In an
article (the "International Herald Tribune" of June 16) on Pakistan's
proxy invasion of Indian territory in the Kargil sector of Jammu & Kashmir, Mr.Selig
Harrison, the well-known American analyst, says:" Recent information makes clear that
the newly-installed Army Chief of Staff (COAS), Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has long-standing
links with several Islamic fundamentalist groups."
Gen. Musharraf's
past background has not received, from Indian and Western analysts, the attention it
deserves, if one has to have a clearer understanding of his role in the proxy invasion.
Gen. Musharraf, a
Mohajir of Azamgarh/Karachi origin, had subsequently settled down in Gujranwala in Punjab
and prefers to project himself more as a Punjabi than as a Mohajir. He was commissioned in
the Pakistan Army Artillery in 1964.
He had an
undistinguished career till the 1980s, when he caught the eye of Gen.Zia-ul-Haq and Gen.
Mirza Aslam Beg, another Mohajir COAS.
Gen. Zia, who
preferred devoutly Muslim officers in important positions, chose Gen. Musharraf for
advancement as he was, like Gen. Zia himself, a devout Deobandi and was strongly
recommended by the Jamaat-e-Islami.
The first
assignment given by Zia to him was in the training of the mercenaries recruited by various
Islamic extremist groups for fighting against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It was
during those days that Gen. Musharaff came into contact with Osama bin Laden, then a
reputed civil engineer of Saudi Arabia, who had been recruited by the USA's Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and brought to Pakistan for constructing bunkers for the Afghan
Mujahideen in difficult terrain.
bin Laden initially
made his reputation in Afghanistan not as a mujahideen or terrorist, but as a civil
engineer who could construct bunkers in any terrain. He also developed the technique of
constructing long tunnels to isolated Soviet and Afghan military posts. The Mujahideen
used to suddenly emerge from these tunnels and surprise the Soviet and Afghan troops. The
links, which Gen. Musharraf developed with bin Laden in those days, have subsequently
remained strong.
It was alleged that
Gen. Musharraf also developed a nexus with the narcotics smugglers of the North-West
Frontier Province (NWFP). Even though the CIA valued his services in Afghanistan, the
Narcotics Control officials of the US had reservations about him because of suspicions of
his contacts with the narcotics smugglers.
That is one of the
reasons why of all the senior Pakistani Army officers of today, Gen. Musharraf has had the
least interactions with the US military establishment-- in the form of nomination for
higher training in the US, participation in seminars and exercises and visits to US
military establishments. His bio-data issued by the Pakistan Army HQ. in October last at
the time of his appointment as the COAS show that he has done two training courses in the
UK. There was no mention of any course in the US.
Gen. Zia chose Gen.
Musharraf (then a Brigadier) in 1987 to command a newly-raised Special Services Group
(SSG) base at Khapalu in the Siachen area. To please Gen. Zia, Gen. Musharraf with his SSG
commandos launched an attack on an Indian post at Bilfond La in September, 1987,and was
beaten back. Despite this, he continued to enjoy the confidence of Zia.
Gen. Musharraf has
since then spent seven years in two tenures with the SSG and prides himself on being an
SSG commando and projects himself as the greatest expert of the Pakistan Army in mountain
warfare. When he recently received Gen. Anthony Zinni, the Commanding Officer of the US
Central Command, he was dressed as an SSG Commando.
In May,1988, the
Shias, who are in a majority in Gilgit, rose in revolt against the Sunni-dominated
administration. Zia put an SSG group commanded by Gen. Musharraf in charge of suppressing
the revolt. Gen. Musharraf transported a large number of Wahabi Pakhtoon tribesmen from
the NWFP and Afghanistan, commanded by bin Laden, to Gilgit to teach the Shias a lesson.
These tribesmen under bin Laden massacred hundreds of Shias.
