Author: S Rajagopalan
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 6, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/288010/Pak-fanned-terror-in-Kashmir-says-Mush.html
We now have it from the horse's mouth. Pakistan's
former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has gone public with the admission
that his country formed and trained underground militant groups to fight India
in Kashmir.
Although India has all along been telling
the world on how Pakistan uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy,
this is perhaps the first time that a top Pakistani leader has come up with
a confession of sorts, albeit long after he demitted office.
Musharraf's candid comments came in the course
of an interview to German magazine, Der Spiegel. He, however, sought to put
up a brave front, defending the move.
"Yes, it is the right of any country
to promote its own interests when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir
at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful
manner," he asserted, when questioned on the propriety of the Pakistani
action.
The former Pakistan President and Army chief,
who now lives in exile in London and has plans to return to Pakistan to contest
the next elections, also indicated that he has no regrets over the Kargil
misadventure in 1999.
"Why did you form militant underground
groups to fight India in Kashmir?" the interviewer from Spiegel asked
Musharraf. He replied: "They were indeed formed. The Government turned
a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir."
Spiegel put it to him, "It was the Pakistani
security forces that trained them." Responded Musharraf: "The West
was ignoring the resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue
of Pakistan. We expected the West - especially the United States and important
countries like Germany - to resolve the Kashmir issue. Has Germany done that?"
"The West blames Pakistan for everything.
Nobody asks the Indian Prime Minister, 'Why did you arm your country with
a nuclear weapon? Why are you killing innocent civilians in Kashmir?' Nobody
was bothered that Pakistan got split in 1971 because of India's military backing
for Bangladesh," he complained, when asked about his Kargil operation
that led to armed conflict with India.
Musharraf said, "Everybody is interested
in strategic deals with India, but Pakistan is always seen as the rogue."
Does he expect another military coup in Pakistan
as a consequence of the Zardari regime's poor handling of the flood havoc?
"Whenever the country is in turmoil, everybody looks to the army. But
I would suggest that the times of military coups in Pakistan are over. The
latest political developments have shown that the Supreme Court has set a
bar on itself not to validate a military takeover," said the man who
staged the last coup by toppling the Nawaz Sharif Government in 1999.
Musharraf said the way Pakistan was being
run was there for everyone to see. "Pakistan is experiencing a deep economic
decline. In other areas as well. Law and order is in jeopardy, extremism is
on the rise and there is political turmoil.
The non-performance of an elected Government
is the issue," he said.
In the interview, Musharraf also called disgraced
nuclear scientist AQ Khan "a characterless man". When asked about
Khan's assertion that the Pakistani Army had monitored and organised the nuclear
deals with countries like North Korea and Iran, Musharraf retorted: "That
is wrong, absolutely wrong. Khan is a characterless man."
