Pervez Musharraf addresses a press conference on the sidelines of a leadership summit in New Delhi on November 17, 2012. PHOTO: AFP
Controversy surrounding the former president and Kargil refuses to die down, with fresh allegations by a former Pakistan Army official that weeks before hostilities erupted between Indian and Pakistani troops in Kargil, then army chief General Pervez Musharraf spent a night on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC).
Col (retd) Ashfaq Hussain, who was serving in the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) at the time, said Musharraf flew across the de facto border on March 28, 1999 and spent a night at a location 11 kilometres inside Indian territory, The Times of India reported.
Hussain alleges that Musharraf, who was accompanied by Brigadier Masood Aslam, then commander of 80 Brigade, spent the night at a location called Zikria Mustaqar, where Pakistani troops commanded by Col Amjad Shabbir were present.
However, the spokesperson for Gen Musharraf strongly denied Hussain’s claim that the former military ruler had ever crossed the LoC. “Such claims are baseless and nonsense,” said Major General (retd) Rashid Qureshi.
General Qureshi, who is also member of Musharraf’s political party, said Col (retd) Hussain served under him at the ISPR.
“At the time of the Kargil operation, he was posted in Karachi, and his claims about General Musharraf crossing over the LoC were nothing but preposterous,” he added.
Col Hussain first made the revelation in his book ‘Witness to Blunder: Kargil Story Unfolds’, which was published late in 2008.
He repeated the assertion earlier this week on a television show on the Kargil episode.
He went on to say that Pakistani troops first intruded into the Indian side of the LoC on December 18, 1998, when Captains Nadeem, Ali and Havaldar Lalik Jan were sent on a reconnaissance mission.
“They were never told about the aims and objectives of their mission,” maintained Hussain.
However, Musharraf’s spokesman denies this assertion, saying he could not have access to such classified information given the position he was serving in the Army. “It appears to be a publicity stunt,” Gen Qureshi insisted.
V K Singh praises Musharraf’s ‘courage’
On Friday, Musharraf also received praise for entering deep into Indian territory in Kargil in 1999 from former Indian Army chief General V K Singh, who said it showed the “courage” of a military commander.
Singh, who headed the Indian Army from 2010 to 2012, said there were “mistakes” on the Indian side that allowed Pakistani troops to cross over into Indian territory and let Musharraf return to Pakistan safely.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2013.
COMMENTS (98)
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I dnt think it was a tactical or strategical defeat for Pakistan,,,It was a political defeat,,, :(strong text
I love President Gen (R) Pervaiz Musharraf, he is the Men. He can only save Pakistan from the evil ones. Jivay Musharraf.
Inddddian bloggers must be dumb to learn about this news! Pakistan military cmmanders and members of ISI cross the LoC into Indian occupied kashmir regularly and spend days and weeks at a time. What Musharaf did or did not do was simply to impress and boost the moral of his jawans. He has often boasted about his field actions and denegraded the combats of his staff Generals.
Rex Minor
Musharaf was born in Delhi and should be reatriated to India for clarity. He is definitely a brave lad and showed it as well in facing George W. He was also seen on the TV showing his pistol which he kept for his protection as the Prsident of Pakistan. He was probably afraid after having seen the fate of Indira Gandhi and therefore wanted to protect himself from the soldiers who guarded him.
Rex Minor
Jinnah was a Shia , so was a lot of Pak leaders
Didn't realize musharaf is so relevant even today. He left five years ago but still rules Pakistan mentally
@Indian Wisdom: It's hard to understand your logic, initially you stated that your are not against Muslims, and later you negate it by saying all wrong things to Pakistan.
@Bilal: @Enlightened: So then why Indians are after Kashmir? If you really dont like muslims and Islam…
We are all for Kashmir just like any other state of India, simply because they are also Indians and our brothers and sisters. We never said that we are against muslims and Islam, in fact we have a good proportion of Muslims who are here because they dumped the two nation theory and are equal partners in development of our country. We are simply against the theory that Hindus/Muslims/ Shia's /Sunnis (and list goes on.....) are two/three/four/....... different nations . Every nation has minorities and majorities but that doesn't make every section a different nation. And we are really thankful to Jinnah that he saved India from drowning in the sea with a stone (Pakistan) tied to its neck. We are very relieved that we are not burdened with that liability (Pakistan) any more and can concentrate on our development (of all sections irrespective or caste or creed).
