TAKING ostensibly a leaf from the Israeli secret agency, Mossad, killing its opponents abroad, India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) seems to have embarked upon a similar mission.

Evidence in this regard recently surfaced in Canada with the assassination of a pro-Khalistani die-hard supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a Canadian citizen and was murdered outside a Gurdwara in Toronto.

It was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who informed his lawmakers about the possible involvement of Indian intelligence agents in the July killing after an intensive investigation. India retaliated in a tit-for-tat manner, bringing the relations between the two countries down to their lowest ebb in bilateral history.

The recent spate of killings in Pakistan of certain religious leaders allegedly belonging to the outlawed organisations has made the people wonder whether India has embarked on a Mossad-like mission which has seen its intelligence agency take out its adversaries one by one.

Such ghastly incidents have taken place in Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore. The most recent incident took place in Daska when a prayer leader, a religious activist belonging to an outlawed outfit, and his security guard were shot dead.

The Punjab police chief pointed out the hand of ‘hostile intelligence agency’ responsible for this shooting, saying that the attack was planned outside Pakistan.

He also stated that police had unearthed a ‘network of hostile intelligence agencies’ that were allegedly involved in recent incidents of blasphemy across the country.

The new ‘hard state’ label of India is apparently a direct by-product of the ‘defensive offence’ doctrine.

Under the prevailing scenario, the country’s security agencies have their tasks clearly cut out for them. They need to be extra-vigilant to thwart all reprehensible activities efficiently. We just cannot afford to be less than cautious.

Fawad Hashmey
Lahore

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023