Pakistan - A land of Treachery and Terror

The Leadership Circus

by

Prakash Katoch.

It happens only in India is a cliché well known. But, seeing Pervez Musharraf featuring in a leadership summit recently on one of our national TV channels proved beyond doubt that moolah (read TRPs) is all that matters and that the fact that this johnny should be tried for war crimes in both India and Pakistan has no meaning for the media as long as the TRPs are clocking.

Not only did Musharraf stab us in the back in Kargil, he has the blood of hundreds of Indian soldiers on his hands. More importantly, he was heading the Pakistani Army and is the man responsible for ignoring India’s official protests during the Kargil War, when bodies of Indian prisoners of war returned by Pakistan showed most heinous torture, brutality and mutilation in captivity before being shot dead. Captain Saurabh Kalia and five other soldiers who were captured by Pakistani forces on May 15, 1999 were brutally tortured for 22 long days before they were shot, and their mutilated bodies delivered to India.  Wikipedia says, “The post-mortem revealed that the Pakistan army had indulged in the most heinous acts; of burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, chopping off various limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures before shooting them dead, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple.”  Similarly, Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, whose MiG was shot down over Indian soil on May 27, 1999, was used for target practice by Pakistani soldiers after he bailed out and opened his parachute. Despite Indian protests, not one enemy soldier responsible for these acts was officially identified by Pakistan and tried.

Not only was this in violation of Geneva Conventions, it was also gross violation of human rights. There was no protest by human rights groups and NGOs and no mention in the annual reports of the ACHR, Amnesty or any other HR organization. Musharraf probably would have given awards to perpetrators of these heinous acts. Obviously, the international community cannot institute measures to ensure obligation by a rogue country like Pakistan. Not that Musharraf had any concern for dead Pakistani military soldiers, amply proved when he disowned them as ‘freedom fighters’, refused to take over their bodies and eventually were given religious burial by the Indian Army. Pakistan media itself has described how some 500 bodies of Northern Light Infantry soldiers were unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the night at the doorstep of their families in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The Dawn published from Karachi described this very graphically. Can there be a worse example of prostituting the uniform and that too by the head of an army? And, we call this slimy fellow for a leadership summit?

Yet, as in 2011, Musharraf somehow is able to sell to some Indians that he is the only fellow who can control Pakistan and solve the J&K issue. How naïve can we be? This conman makes some believe that he plans getting back home, launch his own political party (Pasdaran-e-Pakistan) and try his luck a second time to rule the crucible of terror. He apparently feels he can not only get back home but become President of Pakistan once again. He would do well to read up on Pakistan’s history where loyalty comes cropper at the opportune moment; replaced by deceit and violence – remember what Zia-ul-Haq did to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, what Musharraf himself did to Nawaz Sharif and the manner in which the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was orchestrated by Musharraf. The straight fact is that should he get back to Pakistan, he will simply be bumped off, much before the law can act on the warrant issued in his name.

During Musharraf’s presidency, when a young married lady doctor was raped by an army captain, instead of instituting an inquiry into the incident, Musharraf tells reporters that the woman has got herself raped in order to obtain a visa to the US on sympathetic grounds. This too was covered well in Pakistani and international media. The couple was eventually hounded out of Pakistan. How do you question the level of morality of an individual if there are no morals in the first place? His crowning act was telling global audiences on the electronic media, “There is not a single terrorist on Pakistani soil.” Do you need further proof of his hollowness?

Yet, on numerous occasions our media has described Musharraf as “the best bet for India”. How can our perceptions be so coloured and why are we unable to read his character. As a Lieutenant General, he made a presentation to the Pakistani Ministry of Defence that Pakistan must annex J&K reasoning that at the time of Partition, the per capita availability of water in Pakistan was 6000 cusecs, which had already reduced to 1000 cusecs at the time of the presentation. As the Army Chief, he repeatedly exhorted Benazir Bhutto to let him annex J&K. As President, he was pointed in saying, “Even if the Kashmir problem is resolved, Jihad against India will continue.” In his autobiography “In the Line of Fire”, which he authored as the President of Pakistan, he refers to India twice as “the most devious enemy” repeatedly. What can you expect from such a fellow? How can he be the best bet for India?

Our venerable TV channel calls Musharraf for the Leadership Summit despite him portraying himself as the champion of India’s Muslims during the India Today Conclave of 2009 but receiving a mouthful from Maulana Madani who gives him a shut up call, telling him to mind his own business and leave the Muslims of India alone.

It was also pathetic to see the recent TV interview featuring Musharraf and Jaswant Singh on Bloomburg TV with Musharraf smugly talking of ‘demilitarization’ and Jaswant Singh nonchalant about it.

It would be prudent on part of our august TV channel to educate itself on something called ‘self esteem’. On the other hand if TRPs is all that matter then perhaps we would witness them inviting Hafiz Saeed or Dawood Ibrahim for the Leadership Summit in 2013. As they say, it happens only in India !

 

The author is a highly decorated veteran Lieutenant General of Indian Army who has led commando operations and commanded Special Forces in war and anti-terrorist operations - all with enviable distinction.  He has authored books and large number of articles on Military concepts, leadership, strategic and security related issues.