Why so late, General?

Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz needs to explain why he did not resign despite his reservations about how Kargil transpired.

Generals in Pakistan excel at showing their dovish side and subjecting their peers to a measure of scrutiny only once they have retired. The latest example of a military man trying to rehabilitate his image now that he is out of uniform is Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz, who is finally ready to spill the beans about the Kargil operation that took place in 1999. Much of what he says was already suspected. Pervez Musharraf, as chief of army staff, kept just about everyone in the dark about Kargil, including everyone save three other people. Aziz himself, as director general of the analysis wing, did not know about the operation till it had already commenced. Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the man who should have had the ultimate authority to order the Kargil operation, was also not consulted on the matter.

What’s truly tragic about the Kargil operation is how we never seem to learn from our follies. Our 1965 war with India was also sparked by a similar incursion into Indian Kashmir, the details of which resided exclusively with Ayub Khan and a few of his trusted subordinates. Unlike Kargil, that turned into a full-scale war because no one was around to tell Ayub Khan what a calamitous mistake he had made. At least in the case of Kargil, Nawaz Sharif was able to order a withdrawal of troops after being forced to do so by then US president Bill Clinton. That move is likely what triggered the military coup, showing that in Pakistan doing the sensible thing never pays off.

As for General Aziz, he needs to explain why he did not resign despite his strong reservations about how Kargil transpired. Indeed, Aziz subsequently went on to accept a promotion from Musharraf and become chief of general staff of the army. Although it is preferable that Aziz spoke out now and left a record of the Kargil fiasco for posterity, we need more generals who are willing to risk their careers and go public with such damning details when it can still make a difference.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2013.