Lahore, Feb 4: Pakistan’s former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf was responsible for no breakthrough on the Kashmir issue as he launched the Kargil operation without the civilian government’s approval to “sabotage” the talks with India and topple the Nawaz Sharif government, a close aide of the then prime minister said Monday.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and Senator Pervaiz Rashid told reporters that “Sharif and the Indian leadership were holding talks on Kashmir and the latter was ready to resolve it but Musharraf launched the Kargil operation to sabotage the talks and topple the Sharif government”.
General Musharraf, 75, who lives in Dubai, is facing several cases including a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007. The former military ruler left for the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since.
He was the army chief during the Kargil War in 1999.”Gen Musharraf is responsible for the blood of Kashimiris. Musharraf was the reason behind the suffering of Kashmiris as he did not let this issue resolved,” he said, terming the Kargil operation a ‘misadventure’.
This is Musharraf’s biggest crime even more than toppling the Sharif government in October 1999, Rashid, a close confidant of Sharif, said.
Before Musharraf went for the misadventure, India’s then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Lahore and went to Minar-e-Pakistan to accept the creation of Pakistan, the Senator claimed.
Rashid demanded that Musharraf be brought to justice for his crimes, specially against Kashmiris.
Though Pakistan initially claimed that mujahideen were responsible for occupying strategic heights along the Line of Control in early 1999, Musharraf later revealed in his autobiography ‘In The Line Of Fire’ that regular army soldiers participated in the Kargil operation.
Over 500 Indian armed forces personnel laid down their lives during the 60-day long war.
Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed every year on July 26, marking successful conclusion of the war with Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999.
Pak Army chief discusses Kashmir issue with top generals
Press Trust of India
Islamabad, Feb 4: After Pakistan’s Foreign Minister angered India with two phone calls to Kashmiri separatist leaders, the country’s Army chief on Monday chaired a Corps Commanders conference and discussed the Kashmir issue along with the situation at the Line of Control.
Gen Qamar Bajwa’s provocative move on the eve of the Kashmir Day came days after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed the Kashmir issue with hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Following the foreign minister’s phone calls, India summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood and categorically told him that Qureshi’s telephonic conversation with Mirwaiz was a “brazen attempt” to subvert India’s unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Qureshi’s telephonic conversation with a separatist leader, India said, reflected the duplicity in Pakistani leadership’s approach on ties with India.
India has always maintained that the Kashmir issue is bilateral and there can be no third party intervention in the matter. New Delhi has also emphasised that whatever happens in Jammu and Kashmir is India’s internal matter and Pakistan should stop interfering in it.
Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists observe ‘Kashmir Day’ on February 5 every year to observe the country’s support to the cause of an independent Kashmir. It is a national holiday in Pakistan.
During a meeting in Rawalpindi to review the internal security situation and preparedness along the LoC, Bajwa “expressed solidarity with resilient Kashmiri brethren on the eve of Kashmir Day”, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a statement.
“The forum discussed situation along Line of Control and Working Boundary with reference to continued cease fire violations,” he said.