@Enlightened: So then why Indians are after Kashmir? If you really dont like muslims and Islam...
Musharaf is a brave person. We need such leaders. Honest and straight forward. He will be a good leader provided he remains away from Choudhris of Gujrat.
@Bilal: Appreciate your comments and wish you well. However frankly speaking, Mr Jinnah has done a bigger favour to the Indians than Pakistanis who messed up his noble vision by making Pakistan an Islamic Republic.
New drama start on Media against Musharraf. Easrlier they all were sleeping. Can any body think why this drama is being played
After reading all Indian comments, I would would really like to say Thank you to Mr. Jinnah for making a separate homeland for us.
@gp65: "The other side can quote dozens of speeches before and partition which indicate that he wanted Islamic Pakistan. How wil this issue be resolved?" The 'other side' also claims of wining all three wars against India do you believe it? sure not. then why you believe them when they misquote Jinnah or distort history of partition just because it suits your arguments against jinnah?. "How wil this issue be resolved?" Answer is-Bloodshed.
@nazir minto and @sohraab: gents unfortunately if IK was that sensible he would have been the PM and Mush the president, in civvies, for last many years. IK refused to compromise, when that offer was mode to him, and he will suffer for that.
I am Indian and I love Pakistani culture and its people. We were living together for many thousands of years before British and few politicians divided us. Creating boundaries does not improve lives or humanity, it just creates more problems, we should learn from nature and live free, without boundaries, ... both... physically and mentally. What use is of any religion have creats boundaries and non tolrance. There is no concrete wall at the boundaries of the nations they exists in our minds and then take physical shape.
@DarKnight.. lolzzzz at ur comment abt our dude ali khan's poetry.. I also had the same feeling.. lol
Hats off to you Musharraf Sahab..
@James:
In todays Pakistan, Jinnah will be afraid to go to a mosque Do you believe this man ever visited in mosque, well I don't think so.......
@Ali Khan:
Hey, dude... are you writing a poem or what ?.........unable to understand what exactly you want to say...
@salman:
Could you please name all those separatist movement which is happening in India and on which states because as an I am unaware of at least 20 separatist movement, yes there are some, but not around 20 dude.............
@adnan If kargil was Pakistans reply for siachen then it is still unanswered. We still have siachen and you dont have kargil. Your army men are getting killed by your own people. Such mis adventures should be avoided.focus on stability of your nation instead
For a soldier the most important thing is his pride. For a country the most shameless thing is to insult the person who lays his life to serve the country. It is now very clear those who died in Kargil were Pakistani soldiers, son of the soil. This general did not accept their dead bodies. There is no bigger insult to those soldiers. Shameless act by the leaders and you call it success.
Some of my Pakistani friends are equating Indian occupation of Siachin with Kargil which is wrong as the former boundaries were un-demarcated whereas latter,s control line was accepted in an agreement signed by both countries. Therefore, crossing of LoC by Pakistan was an act of war and a befitting reply was given by India and its military took 80 percent of its territory back in two months fighting before Nawaz Sharif asked for ceasefire and unconditionally withdraw from the balance territory. Musharraf thus by his foolhardy adventure, lost both tactically and strategically besides Pakistan suffered loss of face at the international level.
If Pakistan Army was inside indian Territory then You indian got Bigger Army then Pakistan Army But why you did not responded. Try to come inside pakistan Territory but you Indian Just do something through media...there is no any doubt tha Pak Army is The Best Army of the World and got brave Participants & Commanders. Gen-®V K Singh is right.
@Behari Kebab Man up! As sovereign nations India & Pakistan will do what is in in their supreme interest. You cannot whine like a like baby because your myopic plans always fail.
