Musharraf planned N-strike

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that during the Kargil war, the then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf had moved  Pakistani nuclear warheads  for use  against India without his approval.

 

Nawaz Sharif, who now lives in exile in London, has made this revelation in his first official biography titled Ghadaar Kaun? Nawaz Sharif Ki Kahani, Unki Zubani (Who is the traitor? Nawaz Sharif’s story in his own words.) The 500-book is based on the personal and political life of Nawaz Sharif, one of the most important characters of Pakistan’s recent political history. Written by senior Pakistani journalist Suhail Warraich, it was launched on Tuesday.

 

The former premier has revealed hitherto unknown details of his childhood, political career, the Kargil issue, nuclear explosions, the October 1998 military takeover and his departure to Jeddah.

 

Nawaz Sharif says in the book, “During my post-Kargil misadventure meeting with American President Clinton, I was told by the American leader that  nuclear warheads had been shifted from one station to another during the Kargil war. I was taken aback by this revelation because I knew nothing about it. The American president further told me that the nuclear war heads have been moved so that these could be used against India. I was asked by Clinton why I was unaware of these developments, despite being the elected Chief Executive and the Prime Minister of the country. It was a very irresponsible thing to do on General Musharraf’s part.”

 

In one of the chapters on the Kargil episode, Nawaz Sharif has quoted General Musharraf as having said about him, “I will sort this bastard out”. Sharif has claimed that General Musharraf had waged the Kargil war against India without his approval and he  came to know of the misadventure only through Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, who had provided him audio tapes of Musharraf’s telephonic conversation to this effect.  While narrating how the Kargil misadventure started, Nawaz Sharif states that he was not taken into confidence at all by the then military leadership, “and when finally after four months, I was given a short briefing on the issue, I was assured that there would subsequently be no hitch, no loss of life. I was even told that the Pakistan Army itself would not be involved in the war as the mujahideen themselves could handle it. But the fact remains that the Kargil misadventure started off with an immediate elimination of the entire Northern Light Infantry of the Pakistan Army.”

 

Sharif continues: “2,700 jawans of the Northern Line Infantry were eliminated and scores of them were injured. The number of Army jawans martyred during the Kargil war is greater than those who sacrificed their lives during the wars of 1965 and 1971. As I asked the General why so many Army people have lost their lives, he said that it was all because the Indian Army’s resorting to carpet bombing, which was quite unexpected of them. The General further told me that the bunkers on the Kargil heights are vacant on the top: sans any roof. So the bombings straightaway blew off the heads of the jawans. It was the Pakistani military leadership which begged me to involve Washington in the dispute and to stop the Indian Army from advancing further, which had already forced the Pakistan Army to vacate about half of the bunkers.”

 

About allegations that he fully knew of the Kargil plans  and was even involved in it, Nawaz Sharif maintains in his biography, “I am still not sure what the Pakistan Army wanted to achieve by trying to get hold of the Kargil heights. The political leadership and I believe that even the Army top brass did not really know the targets, the aims and the idea behind this misadventure. Probably all the Army wanted was to do is highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level and thus get some attention. However, instead of getting the coveted ‘publicity,’ we ended up with different labels tagged to the name of our country--rogue army and terrorist. Some even said that Pakistan was bent upon indulging in an uncalled-for war.”