The Hitlist

In January 1973 Egypt and Syria, the two Arab nations concluded a secret agreement to unify their armies under one command to overpower Israel and in October 6, 1973, the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israel while the coutry was observing Yom Kippur, a religious holiday which is the only day in the year in which there are no radio or television broadcasts, shops close and transportation shuts down as part of religious observations. Israeli losses were heavy and the course of the war seemed to lay squarely within Arab hands and when Israel mobilised armoured divisions, which soon turned the Syrian advance into a retreat units from the Iraqi, Saudi and Jordanian armies joined the fight on the Syrian front. The Soviets were supplying the Arab countries with weapons and the United States backed Israel.

 Both the USSR and the Americans began airlifting arms, including tanks and artillery, to their allies as their stockpiles began to ran out however the tide of the war was in favour of the Israelis, and the fighting came to a stalemate. On October 17, the Arabs decided to use a different tactic and the Arab oil-producing countries decided to reduce their oil production by five percent. They pledged to "maintain the same rate of reduction each month thereafter until the Israeli forces are fully withdrawn from all Arab territories occupied during the June 1967 War, and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are restored". The reduction in oil production and supply led to major price hikes around the world, causing the US to reassess its support for the war and this made the Arab countries realize the power they had. By the last week of October, the two sides were ready and willing to accept a ceasefire deal.

 In the wake of the situation in Middle East and the wake of Arab Israel war, The Second Islamic Summit Conference was called on the proposal of OIC Secretary General Tunku Abdul Rahman. The summit also known as the Lahore Summit was attended by the head of states, ministers and dignitaries from Muslim countries all over the world. And some of the crucial decisions that were taken included the support to Jordon, Syria, Egypt and Palestinian people for their legitimate struggle for recovering of their lands. The summit was attended by some of the biggest names in the global politics of that time were attending who were unaware for what the future held for them. These names included Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, Shaikh Mujib Ur Rehman of Bangladesh, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Anwer Saddat of Egypt, Yassar Arafat of Palestine Liberation Organization, Colonel Qaddafi of Libya.

After this Summit a series of events took place and there have been conspiracy theories that the CIA played a key role is deciding the fate of all these leader. On the 25 March 1975, Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia was addressing a Majlis, an event where the king or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition the king. Prince Faisal bin Musaed bin Abdelaziz who was the king's his half-brother's son had just returned from the United States and had joined a Kuwaiti delegation and lined up to meet the king. The king recognized his nephew and bent his head forward, so that the younger Faisal could kiss the king's head in a sign of respect. The prince took out a revolver from his robe and shot the King twice in the head. The motive of the murder was not clear however the Arab media implied that the prince had been a tool of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

King Faisal, the who had arm twisted the United States by planning and executing the oil embargo during the Arab-Israel war in 1973 was killed and following the death of the King Faisal the same year on On 15 August 1975, a groups of junior army officers attacked Mujibur's residence killing him and his family, another group of soldiers arrested four of the founding leaders of the Awami League, first Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed, former Prime Minister Mansur Ali, former Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam and former Home Minister A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman, were arrested. Three months later, on 3 November 1975, they were murdered in Dhaka Central Jail. Journalist Lawrence Lifschultz paints the picture of a conspiracy, implicating Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and the CIA as participants. "The CIA station chief in Dhaka, Philip Cherry, was actively involved in the killing of Father of the Nation - Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," Lifschultz wrote in his book Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution. Christopher Hitchens, a British-American journalist and commentator, in his much publicised book The Trial of Henry Kissinger writes, “In November 1974, on a brief face-saving tour of the region, Kissinger made an eight-hour stop in Bangladesh and had a three-minute press conference. Within few weeks of his departure… a faction at the US embassy in Dacca began covertly meeting a group of Bangladeshi officers who were planning a coup against Mujib.”

