Hindu Vivek Kendra
A RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF HINDUTVA
   
 
 
«« Back
archive: Sharief digging his own grave: ex-ISI chief

Sharief digging his own grave: ex-ISI chief

UNI
Rediff on Net
July 6, 1999


    Title: Sharief digging his own grave: ex-ISI chief
    Author: UNI 
    Publication: Rediff on Net
    Date: July 6, 1999 
    
    A former Pakistani spymaster today said that Prime Minister Nawaz
    Sharief risked ''considerable danger'' to his political future by
    agreeing to a withdrawal of militants from the Kargil sector of Jammu
    and Kashmir. 
    
    ''This is not practical, this is unrealistic,'' retired army
    lieutenant-general Hamid Gul said, referring to Sharief's accord with
    American President Bill Clinton. 
    
    ''It is not going to push the chances of war back, but will rather
    bring them closer. This cannot be implemented,'' said Gul, a former
    chief of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence. 
    
    Asked if the agreement posed political dangers to Sharief's
    government, he said: ''I think there is a considerable danger because
    I think Nawaz Sharief has scuttled his own mandate by going against
    the wishes of the nation.'' 
    
    Gul, who has been close to the Kashmiri militants, predicted that most
    Pakistanis would oppose yesterday's Clinton-Sharief agreement. 
    
    ''It is not confined to one party,'' he said of opposition to the
    accord. ''On this there is no divided opinion. The only division now
    exists between Nawaz Sharief and the rest of the nation.'' 
    
    Clinton and Sharief reached the agreement in Washington. US officials
    said it required the militants to withdraw from strategic heights in
    the Kargil-Drass sector. 
    
    A Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman said Islamabad, which says it
    has no control over the militants, would issue an appeal to them to
    end fighting because ''they have achieved their purpose of
    highlighting the Kashmir dispute''. 
    
    ''This appeal will fall on deaf ears and it will only alienate the
    freedom fighters and the government of Pakistan,'' Gul said. 
    
    Some of the militant groups say they will not withdraw and a
    right-wing Islamic party has called for protests tomorrow. 
    
    ''The agreement is rather cowboyish and it is not going to produce any
    result,'' Gul remarked. 
    
    The agreement calls for the restoration of the LoC under the 1972
    Shimla accord and for bilateral talks. 
    
    Gul said it would be ''extremely wishful'' to push Kashmiris in this
    direction ''now when the ground reality is shifting in favour of their
    liberation.'' 
    
    ''It's a pipe dream, and I don't think it is going to meet any success
    at all,'' Gul concluded.
    



Back                          Top

«« Back
 
 
 
  Search Articles
 
  Special Annoucements