Canada-based Pakistan-born author Tarek Fatah has said, the United States would be bound under Kerry-Lugar law to cut off all assistance if an army coup takes place in Pakistan.
Replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in the show Aap Ki Adalat, to be telecast tonight at 10 pm on India TV, Tarek Fatah, an avowed critic of Pakistan, said: "The Kerry-Lugar law (framed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Senator Richard Lugar) enables the US Congress, without a debate, to automatically cut off all assistance to Pakistan the moment the army takes over in a coup.
"Here, we are dealing with a bunch of thieves (army), who have decided not to carry out a coup, and informally take over the reins of power. In Pakistan, coup is the de facto state of affairs. The mayor of the world's 8th biggest city Karachi is in jail for the last three months, and nearly 200 young men are missing because of army action, but the Indian media has not highlighted this. Can you imagine Arvind Kejriwal being jailed for 2 months in Delhi?"
On the surgical strikes carried out by Indian army across the Line of Control, the Pakistani writer said, India has not attacked Pakistan, it has only attacked terror camps in the territory that has been occupied by Pakistan for the last 70 years. "India should have moved forward after winning the Kargil war, but as a professional army, it stopped after teaching Pakistan a lesson. However, Pakistan is never going to learn a lesson, because the very creation of that country was on the basis of lies and hatred."
"Pakistan", Tarek Fatah said, "was created by the nawabs of UP and Bihar who were afraid of democracy. They should have created Pakistan on the borders of Nepal, but instead, they went on to create Pakistan out of Punjab, where the Muslim League had lost, from North West Frontier Province where Badshah Khan of Congress had his governent, from Sindh, where its chief minister Ali Baksh Sumro was poisoned to death, and from Balochistan, which was an independent kingdom, was forcibly occupied by the Pakistan army in 1947. Even Stafford Cripps had acknowledged Balochistan as independent before Partition."
"Pakistan is an acronym, it is not a country in itself, it is only a mindset. Afghanistan belongs to Afghans, Bangladesh belongs to Bengalis, Kazakhstan belongs to Kazakhs, who belons to Pakistan? Pakistan was a joke played on all of us."
On the two Sharifs, Tarek Fatah said: "One is a sharif (Nawaz), who runs factories, eats biryani, watches cricket, was brought to politics by Gen Zia ul Haq, who has amassed all the wealth of Pakistan and invested in a single province, Punjab, and the other Sharif (army chief) is a crook (badmaash), who summons his Prime Minister whenever he wants."
The Pakistan-born writer lambasted Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for threating India with tactical nuclear strikes, saying: "He is an illiterate. Does he know the meaning of tactical weapons? These weapons have a range of only 20 kilometres. Either he does not know this or it is our misfortune that we have such a lunatic asylum in our neighbourhood. No country in the world has tactical nuclear weapons except these rascals. If Indian army enters Pakistan, these people will bomb their own country by using tactical weapons. It seems to be a death cult that has been indoctrinated in the Pakistani Punjabi mind."
On Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan's threat to give a strong reply to India, Tarek Fatah pooh-poohed it by saying: "He should carry on with his dalliances with women, play cricket, and should not delve into serious matters. This stupid man spent his entire life trying to impress women, specially Indian. He has no shame. He rode a horse as a bridegroom at the age of 62, and then his wife filed for divorce. He is a Punjabi posing as a Pathan, like Musharraf of Delhi trying to pose as a Punjabi. This is all nonsense. These people suffer from identity crisis."
The Pakistani writer described Jamaat ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed as the "real Prime Minister of Pakistan" and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as the "real Defence Minister of Pakistan".
"I don't know why you people in India are into so much deep philosophy that you fail to see who is running the country. Their soldiers massacred 30 lakh Bengalis in 10 months, they can throw Baloch young men from aircrafts, rape young girls. After the 1971 war, when nearly 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war were released by Indira Gandhi, they were deployed by the Pakistan army to carry out more massacres in Balochistan from 1973 to 1975."
Tarek Fatah alleged that it was former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf who ordered the assassination of Baloch leader Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti in 2006. "The 80-year-old man was poisoned inside his car by the Pakistan army", he alleged.
The Pakistani writer had a word of advice for Indian Muslims. He said, Muslims in India are fortunate to be living in a country where they can breathe freely and they should believe in "Islam of Allah, and not in Islam of Mullah".
"We are, after all, Indian Muslims. Why should we follow the Arab way of life, and ask our women to wear burqa and hijab. Dupatta is worn by Hindu and Sikh women and Muslim women can wear dupatta too", Tarek Fatah said.
Tarek Fatah in Rajat Sharma's Aap Ki Adalat will be telecast tonight at 10 pm on India TV. The repeat telecasts of this show will take place on Sunday (Oct 2) at 10 am and 10 pm.
