Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Musharraf's claims

Thanks to the editorial "Be with us or be bombed" and the three OP-ED articles (Sept. 25), one is spared of the tedium of reading the book In the Line of Fire. Pervez Musharraf's revelation, after five years, of the American threat to bomb Pakistan if it did not cooperate in the `war on terror' serves little purpose. His `truth about Kargil' exposes his delusions. His theory of `Enlightened Moderation' is an example of a pipedream. His account of the A.Q. Khan network is intended to undermine India's supremacy in nuclear technology. Gen. Musharraf's book is fit to be dumped.

R.M. Manoharan,
Chennai

The General-turned-President-turned author's account of Kargil shows the ease with which he can camouflage a defeat as victory. There was nothing honourable about Kargil for Pakistan, which disowned even its dead soldiers. Those who survived were saved thanks to the diplomacy of its erstwhile Premier, now in exile, and the benevolence of India. In the Line of Fire should help us to see through the man and realise the futility of entering into any negotiations with his regime.

Air Cmde Raghubir Singh (retd.),
Pune

The Pakistan army will never forget the humiliation it suffered at the hands of the Indian army in three wars. Kargil was another of its failures. No wonder its architect is trying to whitewash the Pakistani defeat. India need not get worked up about the lies because no one listens to a loser.

V.V.S. Mani,
Bangalore

Of all the lies packed in the book, the most preposterous one is that the Indian uranium enrichment programme was perhaps a copy of the Pakistani centrifuge design. India established the complete nuclear fuel cycle long ago, starting from prospecting for uranium ores to the back end of the fuel cycle. This was the result of its R&D capability in a number of frontline technologies and basic sciences. In contrast, Pakistan acquired its enrichment capability by dubious means.

V. Venkatasubramanian,
Mumbai

Pakistan has always extended moral, physical, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmir-centric terrorists by calling them freedom fighters. Terrorists are terrorists whether they operate in Jammu and Kashmir or elsewhere. Unless President Musharraf acknowledges this, the much-touted joint-terror mechanism will not take off.

Col. C.V. Venugopalan (retd.),
Palakkad, Kerala

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