Retired Pak. Generals see red over war report

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 20. The publication of the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report - on the defeat of Pakistan in the 1971 war and the consequent birth of Bangladesh - by an Indian weekly, has stirred the hornet's nest. While political observers and social activists in the country have been telling the Army to learn from the contents of the report and stop meddling in civilian affairs, retired military generals are making out that the 1971 defeat was more on account of political blunders rather than failure of military strategy.

Lt. Gen. (retd.) M. Rahim Khan, who is one of the 11 senior officers recommended to be court-martialled by the Commission, has come out with a strong statement condemning the contents of the Commission report as a plot by the deposed Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, to ``deflect public anger from the role played by him in the break-up'' of Pakistan.

The contention of Lt. Gen. Rahim is supported by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A.A.K. Niazi, who led the 1971 war as Commander of the then East Pakistan. In his book published in 1998, The Betrayal of East Pakistan, Gen. Niazi alleged that the plan for dismemberment of Pakistan was hatched between Gen. Yahya Khan and Bhutto at Larkana, Bhutto's hometown. ``The plan which came to be known as the M.M. Ahmed plan, aimed at abandoning East Pakistan without a successor government, which meant by losing the war,'' says the book.

The 85-year-old Gen. Niazi has been singled out by the Hamoodur Rehman Commission for various acts of omission and commission that led to the debacle and recommended his prosecution. Among the various charges levelled against him include ``bad reputation in sex matters'' and involvement in the export of paan (betel leaf) by using or abusing his official position.

In his rejoinder to the findings of the report, the retired General has said that it was a vengeful act of Bhutto directed against the Army to cover up his own acts of misdemeanour. The General has urged the Musharraf Government to appoint another commission of inquiry into all causes, including political, which led to the military defeat and break-up of Pakistan.

Gen. Rahim has offered himself for public trail by court-martial, and if this not feasible, by any other tribunal. He has asked the Government to make public the contents of the report and said all officers who have been accused of serious offences should be court-martialled as soon as possible.

``I became a special target (of the Commission) because as Chief of the General Staff, I had thwarted all attempts by Bhutto to use the Army against the non-Sindhi civil population in Karachi and other towns of Sindh during language riots deliberately engineered by him in 1972,'' Gen. Rahim has said.

He has alleged that the Indian authorities had made preparations to repatriate Pakistani Prisoners of War (POWs) in the middle of 1972 but on specific request of Bhutto, the plan was cancelled and delayed for two whole years. ``It is the nation's misfortune that the honourable judges allowed themselves to be used by Bhutto to destroy the Army's image and reputation.''

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Section  : International
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