bidding. Munir even went to the laughable and ridiculous extent of shamelessly proposing that US President Trump ( a known hawk ) be given the Nobel Peace Prize ( something he has wanted for long ), and was invited to the White House in Washington DC for dinner for his pains.
So far from being an important power in the world, Pakistan is in fact just a 'running dog' ( to use a Chinese expression, which means a loyal lackey ) of the Americans.
The US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28th February was intended to bring about a quick regime change in Iran, as was done in Venezuela. But this plan totally backfired, and the war has dragged on for 40 days, with no end in sight.
Opposition to the war has been rapidly growing, even in America, for the reasons given in these articles :
There have been massive 'No Kings' demonstrations by millions of Americans in many US cities as the cost of living rises.
This being the situation, Trump wanted an exit from the war. His problem was that unilaterally declaring peace would be a tremendous loss of face, for it would amount to an admission of defeat, and there would be calls for his resignation and invoking the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
Hence, to save face, Trump and his advisors thought of a clever scheme whereby the American government would not lose face, but the war would end.
This scheme was to tell the Pakistan government to announce that it was willing to mediate in the dispute ( though of course not telling anyone that it was the American government which ordered them to make the announcement ).
This is the truth behind the pretence of Pakistan being an honest broker.
But let the Pakistanis celebrate their moment of triumph. After all their past miseries, the poor chaps needed a respite.
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
