Pak. unaware of ``freedom fighters' plan''

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 14. The Musharraf Government has accused the former Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, of being more concerned with salvaging the position of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, as against upholding Pakistan's dignity and honour.

Lambasting Mr. Sharif for his statement that the Army did not inform him about Kargil until the operation was under way, a Government spokesman added to the ongoing controversy by stating no one was aware in January 1999 that ``Kashmiri freedom fighters'' were planning an operation.

In a bid to cover up the involvement of Pakistani regulars, the spokesman said Mr. Sharif was briefed about whatever was known of the ``Indian designs'' regarding the occupation of Kargil-Drass in detail. ``The fact that he (Mr. Sharif) claims not to remember it may be the result of deliberate distortion or his well-known limited concentration and memory span,'' the spokesman was quoted as saying.

It is clear that the contradictions are the direct result of official obfuscation. There is now sufficient evidence that Pakistan planned and plotted Kargil; that regular troops were involved. However, Rawalpindi cannot come clean about Kargil - that is a compulsion it faces. Hence, all the contradictory statements about the `mujahideen' being involved in the operation and Mr. Sharif being briefed about Indian designs.

The spokesman accused Mr. Sharif of ``levelling unfounded, incorrect and wild accusations against the Army''. It was ironic that the former Prime Minister began speaking about being kept in the dark about Kargil at such a late stage, he said. ``If Mr. Sharif has actually held such strong views about the Kargil conflict, how is that he earlier agreed that everyone was on board?,'' the spokesman asked. Mr. Sharif, he said, not only paid tributes to the troops and the Army leadership for their valour during Kargil, but also decorated those who ``sacrificed'' their lives.

The former Prime Minister's comments led to editorials being written in almost all leading newspapers. The Dawn stated that Mr. Sharif's comments ``must cause consternation at home and arouse interest abroad.

``The points he has raised are important, for they have a bearing on a politico-military issue that brought Pakistan and India to the brink of a full-fledged war ....the post-Kargil developments not only cost Mr. Nawaz Sharif his post, the country suffered in terms of diplomatic discomfiture and a derailment of the democratic process....'' the paper said in an editorial. ``While one must await history's judgment on precisely who was responsible for what happened on the Himalayan heights, it looks most extraordinary that a Prime Minister.... should be unaware of what was going on in the realm of foreign and military affairs.... if the Prime Minister did not know what the khaki was up to along the Line of Control, then it is a moot question whether Mr. Sharif deserved the office of Chief Executive.

``We could not agree more with the former Prime Minister when he says that a commission be set up to investigate the Kargil episode to let the nation know the facts that even after one year remain confined to the realm of secrecy. This nation has the right to know whose brainchild the Kargil operation was, who were the military and political personalities involved or not involved in the operation, and who should be held responsible for starting a military operation that ended without any tactical, strategic or diplomatic advantage to Pakistan,'' The Dawn added.

The Nation stated that Mr. Sharif's statement amounted to ``washing of dirty linen in public but is also questionable as far as preserving State secrets is concerned. Emanating from a person who has held such a high office and sworn to secrecy, the disclosure has come as a great shock.

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