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In the tenth year of Pakistan’s Kargil
“misadventure”, one of the most macabre factors to emerge is, that, Musharraf, the sole engineer of the
unsavory machination has gone scot
free...
The events following the act make a strange reading. In
Pakistan, the highest price has been paid by nearly 2500 soldiers of the
Northern Light Infantry who laid their lives on the altar of infamy and
Mian Nawaz Sharif , who despite his bold attempts at the Indo-Pak peace
process, had to leave for a life of ignominy. But non person Musharraf
continues to lead a charmed life of a celebrity and travels globally. He
came to India as well, on one such jaunt.
In Pakistan the most virulent movement came from his army cronies in
June last year when over 250,000 members of the Ex-Servicemen Society -
a group lead by the retired Pakistan army generals asked the PPP
government to hold Musharraf accountable for the deaths of thousands of
army jawans in the Kargil “misadventure”, and demanded an open trial of
Musharraf on treason charges. Former ISI chief Hameed Gul wanted the
culprit identified and brought to book. On the obfuscated issue whether
Nawaz Sharif knew about Musharraf’s infamous actions, retired Lt Gen
Jamhed Gulzar Kayani, the Rawalpindi Corps Commander during the Kargil
war, told the GEO TV channel that the Prime Minister was not informed
about the operations by Musharraf. Jamhed Gulzar died due to a sudden
stomach illness in November.
One of the erstwhile ministers of the Sharif government confirmed that
when the Premier got wind of the Army’s actions, he had summoned the
service chiefs and confronted them. The acceptance of the misadventure
had come easily and it is alleged that Musharraf had congratulated
Sharif for ordering a withdrawal of forces and for a cease fire to save
embarrassment. Although, Musharraf publicly continues to maintain the
charade that neither did he keep Sharif in darkness nor did he advise to
withdraw.
Perhaps, the actual confirmation of the perfidy came to Sharif’s notice
when the Indian government sent a special emissary, Late Mr RK Mishra of
the Observer Foundation who handed over a secret recording and a
transcript of the conversation between Lt Gen Aziz, Army’s CGS and
Musharraf, to Sharif personally on 4th June 1999. The recording clearly
indicated that the Premier did not know.
No doubt, there was trepidation in Sharif’s mind in ordering a retreat
without adequate backing including from the US and this factor comes out
very strongly in the account of Bruce Riedel, the special assistant to
the US President. He was the only official present during discussions
between Clinton and Sharif on the course of the Kargil war. According to
him, Pakistan was preparing to use nuclear weapons and Clinton warned
him of the repercussions of a nuclear strike against Pakistan. The US
President had left Sharif with no options but to pull back. Riedel
indicates that Sharif’s reluctance emanated from his perceptions about
the embarrassment to his country and specially the army, if he ordered
cease fire. Sharif’s biggest folly however, was to not allow Musharraf’s
aircraft to land when the latter was returning from Sri Lanka. That
changed history.
On the other hand, the India Today media group, chose to invite
Musharraf as a key note speaker at a highly publicized conclave held in
March this year and placed him on a pedestal meant for persons of global
eminence.
As a prelude to the event, the group’s website praised him in idolatry
terms without even once mentioning his role in waging the Kargil war and
during which large number of our military men died. On that, a Pakistan
based military interlocutor had remarked, “For India, Musharraf is still
the President of Pakistan!!”
Prashant Dikshit can be contacted at
prashant.salute@gmail.com
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