The death of Sheikh Mujib was followed by Operation Fair Play which resulted in the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. On 5th July 1977 the Pakistani military, led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, staged a coup code named "Operation Fair Play" overthrowing the government and arresting Prime Minister Bhutto and was released after a month however on the 03rd of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested again on the charges of authorising the murder of a political opponent in March 1974. Even though On Bhutto was declared not guilty of murder, but was sentenced to death on 18 March 1978 and on On 4 April 1979, Bhutto was executed. Many political analysts and scientists widely suspected that the riots and coup against Bhutto were orchestrated with the help of Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Government because of United States fears of Bhutto's socialist policies being seen as sympathetic to the Soviet Union. This also happend at the defining moments of Cold war. Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan and US has to bring its trusted person in Power and US deliberately brought in Gen Zia-ul-Haq. In a memorandum titled ‘Prospects for Pakistan’ published on May 30, 1975, the Central Intelligence Agency analysis said: “Bhutto’s penchant for using repressive tactics against his opponents could backfire. Strong opposition could flare up over a number of issues, and the armed forces could grow tired of helping Bhutto fight his political battles.” “In such a situation, the armed forces might well decide to resume control over the government. They would not necessarily find it easy, however, to restore stability.”

A few years later at the White House in Washington, D.C., Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem signed the Camp David Accords, laying the groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities. The accords were negotiated during 12 days of intensive talks at President Jimmy Carter’s Camp David retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. The final peace agreement–the first between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors–was signed in March 1979. Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. On 6 October 1981, Sadat was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypt's crossing of the Suez Canal during the Arab-Israel war of 1967. The assassination squad was led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli who emptied his assault rifle into Sadat's body while in the front of the grandstand, mortally wounding the President. Talaat Sadat an Egyptian politician, lawyer and the nephew of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat claimed that the assassination was an international conspiracy. He accused the Egyptian generals of masterminding his uncle's assassination. In an interview with a Saudi television channel, he also claimed both the United States and Israel were involved: "No one from the special personal protection group of the late president fired a single shot during the killing, and not one of them has been put on trial," he said.

After more than 2 decades, the 2000 Camp David Summit was held between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The summit ended without an agreement. Most of the Israeli and American criticism for the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit was leveled at Arafat. Clinton blamed Arafat after the failure of the talks, stating, "I regret that in 2000 Arafat missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realized in a just and lasting peace." The failure to come to an agreement was widely attributed to Yasser Arafat, as he walked away from the table without making a concrete counter-offer and because Arafat did little to quell the series of Palestinian riots that began shortly after the summit. After the Failure of the peace agreement, Israel launched attacks on Gaza and launched "Operation Justified Vengeance" which was also referred to as the "Dagan Plan", named after General Meir Dagan, who was the head of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. According to Alex Fishman writing in Yediot Aharonot, the Dagan Plan consisted in destroying the Palestinian authority and putting Yasser Arafat 'out of the game'. The assassination of Yasser Arafat had been on the drawing board since 1996 under “Operation Fields of Thorns”. The Israeli government had tried for decades to assassinate Arafat, including attempting to intercept and to shoot down private aircraft and commercial airliners on which he was believed to be traveling. The assassination was initially assigned to Caesarea, the Mossad unit in charge of Israel's numerous targeted killings.

The first reports of Arafat's failing health by his doctors for what his spokesman said was the flu came on 25 October 2004, after he vomited during a staff meeting. His condition deteriorated in the following days. Following visits by other doctors, including teams from Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt—and agreement by Israel to allow him to travel—Arafat was taken to France on a French government jet, and was admitted to the Percy military hospital in Clamart, a suburb of Paris. On 3 November, he had lapsed into a gradually deepening coma. Arafat was pronounced dead on 11 November 2004 at the age of 75 of what French doctors called a massive hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident. Numerous theories have appeared regarding Arafat's death, with the most prominent being poisoning. There are theories that Arafat’s assassination was ordered in 2003 by the Israeli cabinet. It was approved by the US which vetoed a United Nations Security Resolution condemning the 2003 Israeli Cabinet decision. Reacting to increased Palestinian attacks, in August 2003, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz declared “all out war” on the militants whom he vowed “marked for death.”

The death of all the these leaders was follow by one of the most gruesome and shocking deaths, the death of Colonel Gaddafi. Maumar Gaddafi wanted to empower Africa. He had a plan to create a new African Union, based on a new African economic system. He had a plan to introduce the ‘Gold Dinar’ as backing for African currencies, so they could become free from the dollar dominated western monetary system, that kept and keeps usurping Africa; Africa’s vast natural resources, especially oil and minerals. As a first step, he offered this lucrative and very beneficial alternative to other Muslim African states, but leaving it open for any other African countries to join. At that time Libya’s gold reserves were estimated at close to 150 tons, and about the same amount of silver. The estimated value at that time was US$ 7billion. Libya was economically and socially a successful country, arguably the most successful of Africa. Prosperity from oil was largely shared by Gaddafi with his countrymen. Libya had a first-class social safety net, an excellent transportation infrastructure, free medical services, and modern hospitals,equipped with latest technology medical equipment, free education for everyone – and students could even receive scholarships to study abroad.

