Lal Masjid operation
Unfazed by the opening of several new fronts of opposition against him, he also dismissed criticism of the Lal Masjid operation by an ex-Army colleague and claims by the disgraced nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, that he had been forced by President Musharraf to make a wrongful confession that he was involved in nuclear proliferation.
A retired Lieutenant-General recently told a television interviewer that he had advised the retired General Musharraf against the Kargil operation but the suggestion fell on deaf ears. Lt. Gen (retd.) Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani demanded an inquiry into the operation to lay bare the facts.
Last week, National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza reacted positively to demands by Pakistan Muslim league (Nawaz) parliamentarians for a debate on Kargil.
Talking to a select group of Pakistani journalists, President Musharraf said that while it was up to Parliament to take the final decision, “there are certain national secrets, confidentialities that should not be violated.”
“Violation of ethos”
He lashed out at Lt. Gen. Kiyani for “violating the Army ethos” by going public about in-house discussions in the Army. “I think he is letting the institution down, the institution of the Pakistan Army, which I think is the greatest institution,” Gen. Musharraf said.
He also dismissed the recent claims by Dr. Khan in a series of interviews that he was forced to make a wrongful confession.
Gen. Musharraf said the decision to use force against militants in the Lal Masjid, in the heart of the capital, was the last resort to avoid bloodshed.
“I salute those who took part in the operation and sacrificed their lives for the nation. The nation should also salute them.”
President Musharraf’s seeming confidence as he made these remarks belied the impression that has gained ground in recent days that he is losing control. Journalists present at the press conference also said they came away with the opposite impression.
President Musharraf was confidently insistent that his decision to bring a reference against the deposed Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhary, which snowballed into a crisis for him and the country, was correct. From some of his assertions, it was evident that he did not agree with the widely held view that he was the principal architect of his problems.
Defends Emergency
President Musharraf defended his decision to impose the Emergency. Declaring that he had not committed a single confrontational act, he denied that he had dismissed a single judge during the Emergency.
“They refused to take the oath [under the Emergency’s provisional constitutional order]. If they took the oath, I would have had no problem with them,” he said, stepping around the view that Pakistani military rulers have used the method to purge the judiciary.
He also denied that the purged judges were under house arrest, and said while there were some restrictions on their movements, their families had been free to move around.
Describing himself as a person who stood for reconciliation, President Musharraf was, however, emphatic that his decision to launch military operations was the only way to handle calls for separatism.
“Balochistan is not Switzerland or Belgium where you can go dressed in suits and request people to calm down. Human rights, civil liberties, democracy, these are all very good. But if the nation is at stake, we better think how to save it,” he said. “It’s a tough situation and we have to deal with it in a tough way.”
The President claimed that his regime had done more for the development of Balochistan than any previous government. “Force is used only when everything else fails, and when it is used, you better make sure it succeeds.”
He also urged a “unanimous” stand against terrorism by the federal and provincial governments and the military to send out a strong message to terrorists, and said incidents such as the attack on the Danish Embassy were scaring away investors.
“There are two issues with which we must not play politics — the economy and terrorism. If you do that, Pakistan will be destroyed. That is why I say that the matter should be unanimously tackled by the nation.”
President Musharraf also denied plotting the downfall of the new government with the help of his old political allies, and declared his “full support” for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani.
“I am fulfilling my role as President according to the Constitution. I am not interfering in the government at all. These days, I play a lot of tennis, go swimming. Sometimes I play a hand of bridge. I am socialising a lot, having dinner with my old friends. What are the conspiracies I’m supposed to be hatching? Should I turn down these dinner invitations? Should I stop speaking to politicians with whom I’m friends?”
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