@Nazia : Most honest and heartfelt comment ever on this site.Why don't our politicians understand this? Can India and Pakistan become strongest allies in the world? If this happens then no one can stop our progress.
If India did "Siachin:" Its right and if Pakistan did "Kargil" it is unethical. This is double standards. Think again Indian folks. Musharaf was brave and showed india the strength of Pak Army. It was a reply of Siachin.
@1984: @Queen: "It was winter,dear and both armies already had an agreement that they will vacate the hills during winter to escape from the drastic cold Anyway,Pakistan is never known for honoring any gentleman’s agreement"
Kargil height is 10 Km inside the Indian side of LOC . why any understanding required with Pakistan for vacation of the height during winter?.. it is rubbish. Definitely it was the utter failure of Indian military which has been agreed too by them in veiled words. . There is nothing wrong in accepting the mistakes even if it is grave
Siachen is the place which is on LOC where both the army use to vacate their post in winter and not the Kargil (where Pakistani army was never present ). There also nothing like any agreement . That was the practice to avoid sub sub zero winter harshness for the soldiers which used to suit both the side..
@zeeshan:
@Ramesh Powar “I once entered ladies washroom when no one was around. Am I brave or what”
are you saying india is country of little girls ?
Its called satirical sarcasm. I am not surprised that you don't get this.
@Aijaz: no it's you! could not get Kashmir that's why! be a gentleman, how could you gift a part of your illegally occupied Kashmir to China? Learn from India which has the guts to defy any superpower in the world!
@sabi: There is no consensus inPakistan about what kind of Pakistan Jinnah intended. People like you quote the11th August speech and claim he wanted a secular Pakistan. The other side can quote dozens of speeches before and partition which indicate that he wanted Islamic Pakistan. How wil this issue be resolved?
@Bilal: Thats bravery and courage , we crossed the LOC 20 years back and we still own Siachen, you guys havent been able to do anything :( :( . On a more serious note , read the Shimla Agreement, Siachen was a no man's land, we reached there first , we own it :)
@paki We saw pakistani bravery in how it did a u turn on Taliban after 9 11 due to threats by bush. Also when the USA army sneaked inside your border and took Osama
Reckless Fool! What did he prove? His personal courage? Hardly! He is scared to death of his own people and is not sure Kayani will come to his rescue.
India is not double faced country,pakistan has so many faces-one for U.S.,one for Terrorist -Groups,for China and so on,even with own Pakistani people.if has one face then never go to U.S. to bargain with India,e.g.Nawaz Sharif had to run NewYork after Kargil-Blunder.List can be longer,but to show whom?@Clear Black Bag:
I am surprised to observe that still there are confused elements in Pakistani society who consider runaway dictator Musharraf a "leader"... when he is enjoying self-imposed exile as he cannot dare come to Pakistan to face trial under Akbar Bugti murder case, Lal masjid massacre, assassination of Benazir Bhutto, proclamation of emergency, subversion of constitution, putting the judges under house arrest, blessing corruption through NRO. General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf must be brought to justice, otherwise some adventurers will continue to subvert the constitution at gun point and play havoc with the country.
@Ramesh Powar: Thanks for explaining indian version of bravery
@sabi: "Pakistan of future will be a different Pakistan and that Pakistan will be of Jinnah’s Pakistan.And that Pakistan will lead sub.continent.Then aims and objectives will be cleared on the whole world.I have no doubt about the vision of Jinnah and millions of Pakistanis too are quite clear about that.Greater the cause greater the suffering.And we know that.And we also know how to make our neighbour smile."
Amen..........Ah, if only Pakistan could become more tolerant and progressive!!! If only our brothers(and sisters) in Pakistan could understand that we are not against them, we just oppose the policy of making India bleed with 1000 cuts.
Musharraf has one Indian admirer- Gen V K Signh. Singh also, like his hero, wanted to stick on his job.
@Insaan: So why did India crossed Loc For Siachen?
There is very thin, almost invisible line between bravery and stupidity; our "commando" general literally crossed it! Need more to said about his "wisdom" or any other attribute?