In its issue of
May,1990, "Herald", the monthly journal of the "Dawn" group of
publications of Karachi, wrote as follows: " In May,1988, low-intensity political
rivalry and sectarian tension ignited into full-scale carnage as thousands of armed
tribesmen from outside Gilgit district invaded Gilgit along the Karakoram Highway. Nobody
stopped them. They destroyed crops and houses, lynched and burnt people to death in the
villages around Gilgit town. The number of dead and injured was put in the hundreds. But
numbers alone tell nothing of the savagery of the invading hordes and the chilling impact
it has left on these peaceful valleys."
Gen. Musharraf
started a policy of bringing in Punjabis and Pakhtoons from outside and settling them down
in Gilgit and Baltistan in order to reduce the Kashmiri Shias to a minority in their
traditional land and this is continuing till today. The "Friday Times" of
October 15-21, 1992, quoted Mr. Muhammad Yahya Shah, a local Shia leader, as saying:
" We were ruled by the Whites during the British days. We are now being ruled by the
Browns from the plains. The rapid settling-in of Punjabis and Pakhtoons from outside,
particularly the trading classes, has created a sense of acute insecurity among the local
Shias."
Zia became the
first victim of the carnage unleashed by Gen. Musharraf on the Shias of Gilgit. Though the
Pakistani authorities have not released the report of the committee, which enquired into
the crash of Zia's plane in August,1988, it is widely believed in Pakistan that a Shia
airman from Gilgit, wanting to take revenge for the May,1988, carnage, was responsible for
the crash.
During his days
with the SSG in the Siachen area and in the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), Gen.
Musharraf developed a close personal friendship with Lt.Gen. (now retd) Javed Nasir,
Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), during Mr.Nawaz Sharif's first
tenure as the Prime Minister and now his Adviser on intelligence matters, Maj.Gen.
Zaheer-ul-Islam Abbasi, then a Brigadier, Lt.Gen. Mohd.Aziz, former No. 2 in the ISI
till February this year and now the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), and Mr.Mohd Rafique
Tarar, then a Judge and now the President of Pakistan.
All the four of
them were devout Deobandis with strong links with Islamic fundamentalist parties and
particularly with the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM, also known for some years as the
Harkat-ul-Ansar ), which was declared by the US as an international terrorist organisation
in 1997. Along with the Lashkar-e-Toiba,the HUM is a member of bin Laden's International
Islamic Front for Jihad against the US and Israel.
Lt.Gen. Nasir was also an office-bearer of the Tablighi Jamaat, even
while in service.
In the late 1980s,
Brig. Abbasi was posted as the Military Attache in the Pakistani High Commission in New
Delhi. He was expelled by the Government of India in 1989 after he was caught by the New
Delhi police while receiving classified papers from a Government employee.
On his return to
Pakistan, Brig. Abbasi was posted to the Siachen. Like Gen. Musharraf, he had a reputation
of taking rash and irresponsible actions without the clearance of his superiors. He
launched an attack on an Indian army post, which was repulsed with heavy Pakistani
casualties.
The late Gen.Asif
Nawaz Janjua, the then COAS, recalled him to Rawalpindi and wanted to dismiss him for
launching the attack without his orders, but Lt.Gen. Nasir saved him from any punishment.
On September
8,1995, the Pakistani Customs stopped a car carrying heavy arms and ammunition near Kohat
in the NWFP and arrested its driver and Saifullah Akhtar, the then patron of the HUM. On
interrogation, they reportedly told the Customs authorities that the weapons had been
procured by Brig. Mustansar Billa of the Pakistan Army at Darra Adamkhel for supply to the
Kashmiri extremist groups.
The Pakistani army
then took over the investigation and arrested a group of 40 army officers and 10 civilians
headed by Maj.Gen.Abbasi. Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, then Prime Minister, alleged that this
group had conspired to kill her and senior military officers, stage a coup and proclaim an
Islamic state. They were secretly tried by a military court and sentenced to various terms
of imprisonment.
