In an interview with a popular Pakistani TV channel, former Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf equated 26/11 master mind Hafiz Saeed to RSS and Shiv Sena chiefs. As per this tyrant just as “Thackery is India’s hero, Hafiz is theirs”, reported The Times of India, Oct 28, 2015.
The UN has banned JuD and Let. Today Lakhvi and Hafiz are wanted with a bounty on their head. It’s time to rethink on their idolising the correct heroes.
It comes as no surprise what the General has articulated but what surprises is the analogy that he draws. In their desire to be equal with India at all levels and at any cost has resulted in self-serving skewed perceptions. It is important to reply him on each point.
ONE: General calls Afghan and Kashmiri mujadideen (terrorists) as heroes of Pakistan of the 1990s. The situation has changed and I don’t want to discuss this, Since India is after this, we are also following them” he added.
General would be aware that it is not only India that is after his “good terrorists” but the whole world today stands in unison against them. His time trusted friend like the UAE has recently pledged all support to India against terrorists using its land for activities against India. The UN has banned JuD and Let. Today Lakhvi and Hafiz are wanted with a bounty on their head. It’s time to rethink on their idolising the correct heroes. Having miserably failed sustaining this worthless competition with India is destined to doom Pakistan.
TWO: Musharraf says “They don’t play cricket with us. See what happened to Shahryar Khan”. He also reminded the audience what happened (blackening of face) to the organiser (Sudhir Kulkarni) during Kasuri’s book release at Mumbai this month. He tried linking Shiv Sena to BJP by calling RSS their mother organisation. He cited Mr Modi and his cabinet ministers briefing the RSS top brass on government’s functioning as a proof of Shiv Sena’s recent tirades against Pakistan as a combined effort.
Shiv Sena is a political party which swears allegiance to India and its Constitution. They oppose cricketing and cultural ties with Pakistan till such time Pakistan and its top brass stop perpetuating terrorism as a state policy against India.
He counter questioned, “Are we catching the Shiv Sena leader? Was Bal Thackery a terrorist? Give us Samjauta blast accused who is a serving colonel if they talk about Hafez Saeed”.
Evidently the General has got the narrative completely wrong. No wonder Pakistan falters at every step. After all it is the Generals like him who have subverted the political setup of Pakistan by generating fears of a monstrous India (frankenstein monster) amongst the country’s population basically to serve the military’s vested interests.
India as is a well-established democracy. Shiv Sena is a political party which swears allegiance to India and its Constitution. They oppose cricketing and cultural ties with Pakistan till such time Pakistan and its top brass stop perpetuating terrorism as a state policy against India.
Blackening of face and sloganeering is very much an accepted norm of protest in our democracy. What if similar thing was to take place in Pakistan? I am sure the Pakistani authorities would have gunned them down instead. While we protest by slogans, black ink and placards you protest with AK 47s and grenades.
When an attempt to draw a parallel between Hafiz Saeed or Lakhvi to the Colonel who is Samjauta blast accused, the basic point is missed out. While your military enjoy state patronage and are treated as VVIPs, India’s military remains apolitical. Lakhvi when in jail could be seen moving under the state protection.
THREE: General said, “We brought mujahideen from around the world trained them to fight the Soviets, raised the Talliban for the larger cause with the help of CIA. They were the heroes then. Osama and Zawahiri were our heroes then”. He added that today the situation has changed and all these are now villains.
Musharraf acknowledged Pakistan’s role in supporting Kashmiri terrorists. He claimed LeT and twelve such groups were formed to fight the Indian Army.
The naivety of your establishment dominated by generals is confounding. When you considered yourself too smart and portrayed to the world as a frontline state against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, you basically forgot something. I am sure during your cadet training just like ours, your Company Sargent major would have warned the smart ones by saying, “You can fool some people sometimes but not all the people all the time”.
It was very well known that time as well, that real purpose behind Pakistan supporting the West in Afghanistan was actually driven by anti-India agenda. Circumstances prevailing during those times stopped those western powers from disciplining Pakistan. Today they all realise their grave mistake. No wonder as you say the situation has changed. The Heroes are now villains.
FOUR: Musharraf acknowledged Pakistan’s role in supporting Kashmiri terrorists. He claimed LeT and twelve such groups were formed to fight the Indian Army. In his wisdom the Kashmiris were being killed by Indian Army and these mujahideens were putting their lives at stake for the oppressed.
It is unfortunate that the military got this wrong here as well. The gravest mistake that you did was that you situated the appreciation. General wrote the last chapter before finalising the content of the book.
…in our part of Kashmir we have democracy unlike your side. Human Rights violation are near negligible as compared to those taking place in Baluchistan, Sind, Gilgit Baltistan and the so call Azad Kashmir.
You fuelled the passions and tried to subvert the state of Jammu and Kashmir through the back door. You did appear to play it well initially.
The political parties under the banner on Pakistan sponsored Muslim United Front fought the 1989 elections. Unfortunately the power hungry leaders rigged them and tossed the state in to an era decades of violence. You grabbed that opportunity and made yourself believe as if it was a popular uprising brewing over the years. But it was not so at all, it was just a temporary anger that erupted against those leaders who were believed behind rigging.
In the bargain you forced migration of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits out of the valley. By your sinister designs you forced upon the Kashmiris the Punjabi and Pathan terrorists who were with a sole mission of destroying Kashmiriyat.
Thousands have been killed in this proxy war and you and your army is to be blamed for this genocide. Let me remind you that in our part of Kashmir we have democracy unlike your side. Human Rights violation are near negligible as compared to those taking place in Baluchistan, Sind, Gilgit Baltistan and the so call Azad Kashmir.
An advice from our side; it would we better for the humanity in general and Pakistanis in particular if you put half the effort in addressing the issues in Baluchistan, Sind and other areas of Pakistan where People consider themselves as oppressed nationalities rather than Bal Thackery, Shiv Sena, BJP or the RSS.
This obsession for India is proving fatal. It is time Pak demilitarises literally as well as politically. In doing so, millions will get lifted out of poverty and Pakistan will become prosperous.
Pakistan will thus no longer be the most dangerous place on earth.
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Old soldiers never die. They just fade away. But Gen. Musharraf has probably never heard this famous saying and refuses to fade away after all this time. His comeback attempts into politics have ended in disaster. The only reason he has not been sent to the gallows is because he was an officer in Pakistan army which hangs only civilian politicians. Poor man! He is desperately trying to be relevant in a country which has completely disowned him.
He was the coward who never took back the bodies of the poor 4 Northern Light Infantry martyrs which India wanted to hand over to them. Sad when you disown your own martyrs to hide the fact that, it was Musharraf’s planned misadventure.
Nothing New has been said by the Erstwhile Dictator.All the while all of it was known by all of the people.Surprisingly we still think that they would start behaving well with us ;which is far from possible.The very reason of their existence is Hate India and harm India and surprisingly we act quite Naive and Unmindful of their designs towards us. We will keep suffering without coming to the crux of the problem.