@Ramesh Powar "I once entered ladies washroom when no one was around. Am I brave or what"
are you saying india is country of little girls ?
@Ramesh Powar: you were blindfolded.
JSM wrote: "I agree Ali. Partition of the country was the best thing for India and the worst for Muslims."strong text
I have posted this in various internet forums. In its entire history spanning thousands of years, strong text3 great men stand out as the saviors of Indic/ hindu civilization 1)Shri Adhi Shankaracharya from the South 2)Swami Vivekanandha from the East 3)Shri Mohamed Ali Jinnah from the West
@Indian Wisdom: seems like you are still in pain after 65 years, get over it.
True commando leads from front. If its true then great bravery.
When General himself does not respect LOC, what to expect from junior officers ? It only shows all infiltrations have blessings of Pakistan Army.
@Ali Khan: Well, what are you waiting for then?
A commando first and a commando last , That's what daring General Musharraf is. Any comments by Nawaz?
@Queen: Pakistani and Indian army had an agreement to vacate the territory during winter season. A general broke the law by crossing the LOC.
Pakistan government even refused to take back dead Pakistani army soldier bodies, because official position of Pakistan government was that it was not involved in the Kargil attack.
@Nazir Ahmed Minto: Absolutely Correct. Musharraf is the best man alongwith Imran Khan to manage this rudderless ship called Pakistan. Don't pay any attention to this baseless Kargil hype, created by some vested interests within the local media and Politicians to keep him away from Pakistan.
@Ali Khan: I agree Ali. Partition of the country was the best thing for India and the worst for Muslims. Had India not been partitioned, it would have been Islamic Republic of India. Indians must be thankful to Jinnah.
Wow staying a night in a place vacated by Indian army. On mutual agreement is brave? If he was really brave he would have come back to his country by now
@indian wisdom: Despite all conspiracies pakistan is a strong country and pakistani nation is a great nation.
We Indians will get back Jinnahs Pakistan.
Now musharaff can't even return to the pakistani side of LOC from london!! LOL! What a circus!!
@Salman: your blaming India your also involved in blame game.
@Ali Khan: Do the math.The total muslim population of all three countries is less than the non muslim population of India
@sabi: I hope that Pakistan of the future will turn out to be like Jinnahs Pakistan.In todays Pakistan, Jinnah will be afraid to go to a mosque
@Manju, It is very easy to point out fingers at others - quite accoustomed to this! We are not FAILED state. We call this spead breakers we may be slow but we are not loosers. we have been victimized by Indians conspiracies. but just like past - your propogandas is doomed to end up in smoke.
Look who is concerned! Hospitality of Indians are famous in the world be it our hockey team / women's team / blind cricket team - not been able to have proper security arrangements - What about Anna Hazzaree - corruption - its better that we respect each other rather than blame game. You should be concerned the state of affairs with in your country rather than poking your nose in a our matter. Thank you we are not interested
Yes he did cross the LoC but the Indian general shouted and swore at Musharaf and he ran back to Pakistan, just like in the film "Border"
Love you Musharraf!
I once entered ladies washroom when no one was around. Am I brave or what?
All indians here pls do some maths if we put Togather all the muslim population of subcontinent By know india would be rould by muslims pleas Put all the muslim population of theas contres Togather bangladesh pakistan india afganistan.
Mush is THE answer to Pakistan's ills today !!
@Queen: They might be supporting him.
I would only suggest to ' Lay off General Musharaf'......He's what Pakistan needs..alongwith Imran Khan ;...The Most common between the Two is ...PAKISTAN '
Musharraf should come back to Pakistan. Even at the tactical level, the wrecked Pakistani nation needs his administrative guts for some betterment.
@sabi: Pakistan of future will be a different Pakistan and that Pakistan will be of Jinnah’s Pakistan.And that Pakistan will lead sub.continent. Under present circumstances Pakistan looks more likely to become Hafeez Saeed's Pakistan than Jinnah's Pakistan. We Indians will be very happy if it somehow turns towards becoming Jinnah's Pakistan which we know is a very distant dream.....
