Pseudo-Caliphate and India
by Sandhya Jain on 18 Feb 2020 8 Comments

Even if we overlook the facts about which nation is “occupying” Kashmir, by stating that there is “no difference between Gallipoli and occupied Kashmir”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unambiguously signalled his intention to emerge as “imam” of the new (pseudo) Caliphate he hopes to lead by 2023, the centenary of the Turkish Republic. Addressing a joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament (Feb. 14), Erdogan lauded Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war on terror and “positive contributions” to the Afghanistan peace process, and promised support in the Financial Action Task Force in Paris (Feb. 16-21, 2020). His denunciation of US President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan hints at an eventual challenge to Riyadh in the region.

 

Erdogan’s determination to restore the Caliphate has created a visible schism between the Arab States formally led by Saudi Arabia and the non-Arab States led by Turkey. A nascent axis is discernible between Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan; Iran and Qatar complete the anti-Riyadh alignment. Erdogan declared in February 2018, “The Republic of Turkey is a continuation of the Ottoman Empire… the essence is the same, soul is the same…”

 

Unsurprisingly, Ankara has emerged as the new hub for anti-India activities by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Unknown to most people, Turkey has universal jurisdiction laws as part of its domestic laws. Article 13 of the Turkish Penal Code states that, “Turkish law shall apply to” the crime of torture “committed in a foreign country whether or not committed by a citizen or non-citizen”.

 

Khalistanis tried to invoke these laws. Sikhs for Justice, a group working for a referendum (“Referendum 2020”) to create Khalistan, is believed to be funded by the ISI. In October 2018, its legal adviser, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, filed a case against Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh when he visited Turkey to pay homage at Gallipoli to soldiers from the First Patiala Infantry Regiment (now 15 Punjab) who lost their lives in World War I, on the centenary of the Great War.

 

Pannun went to Gallipoli to secure an arrest warrant and restrain the Punjab chief minister from leaving Turkey. As the Captain was on a non-official trip, he lacked diplomatic immunity as under the Vienna Protocol only the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister are “protected persons” when abroad in personal capacity. In Pakistan, Erdogan lauded a 1915 rally in Lahore, led by Allama Iqbal, where people from present-day Pakistan supported the Turkish people, and blatantly ignored the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers at Gallipoli (Battle of Çanakkale), possibly because the bells tolled for the Ottoman Empire.

 

Turkey’s domestic laws explain why ex-IAS officer, Shah Faesal, was going to Turkey on August 14, 2019, soon after the Centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the State of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is possible that some foreign mentors asked Shah Faesal to invoke these laws in Turkey. Faesal was to file a case of human rights violations against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, and others, on behalf of his political party, Jammu & Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM).

 

Media reports stated that from Ankara, Faesal was likely to try to take the Kashmir issue to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, The Netherlands. But this would not take off for want of jurisdiction; no individual can file a case in the ICJ, only States can. Of course, his arrival in The Netherlands would be embarrassing for India.

 

But if Shah Faesal really wanted to go to The Hague, he could have taken a direct flight to Amsterdam. His plan was to exploit Turkey’s Article 13 universal jurisdiction law. Some human rights NGO would receive him at Ankara, where he would be lionized as a civil service topper (2010) and Harvard alumni who quit a government job to protest against the activities of the Indian State in Kashmir. Actually Faesal resigned from the service in January 2019 in order to enter politics; however, the sudden split of J&K and freeze on political activity nixed his unborn political career, leaving NGO activism his only alternative.

 

Had he reached Ankara, the international media would have splashed Kashmir on the front pages of all important newspapers and magazines, and the Indian media would follow suit, thus making Faesal the global face of the anti-India Islamic movement. Once he managed to file a case in Turkey, Islamabad would almost certainly have followed up by filing a case against India at the International Court of Justice, where it has suffered reverses in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

 

However, Faesal’s mentors could not anticipate the lookout notices for Kashmiris trying to leave the country; he was caught at the airport, sent back to Srinagar, and placed in preventive custody. He has now been booked under the Public Safety Act (Feb. 15).