After the fall of Tripoli to forces of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) in August 2011, Gaddafi and his family escaped the Libyan capital. He was widely rumoured to have taken refuge in the south of the country. In fact, though, Gaddafi had fled in a small convoy to Sirte on the day Tripoli fell. His son Mutassim Gaddafi followed in a second convoy. on 20 October 2011, Gaddafi, his army chief Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, his security chief Mansour Dhao, and a group of loyalists attempted to escape the violence in a convoy of 75 vehicles. A Royal Air Force reconnaissance aircraft spotted the convoy moving at high speed, after NATO forces intercepted a satellite phone call made by Gaddafi. NATO aircraft then fired on 21 of the vehicles, destroying one. A U.S. Predator drone operated from a base near Las Vegas fired the first missiles at the convoy, hitting its target about 3 kilometres (2 mi) west of Sirte. Moments later, French Air Force Rafale fighter jets continued the bombing. After the airstrike, which destroyed the vehicle in front of Muammar Gaddafi's car, he and his son Mutassim, and former defence minister Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, took shelter in a nearby house, which was then shelled by NTC forces.

Mutassim then took 20 fighters and went to look for undamaged cars, having persuaded his father to come too. "The group belly-crawled to a sand berm," a UN report, released in March 2012 said, and then through two drainage pipes and set up a defensive position. One of Gaddafi's guards threw a grenade at advancing rebels on the road above, but it hit a concrete wall above the pipes and fell in front of Gaddafi. The guard tried to pick it up, but it exploded, killing both the guard and Yunis Jabr. Gaddafi took refuge in a large drainage pipe with several loyalist bodyguards. A nearby group of NTC fighters opened fire, wounding Gaddafi with gunshots to his leg and back. According to one unnamed NTC fighter, one of Gaddafi's own loyalists also shot him, apparently to spare him from being captured. Several videos related to the death were broadcast by news channels and circulated via the Internet. The first shows footage of Gaddafi alive, his face and shirt bloodied, stumbling and being dragged toward an ambulance by armed militants. It was stated in a new report in October 2012, that Gaddafi had not been killed in crossfire during his capture. He may have been executed without trial, along with 66 others, including one of his sons. Ghadafi had for long been a threat to a lot of nations and his death was celebrated by these nations and their agencies.

The leaders who wanted to bring Islamic countries together and were working with each other to strengthen the Islamic world were all killed. There is no direct evidence or connection in these deaths but a common factor, they all died an unnatural death and that with each death either United States, CIA, Israel, Mossad or some agency or country was claimed to be linked. Was this their fate or were these planned assassinations will always remain a mystery.

The World of Ghost Armies and Shadow Warriors

“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting” Sun Tzu

Many ancient cultures and religions across the world believe in the existence of super natural powers. In Jewish mythology, Shedim is one of several supernatural creatures which is also a resemble of the Islamic concept of Jinn. Both are said to be invisible to human eye and the jinn are said to be creatures with free will, who were created from 'smokeless fire' by Allah. Beliefs in entities similar to the jinn are found throughout pre-Islamic Middle Eastern cultures and affirmation on the existence of Jinn as sapient beings living along with humans is still widespread. It is also believed that King Solomon used to have power over the Jinn. He could hear, see, talk to them and command them to do stuff for him making Jinn an essential element of the Army Force of King Solomon.

Centuries later, we have unseen soldiers and armies who are Humans and not Jinn. As our world becomes unpredictable, what was earlier a fight for land or resources has now become a fight for dominance and power at times in the name of religion and culture. There are powerful countries who control the global economics and trade and they have allies who help these countries maintain their power and dominance. In the recent years, the battles between armies has become a war between the army and its own civilians. Today there is a long list of nations whose leaders and governments have been toppled or ousted by its citizens. Is this because the people of these countries are tired of their leaders and governments? or is this the new way wars are fought?