Sections of the
Pakistani press had alleged that the plotters had wanted to instal Gen. Musharraf as the
head of the Islamic State, and that Gen. Aziz was also involved in the plot, but no action
was taken against them for want of adequate evidence
Mr.M.H.Askari, a
well-known columnist, wrote in the "Dawn" (October 18,1995) as follows: "It
is said that the plotters had close links with the Hizbul Mujahideen and the
Harkat-ul-Ansar, which are known for their involvement in international terrorism. It is
also said that the arrested officers wanted Pakistan to become militarily involved in the
Kashmir freedom struggle."
"The
Nation" (October 20,1995) reported that Maj.Gen.Abbasi had close contacts with the
Harkat-ul-Ansar. The "Khabrain" alleged that two of the arrested officers
belonged to the ISI and that one of them had worked as the staff officer to Lt.Gen. Nasir,
when he was DG, ISI.
"The
Nation" of November 15,1995, reported: "Almost all the arrested officers are
followers of the Tablighi Jamaat based in Raiwind." Raiwind, which is in the
Punjab, is the hometown of the Prime Minister, Mr.Nawaz Sharif. It is also the
headquarters of the HUM.
Pakistani analysts
were surprised when Mr.Sharif appointed Gen.Musharraf as the COAS on October 8,1998,
superseding Lt.Gen. Ali Kuli Khan, a Pakhtoon, who was the CGS, and Lt. Gen. Khalid Nawaz,
a Punjabi, who was the Quarter-Master General. Mr.Sharif's choice of Gen. Musharraf was
attributed to the following:
---- He was
strongly recommended by President Tarar and Lt.Gen. Nasir.
---- He had
ingratiated himself with Mr.Sharif by keeping the latter informed of the criticism of the
Government's functioning by Lt.Gen.Ali Kuli Khan and Khalid
Nawaz at theCorps Commanders' conferences when Gen.Jehangir Karamat was the COAS.
---- Though a
Mohajir, Gen. Musharraf disliked Mr. Altaf Hussain and his Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Mr. Sharif, therefore, wanted to use him to crush the MQM in Karachi.
Mr.Sharif and Gen.
Musharraf got along very well till March. As desired by Mr.Sharif, the new COAS set up
special military courts in Karachi to try the MQM cadres on charges of terrorism. Several
of them were sentenced to death and two executed before the Pakistan Supreme Court, acting
on a petition, declared these courts unconstitutional. It was alleged that Mr.Sharif was
also planning to have Mr.Asif Zirdari, the husband of Mrs. Bhutto, tried as a terrorist by
the military courts and sentenced to death for allegedly killing Murtaza Bhutto, her
brother, in September, 1996.
Mr. Sharif also
made the Army in charge of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to put an end
to corruption and labour trouble and to improve efficiency.
After the visit of
Mr.Strobe Talbott, US Deputy Secretary of State, to Pakistan in the first week of
February, Mr.Sharif also approved a plan submitted by Gen. Musharraf for shifting bin
Laden's terrorist brigade from the Jalalabad area of Afghanistan to the Kargil area of
India by taking advantage of the absence of the Indian army from this area during winter.
It is reported that while Lt.Gen. Nasir strongly backed the plan, Lt.Gen, Ziauddin, the
Director-General of the ISI, expressed strong reservations over it and pointed out that it
could create problems for Pakistan with the US.
Gen. Musharraf
transferred Lt.Gen. Aziz from the ISI to the Army HQ. as his CGS and made him responsible
for its implementation through the Directorate of Military Intelligence. Lt.Gen. Nasir was
kept in the picture about the implementation, but not Lt.Gen.Ziauddin.
While outwardly
supporting the Lahore Declaration, Gen. Musharraf, with the backing of Lt.Gen. Nasir, went
ahead implementing the plan. Bin Laden's terrorist brigade was transported to Skardu in
the Northern Areas and from there infiltrated into the Kargil area along with a large
number of Pakistani army regulars. Mr.Sharif was allegedly not kept in the picture about
sending the army regulars into Indian territory along with the terrorist brigade.
