Shawdesh Desk: It’s going to be a month since the Indian Parliament legislated radical steps in making two union territories out of Jammu and Kashmir State. Such a move has surprised many and dealt a severe blow to those trying to support separatism in Kashmir and owing allegiance to Pakistan.

Pakistan, on its part, is still reeling under a shock and is employing trial and error methods to come to terms with the new emerging situation. Failing to garner any worthwhile support, it has now desperately fallen back on frantic PR exercise to refurbish its battered message.

One such desperation is reflected in an article, articulated by none other than the Prime Minister Imran Khan himself, who on the lines of a cricket skipper, is trying to set his field to stop runs being scored but is running out of options. The article, under reference, was carried by the New York Times in its August 30 issue.

Obviously it is ghost written and most likely done at the prompting of the army which is equally at a loss of ideas to address the tricky situation. The writeup, therefore, has targeted Indian Prime Minister Modi a accusing him of pursuing a Hindu agenda to hit out the Kashmiri Muslims. With a bit of research at hand with traces of history, Imran Khan reached out to the RSS leadership naming Golwalkar etc for giving ideological strength to PM Modi to take such a drastic step regarding the sensitive issue of Kashmir.

In the same vein, Prime Minister Khan has chronicled his so called overtures to offer the olive branch to India for peace and dialogues which, according to him, in his article failed to elicit any favorable response from his Indian counterpart. Analytically, the piece in New York Times (August 30) smells of belligerence and the tenor and syntax signals a threat because of glaring mention and accent that both the countries being nuclear, there is a possibility of a showdown.

He also allegedly underlines Indian policy of adhering to anti Semitism. He further castigated India of cornering Pakistan using Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to put it on the Black List on charges of terror funding. Other than these highlights, Imran Khan, the supposed author of this writeup, takes credit for de escalating tension between the two countries in the wake of the February terror attack in Pulwama where around 50 lives of Indian security forces were lost.

Sadly, the article in question lacks any objectivity as Imran Khan remains silent on the complicity of Jaish e Mohammad (JeM) in the terror strike. In essence, the article appears to be an appeal to the international community that in case of any military aggression, Pakistan need not get the blame and India is to be seen as an aggressor. It’s purely a PR drill also aimed at concealing inherent domestic problems that Pakistan is faced with. It could possibly be a diversionary tactic and a faint attempt to mobilize global public opinion.

Either way, between the lines there appears to be war mongering by the head of government of Pakistan not becoming of his position. Jingoism is in the air and that merits bursting without any further delay.

Back home in Pakistan, the public in general seems to be confused about the government stance in dealing with the complications by the recent Indian decision on Kashmir. Imran Khan’s televised address to the nation expressing solidarity with the Kashmiris doesn’t seem to be selling at all and the country’s diplomatic moves are also being questioned as per the current TV debates where many panelists are lashing out at the government on its faulty foreign policies on Kashmir.

According to a section of the print media, Pakistan diplomacy needs a new and vigorous communication strategy to meet the propaganda challenges on Kashmir. An English TV channel to reach out to the overseas Pakistanis may be launched shortly but beaming of programmes have to be Kashmir specific. All do not appear happy with half hearted government’s approach and they are all signs of a panic reaction.

Noted Pakistani writer and analyst, Zahir Hussain, who often writes for Dawn newspaper, is critical of Imran Khan for urging the Pakistanis to come out of their homes, offices and other workplaces every Friday for half an hour to express fraternity with the Kashmiris as he strongly feels that there are better ways of appropriating 30 minutes of country’s precious productive time in a more constructive manner.

Similarly, other academics reckon that the foreign policy lacks a definite direction and Imran’s televised address need not have carried the mention of ‘nuclear’ activity.

Critics thought such expressions are provocative. Such sample reactions imply that there is nothing substantial available with the Pakistani establishment and it would appear wise on part of Pakistan to quickly realize that Kashmir being an internal part of India not meriting any Pakistani intervention or unnecessary meddling. All PR exercises undertaken by Pakistan, therefore, are exercise in futility.

The writer is a security analyst and a regular columnist on geopolitical issues