Some of the most powerful countries have mastered the art of creating official and sometime unofficial, ghost armies and shadow warriors who defend these nations against their enemies. Mossad, KGB, CIA, MI6 and many more such intelligence agencies have existed for decades, executing some of the most classified and gruesome operations for their countries. The operations need to be well funded and these agencies rely on the heavy funding that they receive from their governments, billions of dollars that are used to fund these covert operations and the army of "assets" and "informers". These agencies work beyond borders and that means that they need a lot of funding and they need it regularly. When the risks and threats are minimal the funding of these agencies are also reduced, this brings about a challenge for these agencies and it becomes imperative for them to ensure that keep the wheels turning.

The primary task of these is agencies usually is to defend their country against any current and future threats posed by any external or internal elements. A task that is usually classified as "Homeland Security". A lot times some of these agencies have been blamed for malpractices. While they try to ensure that they don't lose out on the funding or are not sidelined. One such agency is the ISI of Pakistan. An intelligence agency which has not only been blamed to have worked on destabilizing India but sometimes has also been blamed for working against Pakistan itself. It is believed that the ISI has a very strong influence on the Pakistani politics. These agencies at times are required to carry out operations and tasks which to a lot of people might be immoral however these men are trained to carry out orders that at any cost to defend their nation.

The militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba also referred to as the LeT, is widely blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and the the US government has put a $10m bounty for its founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Saeed now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa group also called the JuD, widely seen as a front for LeT. For decades, Pakistan and the ISI have been trying to destabilize the Indian forces active in the Indian-controlled Kashmir. The Pakistani Army along with ISI have long considered Lashkar-e-Taiba to be the country’s most reliable proxy against India and the LeT began carrying out operations in Indian-controlled Kashmir in the 1990s. It actively infiltrated militants across the Line of Control from Pakistan to carry out sabotage activities with the help of the ISI. India and Pakistan have been arm twisting each other since their independence however in the last 3 decades the ISI has been growing its influence and has been operating against India.

The roots of this war goes back to the British India, A country which was ruled by the British around 200 years and was divided between the Muslim Minority and the Hindu Majority which during the independence from the British, resulted in creating Pakistan and India. The partition left more than 12.5 million displaced and more than 1 million dead and since then relations between both these nations have been both complex and fragile. India and Pakistan since then have fought numerous wars which sabotaged the diplomatic and political efforts of creating stronger economic ties between the countries. The political leadership of both the countries have accused each other of escalating the Kashmir dispute and using clandestine agents to sponsor terror across their borders.

After fighting numerous wars, and conflicts both the countries today have taken a diplomatic route and have been trying to enhance the bilateral relations but it is a love-hate relationship and there is a long way to go in order to have a diplomatic solution. Both these nuclear powers know that direct war could be a very big threat to them and they have strategically been fighting a “Proxy War” between the intelligence agencies of both the countries: The Research and Analysis Wing of India know as RAW and The Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan known as the ISI. These organizations that are ideally meant to provide intelligence that protects their nations are engaged in fighting a proxy war and which has affected the geo-political scenario of the region.


When America launched its war on terror and the began the hunt for the worlds most wanted man, it worked closely with Pakistan without knowing that a decade later America will find its enemy living in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The world was shocked by this and started to look at Pakistan’s role in providing a safe haven for terrorists and realize that Pakistan could be on its way to become a rogue nation. The question is not how Osama Bin Laden was living in Pakistan, without the knowledge of the government but the real question is who in Pakistan has made it a safe haven for terror? Is it the Pakistani people? Or the Pakistani government? Or is it the Pakistani Army and the ISI?