 

This argument can be corroborated from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tweet on August 15, 2019, where he invoked Srebrenica, site of the 1995 genocide of over 8,000 Bosnians by the Bosnian Serb army led by Ratko Mladic. Khan tweeted: “Will world silently witness another Srebrenica-type massacre & ethnic cleansing of Muslims in IOK? I want to warn international community if it allows this to happen, it will have severe repercussions & reactions in the Muslim world setting off radicalisation & cycles of violence”. The talk of “massacre and ethnic cleansing” of Kashmiri Muslims is, of course, pure bunkum, but the tweet suggests an ISI hand in the aborted Turkish escapade.

 

Meanwhile, Erdogan has been cultivating separatist, religious and business leaders, and Islamic groups in Kashmir after the tweaking of Article 370; this goes deeper than his traditional support to Pakistan at the Organisation of Islamic Conference. Previously also, he supported Pakistan in the Financial Action Task Force. While addressing the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2019, he chided the international community for not paying proper attention to Kashmir over the past seven decades.

 

Interestingly, soon after the FATF and UNGA meetings, the Indian Overseas Congress headed by Rahul Gandhi loyalist Sam Pitroda opened an office in Istanbul, in November 2019. Possibly the Congress Party hopes to recover its once committed Muslim vote bank by cultivating the emerging caliphate; the repercussions on India’s internal affairs will need careful observation.

 

(The author is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal)

User Comments Post a Comment
Turkey is unpopular among its neighbors. It was also a 'reject' in the European Union despite its NATO status.

The Hindus and the Sikhs also suffered Turkish atrocities. Guru Gobind Singh in his autobiography 'Bichitar Natak' or 'Mystical Play' addressed the Muslims as 'Turks'. If one reads the history of Constantinople (today's Istanbul) there is a remarkable similarity suffered by the Orthodox Christians and India's Sikhs at the hands of the Turks - beheading, cutting a body on the wheel (Churkhi), impalement, sitting on a hot plate, boiling oil immersion (Guru Teg Bahadur) etc.

Even today no Sikh religious service is complete without paying homage to those who suffered at the hands of the Turks. Most Muslims in the Indian subcontinent including Kashmir wear Turkish (not Persian) caps - the kind that the former VP Hamid Ansari wears.

Sultan or Nawab are Turkish (not Arab) titles. There is some Turkish gene in Punjab; for example 'B' is often pronounced 'P' - Parosa not Bharosa, Parpoor not Bharpoor, Pandari not Bhandari etc. Likewise the Turks say Talap for Talab (Pond), Kitap for Kitab (book) etc. The Turks entered India from the Afghanistan-POK border.

The Turks are intelligent and ruthless fighters. India has to be firm and imaginative in dealing with them.
Deepak Butani
February 18, 2020
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Supporting the caliphate, as MK Gandhi did - and we know how many Hindus were killed as a consequence in India. The Congress wants to relive its Gandhi history.

Voice of India has recently re-published THE MOPLAH REBELLION, 1921 by C. Gopalan Nair
Krishen Kak
February 18, 2020
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Very interesting. Never knew about this Turkish law
Archie
February 18, 2020
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Erdogan is playing for the loyalty of his fellow Muslims.
Anmol
February 19, 2020
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Very nice article Sandhya; it taught the readers something they did not know.
Hope to see more of your articles with similar levels of overview, details, and understanding of global and local issues.
N Mishra
February 19, 2020
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Around 2030 when oil ceases to be a weapon in the hands of Arabs, Turkey wants to lead Islamic world.History of Islam is history of internal strife and treacheries.Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, Mughals all had their share of victories.But none have been able to hold on to their gains.Europe and North America have remained Christian countries only in names.Christianity survives only in Africa,Asia and Latin America.Similar fate awaits Islam post 2050 and beyond.
Jitendra Desai
February 19, 2020
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Wow! Here citizens like me are trying to expose how a simple law like the Right to Information Act is being subverted by our corrupt and treacherous babus and here is Ms Sandhya Jain quoting Article 13 of the Turkish Penal Code and how it was planned to be used by an IAS turncoat to defame India internationally.

I wish our MEA at least offers an advisor's role to the author.

Kudos, for an enlightening article.
P M Ravindran
February 22, 2020
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Erdogan dream to destabilise every country or region whichever doesn't agree with his idea of establishing a caliphate and him being the supreme leader is not going to succeed.
Vineeta
February 28, 2020
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