In the
February-March,1999, issue of the Pakistan "Defence Journal", Lt.Gen Nasir had
written an article titled "Calling the Indian Army Chief's Bluff". While
ostensibly supporting the Lahore initiative, Lt.Gen. Nasir wrote in the most contemptuous
manner of the capabilities of the Indian army and said: "The Indian army is incapable
of undertaking any conventional operations at present, what to talk of enlarging
conventional conflict."
A perusal of the
writings in the Pakistani media and professional journals since January,1999, shows that
these irrational religious elements in the Pakistan army headed by Gen. Musharraf and
senior retired officers who have been supporting Gen. Musharraf have embarked on this
adventure in the Kargil area on the basis of the following assumptions:
----The morale in
the Indian armed forces is low due to the "bad leadership" of Mr.George Fernandes, our Defence Minister. Lt.Gen.Assad Durrani, former
DG of the ISI, has sarcastically referred to Mr.Fernandes as the
"best Indian Defence Minister that Pakistan can hope to have."
---- The BJP is a
party of paper tigers, known more for their "verbosity" than for their actions.
---- Pakistan's
nuclear and missile capability has ensured that India would not retaliate against Pakistan
for occupying the ridges in the Kargil area.
----The fear of the
possible use of nuclear weapons would bring in Western intervention, thereby
internationalising the Kashmir issue.
----Pakistan should
agree to a ceasefire only if it was allowed to remain in occupation of the Indian
territory. There should be no question of the restoration of the status quo ante.
The interviews and
speeches of Gen. Musharraf since October, 1998, show his thinking to be as follows:
----The acquisition
of Kashmir by Pakistan can wait. What is more important is to
keep the Indian army bleeding in Kashmir just as the Afghan Mujahideen kept the Soviet
troops bleeding in Afghanistan.
--- Even if the
Kashmir issue is resolved, there cannot be normal relations between India and Pakistan
because Pakistan, by frustrating India's ambition of emerging as a major Asian power on
par with China and Japan, would continue to be a thorn on India's flesh. And, so long as
it does so, Pakistan would continue to enjoy the backing of China and Japan.
From March, Gen.
Musharraf, to the discomfiture of Mr.Sharif, started coming out in his true colours. He
issued an order that the army, as the supervisory authority, would conduct all future
negotiations with the independent power producers, thereby denying any role in the matter
to the politicians and civilian bureaucrats. When Mr.Sharif objected to this order, he
declined to cancel it.
The COAS made out a
list of all payment defaulters of the WAPDA and leaked to the press that Mrs.Abida
Hussain, a Shia Minister of Mr.Sharif's Cabinet, was one of the major defaulters, thereby
forcing her to resign. He has also been hinting to the press that the business enterprises
of Mr.Sharif's family top the list of defaulters.
He then insisted
that he should be given concurrent charge of the post of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff Committee, even though it was the turn of Admiral Fasih Bokhari, the Chief of the
Naval staff, to hold this charge. His argument was that since the army was the most
important component of the armed forces, the Chairman should always be from the army.
While not accepting this argument, Mr.Sharif gave him concurrent charge for one year only,
as against the normal three years. He also got himself nominated as the Strategic
Commander of Pakistan's nuclear force.
By May, Gen.
Musharraf found to his surprise that the BJP-led Government was reacting vigorously to the
invasion and had ordered the Indian Air Force to go into action against the invaders. It
was only then that he reportedly told a shocked Mr.Sharif that he had sent in a large
number of Pakistan army regulars with bin Laden's terrorist brigade and that the regulars
were likely to incur heavy casualties.
The demand of the
US and other Western powers for the withdrawal of the invaders and for the restoration of
the status quo ante came as another surprise to him.
Despite this, he
seems to be insisting that Pakistan should not agree to any unconditional
withdrawal.
B.RAMAN
1.7.99
(The writer is Additional Secretary (Retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, and presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-Mail address:
corde@vsnl.com)