The world understands that Osama Bin Laden was not the first terrorist who was in Pakistan and may be not the last either. Al Qaeda's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Abu Zubaydah, Abu Laith al Libi and Sheikh Said Masri have all been captured or killed inside Pakistan. The Haqqani network too has been growing in Pakistan and the Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of US, Mike Mullen described the Haqqani Network as the 'veritable arm of Pakistan's ISI'. The Kunduz airlift, also popularly called the "Airlift of Evil" where several Pakistani Air Force transport planes flying multiple sorties over a number of days evacuated about 5000 of the top leadership of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda who were encircled by Nato forces in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

For decades India has been speaking about Pakistan and the ISI’s role in escalating the Kashmir issue; the attacks of 26/11 in Mumbai and the 93 serial blasts in Mumbai. India’s most wanted man and the key conspirator of the 93 serial blasts, Dawood Ibrahim has been rumored to be living in Pakistan and also Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai continues to live in Pakistan. Back in 1994, when the Yakub Memon, the younger brother of Tiger Memon, who is believed to have executed the serial blasts in Mumbai in 93, was arrested. Yakub confessed that he had been living with Tiger Memon and his family in Karachi, Pakistan and that ISI agents had provided shelter and fake documents to him and his family. He also alleged that Dawood Ibrahim, was also in Pakistan and that Tiger Memon ran a successful construction business in Pakistan. Yakub also provided the Indian government with intelligence to prove that ISI and Tiger Memon had planned the entire attack on Mumbai.

This confession shocked India and the government now wanted this confession to be heard by the world and allowed an interview by Newstrack, a half-hour news analysis show on Doordarshan. The Indian government and the international community put pressure on Pakistan to hand over Tiger Memon to India but the Pakistani government denied his presence in Pakistan. Following this the ISI gained the confidence that this proxy war can be fought successfully.

In a recent book, Ajit Doval, a former Indian intelligence and law enforcement officer and the current National Security Advisor to Prime Minister of India highlighted ISI’s role in the crisis of the Indian Airline Flight IC-814 which was hijacked in 1999. Doval claimed that the hijackers were communicating directly with ISI officers in Kandahar and if the Taliban hijackers did not have ISI’s support, India could have resolved the crisis. There have been many more such allegations against the ISI and its role in destabilizing India, in 2008 when an armed group of LeT backed terrorist attacked Mumbai. When Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving terrorist was interrogated, he confessed that he was from the LeT and in 2010 India's home secretary, G. K. Pillai accused Pakistan's ISI of collaborating with the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) terrorist group to mount the attacks.

The ISI has a growing influence in the region and the past has proved that the ISI is capable of going on a war with a country without even stepping on its soil. From Osama Bin Laden to Dawood Ibrahim to Hafeez Saeed all of these names have been linked to the ISI and it is important for India to keep a close watch on Pakistan to ensure safety of its citizens and stability in region from a nuclear power, who has an army of Shadow Warriors, with growing capabilities, they are not only against India but are also a threat to the safety and stability of their own country, making Pakistan one of the most unsafe places for its own citizen’s. India has been increasing its global influence and strengthening its foreign relations with a close watch on its neighbor. The balance of power and responsibility needs to maintained before Pakistan becomes a rogue nation. 

America's Prince of Persia

On the 05^th of June 1967, the CIA created an intelligence memorandum titled “The Shah of Iran and his Policies”, this intelligence document was prepared before the Shah’s official visit on the 16^th of June 1967. In its summary the CIA described the Shah as “A proud and sensitive man” and said that “the Shah will be expecting recognition for his role as a leader of a country which is stable, achieving rapid economic growth, and undertaking widespread social and economic reforms.”  The document also referred to Shah as a good friend of the US and one of the few third-world leaders who publicly support the US Policy in Vietnam. 

The Shah who the CIA was referring to in this document was “Mohammad Reza Pahlavi” the last shah of Iran. He was the son of Reza Khan, a commander in the British Army who overthrew the Qajar dynasty and went on to become the Shah (King) of Iran on 12 December 1925, pursuant to the Constitution of Iran. Reza Shah's coronation took place much later, on 25 April 1926. It was at that time that his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was proclaimed the Crown Prince of Persia – to rule after his father. Reza Shah modernized Iran and brought reforms to the country however in August 1941, the Allied powers Great Britain and the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Iran by a massive air, land, and naval assault. By 28–29 August, the Iranian military situation was in complete chaos. The Anglo-Soviet invasion was instigated in response to Reza Shah's declaration of Neutrality in World War II and refusal to allow Iranian territory to be used to train, supply, and act as a transport corridor to ship arms to Russia for its war effort against Germany.

