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Pakistan: A land of Treachery and Terror
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Lt Gen Prakash Katoch | Date:20 Jul , 2013 8 Comments
Lt Gen Prakash Katoch
is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

As President, he was pointed in saying, “Even if the Kashmir problem is resolved, Jihad against India will continue.”

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 !

Courtesy: http://turningpointindia.blogspot.in/ 

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

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8 thoughts on “Pakistan: A land of Treachery and Terror

  1. Either we are naïve or we are stupid. We are always going around to shake the hands of Pakistanis who have been the root cause of all the problems that surround India. It shows weaknesses in our political thinking and poor strategic sense.
    In 1947 we had the Pakistani army on the run when Nehru declared ceasefire. Which stupid country on the verge of victory will go to the UN like Nehru did. Not only that we withdrew from Hajipir and few other tactical features of great military importance.
    In 1965 we again return Hajipir – were we stupid fools returning territory which we considered ours. No wonder the world thought us to be Idiots, we claim that Kashmir is ours but we return territory which we capture in war.
    In 1971 we had a Military victory but in the overall sense what happened. Mrs Gandhi returns 93000 Pakistani Prisoners just by a hand shake with Mr ZA Bhutto. We didn’t even ask for ours back nor an inquiry as to where our prisoners were. What did we achieve in 1971. maybe some Pakistanis were happy to get Bangladesh off their back. Why weren’t the personal of the Pakistani army tried for war crimes in Bangladesh, we just allowed them to walk away.
    The Pakistanis maybe what ever they are but we look like bloody fools in reality.

  2. One thing is for sure. This rat hole Musharaff will die a dog’s death, at the hands of his own nemesis “Nawaz Sharif”, we Indians need not take any special revenge on him. Not that we are not capable, but if his own people are pounding for his flesh, why get our hands dirty. Otherwise, one false flag operation is enough to ruin this idiot. Jai Hind .

  3. Gen. Musharraf is the same man who him self claimed that when Pak.was defeated in 1971 he cried like a mad man. Our biggest mistake was to legitimise his so called presidency by inviting him for so called Taj Summit. He is to the core radicalized person in a guise of so called statesman, it would not be a surprise when it would be claimed by himself that OBL was sheltered by him at Abbottabad!

  4. The article by the General Officer and all the comments are right and correct. However, the fault in getting better results against Pakistani atrocities lies with us; with our inept handling of ALL past cases of heinous atrocities. Did we take immediate steps to publicise the evidence of atrocities through the vast media coverage available today? We pass on chain mails even for dogs and cats and such acts that we wish to raise a “breaking-mews” effect and seek thousands of “hits” of mail support, but we fail to do this for the soldiers who are brutalised so shockingly by the enemy …. WHY? The failure is that of the Army and those in command, who alone decide how to proceed with each case. So why blame the media or the Government when we ourselves are at fault for failing to provide them (the media) with photographic or video evidence of atrocities? Have we EVER taken up such matters with the UN or with Amnesty International. We keep saying we have provided Pakistan with “adequate proof”, yet they throw our “proof” out of the window and have the last laugh!! About time we (the ARMY) got our act together – record every bit of evidence and go to the media, go to the UN, go, but go with proper evidence.

  5. Pakistan’s culture is descended from the Khybaris and the irregulars of Lumsden’s (and Hodson’s) Guides venerated by the Pakistani Army which, in turn, has set the traditions of Pakistan (as surely as the corrupt, venal, uneducated, cowardly, bullying Khadhi Topis have set the culture of India).

    The Pakhtoons have bolstered and circumscribed their tradition (Pakhtoonwali) laws of “hospitality”, “vengeance”, and “sanctuary” with a Wahabi Sharia and Quran to arrive at a direction for their traditional brutality and counter civilizational proclivities in competition with other atavistic tribes to roll back the “rule of law” and “fair play” that the British managed to build their North West Frontier of India with on the Ashes of the Sikh Empire.

    One might say that, in the absence of a uniform rule of law with equality for all and impartial enforcement, all of South Asia is relapsing to what it had been reduced to before the British appeared on the horizon. Each fragment to its own predilections.

    • very apt sir, reining on our past vainglory, we were never a country ( even the revolt of 1957 was only for their respective provinces & not for India) leave aside patriotism, we always were ‘ damned be all , but i should be spared’

  6. I always feel angry when journalists like Karan Thapar etc and TOI invite this bloody Pakistani Pervez Musharraf. Its high time Times Of India , Hindustan Times and India Today stop playing host to this man who should be hanged. As long as we adapt soft attitude towards Pakistan, Pakistan will kick us. Now this Congress govt. is giving 3000 visas to Pakistantis to visit India to watch Cricket matches. I am sure one more terrorist Attack will occur after that.

  7. Lt. General Prakash has rightly summarized what is already well known. Inspite of what is well known, Pakistan has never and will never be tried for any kind of war crimes.
    After knowing this too well, what is it that stops India from responding back to Pakistan in the only language that it understands, tit for tat. Why is it that India always whines about Pakistani misbehaviour either at war or peace? Do the tortured and dead Indian soldier’s families get any solace from the fact that India abides by all coventions Geneva or otherwise while their kin is tortured to death by the dastardly Pakistanis.
    Why do Indians ( politicians and soldiers) always have to do things to satisfy the world at large rather than being answerable to the country first ? Hit them back in the langauge they understand. the only thing these terrorists is of force and the problem is that India is a soft state , too spineless to take a stand for it own countrymen.
    The spineless and callous attitude of our Govt to Capt Kalia’s case, by just stating that India is following up with Pakistan Govt for the case is unbelievable. Will this kind of attitude be any kind of encouragement from our Govt for the young generation to join the armed forces ?
    As rightly stated by Lt. General Prakash, the Indian media ( either newspapers or TV channels ) just care about TRP rather than any kind of national duty they have. None of them have the guts to publicly ostracize war criminals like Musharraf or run international campaigns to publlicize teh war crimes. Shameful, but rightly said, it happens only in India !

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