The Pakistani Taliban are gearing up for an epic battle for control of the Indian subcontinent

[mota bhai 2,675]

The TTP [Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan] and its allies in Pakistan are gearing up for a long war at home, and Pakistan's civil and military leadership have no coherent strategy to prepare for it.

...

The TTP has been reframing its war against the Pakistani state as Ghazwa-e Hind, or the Battle of India ... the TTP has deployed a set of prophetic traditions that speak of a Muslim conquest of India, a region the TTP defines as virtually all of South Asia, including most of Pakistan.

...

The adoption of these prophetic traditions by the TTP is particularly clever since they have historically been used by jihadists connected to Pakistani intelligence to create a broader narrative for war against India. The TTP, in contrast, is using the same traditions to direct violence toward Islamabad -- not New Delhi. What the TTP fears is that with a weakened al Qaeda Central and an Afghanistan without an American presence as a rallying cry, Pakistani jihadists will mend their ways with Pakistani intelligence and go back to attacking India. In effect, the TTP is telling them to stay put -- the main jihad is here at home in Pakistan.

The TTP's PR strategy relies on more than prophetic tradition, however ... In multiple videos, the TTP and like-minded preachers have called on ethnic Baloch separatists -- whose latest insurgency has been raging since 2004 -- to abandon their secular, regional struggle and join the jihad against Islamabad.

...

Negotiations between the government and the TTP are currently suspended. If and when they resume, however, the TTP will attempt to coax the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which rules at the federal level, and Khan's PTI, which rules the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, located near the tribal areas, to agree to a ceasefire and implement shariah law.

...

Both parties -- and the PTI, in particular -- are vulnerable to TTP pressure because they have refrained from explicitly criticizing the group and have no clear red lines when it comes to accommodating the TTP's social and political demands ... With the political leadership in Islamabad and Peshawar inclined toward appeasing the TTP -- and lacking a coherent perspective on Pakistan's terrorism challenge -- the TTP could stifle efforts to create an effective national counterterrorism strategy.

While this does not mean that the TTP will ever come close to its goal of taking over Islamabad, it does make it more likely that its war in Pakistan will rage on for years ... Since the new Pakistani government took power in May, the TTP has sustained its campaign of assassinating secular politicians, and killing police and security personnel. Meanwhile, its ally, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, have been bombing Shiite mosques across the country. For the TTP and its partners in Pakistan, the Great War is at home in Pakistan, where there is a massive, nuclear-armed state to take over and plenty of Shiites to kill.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/18/the_battle_for_islamabad_pakistan_taliban_syria

[GandD 5,966]

What a mess. Its like an accepted fate that hatred will always exist and the way to run things is to point the hate in a direction that best suits you. I suppose its not completely different from political strategies here.

[Karee 4,191]

Another example of why organized religion sucks.

[slim 1,533]

This aint no Syrian civil war!

[mota bhai 2,675]

This aint no Syrian civil war!

The Hindus of India have enjoyed a few decades of self-government, for the first time since the days before Islam arrived in India many centuries ago. Muslim extremists have been railing about this and it's just a matter of time before a full fledged attempt to reconquest begins. Once well underway, this will make Syria look like Vermont.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

So, who is going to kickass on India first - the Chinese, or the Pakistanis?

[Karee 4,191]

So, who is going to kickass on India first - the Chinese, or the Pakistanis?

The Gujaratis or the Sikhs.

[mota bhai 2,675]

So, who is going to kickass on India first - the Chinese, or the Pakistanis?

Most likely the Muslims start the fight (they always do) and the Chinese (like the opportunists they are) take what they want (Tibet South/Arunachal, Aksai Chin) amidst the chaos. The Muslims will be after a grand vision - subcontinental dominance. The Chinese, not so much.

[Darnell 8,479]

Thanks for posting, Arajit. I look forward to your daily updates - try to include body counts on both sides, aye?

[Darnell 8,479]

What a mess. Its like an accepted fate that hatred will always exist and the way to run things is to point the hate in a direction that best suits you. I suppose its not completely different from political strategies here.

Well, political strategies 'here' not really encompass a land grab, by force, most of the time.

OTOH, there's lots of reports of Islamists fighting over land or forcing a land grab through intimidation or use of ordnance, this decade.

IMO, this is 'just another example' of Islamists making a land grab through the use of force.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Thanks for posting, Arajit. I look forward to your daily updates - try to include body counts on both sides, aye?

KMA, lah.

[GandD 5,966]

I like how people (myself included) +1 your posts when you say something derogatory to them. Indian magic no doubt.

[mota bhai 2,675]