Reza Shah was forced by the invading British to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who replaced his father as Shah on the throne on 16 September 1941. The British offered to keep his family in power if Reza Shah agreed to a life of exile and Reza Shah obliged. Under the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, political tensions in Iran had been brewing and this demanded the attention of the American and British leaders, in 1951 Mohammad Mosaddegh was appointed prime minister. The British economy was largely supported by the revenues that it got from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), Mohammad Mosaddegh was committed to nationalize the petroleum industry which was controlled the by AIOC and he persuaded the parliament to nationalize the industry, shutting down the AIOC. 

The British government invited CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., grandson of former US President Theodore Roosevelt to London to propose collaboration on a secret plan to force Mosaddegh from office. Working with Shah, the CIA and British intelligence began to engineer a plot to overthrow Mossadeq. The Iranian premier, however, got wind of the plan and called his supporters to take to the streets in protest. At this point, the Shah left the country for “medical reasons.” While British intelligence backed away from the debacle, the CIA continued its covert operations in Iran.

Working with pro-Shah forces and, most importantly, the Iranian military, the CIA cajoled, threatened, and bribed its way into influence and helped to organize another coup attempt against Mossadeq. On August 19, 1953, the military, backed by street protests organized and financed by the CIA, overthrew Mossadeq. The Shah quickly returned to take power with General Fazlollah Zahedi as the new prime minister and, as thank you gesture to the American help, the Shah signed over 40 percent of Iran’s oil fields to U.S. companies. 

The tenure of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was the most progressive for Iran and in January 1963, the Shah announced the "White Revolution", a six-point programme of reform calling for land reform, nationalization of the forests, the sale of state-owned enterprises to private interests, electoral changes to enfranchise women and allow non-Muslims to hold office, profit-sharing in industry, and a literacy campaign in the nation's schools. A Shi’a cleric, Ruhollah Khomeini, known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini viewed the white revolution as "an attack on Islam" and called for a boycott of the referendum on the White Revolution. In June, 1963, just 2 days after this public denunciation of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Khomeini was detained in Qom and transferred to Tehran. Khomeini was kept under house arrest and released in August. On 26 October 1964, Khomeini denounced both the Shah and the United States.

Khomeini was finally arrested in November 1964 and held for half a year and upon his release, he was brought before Prime Minister Hasan Ali Mansur, who tried to convince Khomeini that he should apologize and drop his opposition to the government. When Khomeini refused, Mansur slapped Khomeini's face in a fit of rage. Two months later, Mansur was assassinated on his way to parliament. Four members of the Fadayan-e Islam were later executed for the murder. The Shah was more worried about the ambitions of Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, the president of Egypt who the Shah felt could be an immediate threat to Iran and overlooking the internal threat that was about to change the history of Iran.

The Shah became one of America’s most trusted Cold War allies, and U.S. economic and military aid poured into Iran during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In the 1970s, Iran had an economic growth rate equal to that of South Korea, Turkey and Taiwan, with Iran's great oil wealth, the Shah became the preeminent leader of the Middle East. By the 1970s, Mohammad Reza was considered one of the world's most successful and able leaders. Mohammad Reza was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1974 and by June 1978 the Shah had stopped appearing in public. The Shah was out of the public picture and was losing his grip over country’s political system. In October 1977 a few hundred stated an anti-shah demonstration, after the death of Khomeini's son Mostafa. These demonstrators were considered as some extreme nationalist who were considered to be unorganized and were not considered to be an imminent threat. By October 1978, strikes were paralyzing the country, and in early December more than 10% of the country marched against the Shah throughout Iran.

The Shah felt that he was abandoned by the western countries and also blamed them for the revolution. The Shah knew that he had lost the grip on Iran and it was best for him to leave Iran and end the monarchy. On 17 January 1979, the Shah left the country and two weeks later, on Thursday, 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran. The west lost its friend in the region and they knew this would impact their economy and their dominance in the region as the revolutionaries were now in charge and Khomeini was their leader.

Khomeini and his supporters worked to suppress some former allies and rewrote the proposed constitution and in November 1979, the new constitution of the Islamic Republic was adopted by national referendum. Khomeini was instituted as the Supreme Leader (Guardian Jurist), and officially became known as the "Leader of the Revolution." A country whose political system was dominated by the west was soon to become one of their biggest mistakes and the Ayatollah was about the change the regional politics and make his impact on the United States becoming a nightmare for the Carter Administration.

Balochistan – Pakistan's Backyard War

Balochistan has an enviable location in south Asia, placed at the south west of Pakistan and to its west is the border with Afghanistan and Iran and to the south is the Arabian Sea. Balochistan accounts for nearly half the land mass of Pakistan and only 3.6% of its total population. Its strategic location makes it economically a very important part of Pakistan. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through the region and the Gwadar port, which is an important trade center for both Pakistan and China is also located here and recently there has been an agreement which is signed between both the nations to develop road, rails, infrastructure etc. boosting the economic ties and it will help China to save 12000 kilometers of Trade route from China to Middle east for oil purposes.

Balochistan is immensely rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, copper and gold. All these factors make Balochistan an important part of Pakistan however despite these huge deposits of mineral wealth and strategic location the area is one of the poorest regions of Pakistan and the majority of its population lives in deplorable housing conditions without access to electricity or clean drinking water. By controlling this region, one can have an upper hand in South-Asia as well as in Middle East.

The people of Balochistan blame the Pakistani establishment for exploiting rich gas and mineral resources without the giving the people of Balochistan a proper representation and there are many organizations fighting for the liberation of Baluchistan like BLA- Baloch Liberation Army, BRA- Baloch Republic Army, BRP- Baloch Republican Party. The Balochistan Liberation Army is a Pakistan-designated terrorist organisation. It is the most widely-known Baloch separatist group. Baloch nationalists accuse Pakistan of systematically suppressing its development to keep the Balochs suppressed. Pakistani security forces are accused of illegally detaining 19,000 men, women and children in Balochistan. Many of them have been raped and killed. 

Balochistan is a touchy issue for Pakistan and India’s interference in Balochistan is in a way its answer to Pakistan’s interference in Kashmir and just like India’s Kashmir issue, the roots of the Balochistan conflict, go back to the country’s independence. Under the British Crown, Balochistan was a free nation but was economically and socially underdeveloped with a very low literacy rate and a mainly rural population. Three months before the formation of Pakistan, Muhammed Ali Jinnah who was also the lawyer of the Baloch Rulers, had negotiated the freedom of Baluchistan under Kalat from the British. Discussions were made about Kalat's relationship with Pakistan as it was formed. This ensued a series of meetings between the Viceroy, as the Crown’s Representative, Jinnah and the Khan of Kalat. By 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had a change of decision on the recognition of Kalat as an “Independent and a Sovereign State and wanted the Khan of Kalat to sign the same form of instrument of accession as the other states which had joined Pakistan. 

The Khan of Kalat resisted this decision and refused to sign a treaty. The discussion and negotiations went on until March 26, 1948 when Pakistan ordered its Army to move into the Baloch coastal region of Pasni, Jiwani and Turbat. Kalat surrendered on March 27 after the army moved into the coastal region and it was announced in Karachi that the Khan of Kalat has agreed to join his state with Pakistan. The independent Baloch state after British withdrawal from India lasted only 227 days and during this time Baluchistan had a flag flying in its embassy in Karachi where its ambassador to Pakistan lived. It was this forceful accession of Balochistan that the people of Balochistan, dissatisfied with the treaty raised the armed revolt. Pakistan has been struggling to gain a full control over the region and been using the Pakistani Army to maintain law and order in the country. The Pakistani Army has been blamed of brutalities against the citizens of Balochistan and Baloch’s believe that the Pakistani has been working as henchmen who are payed to protect Chinese interests in Baloch soil.

India for a long time has maintained its stand that it would not interfere in the internal matters of other countries and had never brought up the Balochistan issue at any international platform, despite Pakistan repeatedly fueling the Kashmir issue but when the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue in his Independence Day speech, The Indian Prime Minister reciprocated by thanking the people of Balochistan without mentioning Pakistan. This hit Pakistan’s ego where it hurts the most. Balochistan has become a new geo political playground. India is supporting the movement of the people of Balochistan which is a great move for India to keep Pakistan under check. The Pakistani forces know that if India increasing foot hold in Balochistan is strengthening the Indian Army and RAW’s efforts to accurate intelligence on the movements and activities of all Anti-India terrorist groups, deploy its covert ops assets to carry out quick counter terrorism operations, India’s intelligence assets and envoys in Pakistan and to make sure that embarrassing failures like Kargil, 26/11 etc. never repeat.