@Behari Kebab: Thank you for exposing your prejudice against the very idea of Pakistan’s existence, which is the core reason for the dispute between Pakistan and India. Brother please learn to take proper meaning out of sentences. He commented on the wisdom of those who formed Pakistan and not with the idea of forming Pakistan. Most of us Indians still thank God that Pakistan was formed........ But unfortunately the ideology of Pakistan has been misled from forming a welfare state with a Muslim majority to a Downtrodden and failed nation of the world which is poisonous to any other country it comes in contact with [including its own Islamic neighbors - Afghanistan & Iran; even other Islamic countries like Palestine against which Pakistan fought a war at the behest of US (remember CENTO?) - a war against Palestine!!!!]....
@Indian Wisdom: "Unfortunately even the founders of Pakistan were not sure of of the aims and objectives of the mission called Pakistan except that it has to be “Not India”………………..No big deal!!"
Pakistan of future will be a different Pakistan and that Pakistan will be of Jinnah's Pakistan.And that Pakistan will lead sub.continent.Then aims and objectives will be cleared on the whole world.I have no doubt about the vision of Jinnah and millions of Pakistanis too are quite clear about that.Greater the cause greater the suffering.And we know that.And we also know how to make our neighbour smile.
Musharraf is real leader.
Mush has become irrelevant and his party APML is practically dead. Mush is trying to keep himself relevant by using media from overseas. His misadventure at Kargil failed miserably and now he is trying to pull out some heroics from the misery of defeat. While these generals do not want the Humood Rehman Commission and Abbottabad Commission Reports to be kept secret and away from the Pakistani civilians they can disclose all military secrets for their own political game.
but still he had the guts,
@ Indian Wisdom - This your state of denial... Sir would you like to comment on more than 20 separatist movement in India? We are far better now and we are proud what our founders did!
@Behari Kebab: perhaps Pakistan is "fighting for its life" but the cause is not India. You should read your newspapers when you have the time!
Like A Boss ;-)
Can anyone tell me why is India occupying Siachin? What was wrong if Musharraf did at Kargil?
Well done. A true and effective leader shared the difficulties of the led with them.Must have been a morale boosting event for the troops.
@Queen: It was winter and until Kargill happened every winter India withdrew its army in winter as did Pakistan with an understanding that no one would cross Loc during winter. So there was no Indian army present.
@Behari Kebab: Are you serious that Pakistan is fighting for its life? With the snakes right inside your houses and killing at will every day, NOTHING has taken place to exterminate them. On the contrary, over 80% of the populace support them and provide shelter. Get serious Bekhari Kebab.
@Queen: It was winter,dear and both armies already had an agreement that they will vacate the hills during winter to escape from the drastic cold
Anyway,Pakistan is never known for honoring any gentleman's agreement
@ishtiaer hussain: " Kargil was a tactical success but strategic failure." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mistaking trees for the woods or in this case, mistaking rocks for mounatins.
@Indian Wisdom: Thank you for exposing your prejudice against the very idea of Pakistan's existence, which is the core reason for the dispute between Pakistan and India. No one should be in any doubt vis-a-vis India, Pakistan is fighting for its life.
When Musharraf went 11 km inside the Indian territory....... What was the India Army doing at that time????????
On the first hand India never leave any stone to unturn to harm Pakistan in any means and manifestation and on the other hand always as usual wants to make strong relations and comradeship with Pakistan.Wow what the dual-faced,double-standard and hypocritical policies are of India about/for Pakistan!!!!!
Aim of Kargil war was to dominate drass-kargil road and we still oversee road from point 17777. If Indians understand my logic ang have some reasoning, they should come out of false pride.
@ishtiaer hussain: whether it is tactical failure or strategical defeat kindly tell me what is its end result and what we gained after adopting one of two or both simultaneously.Those who planned such military adventures cost nation billion dollars and made loss of real sons of soil on both side.Along with this given boost to war industry, people become billionaire who deals in arms and supplies to this hard areas. so before deep thinking for any events just see its simple consequences.For military men war is like adventure for them but after this nation suffering starts for next decade.
Entering Deep in another country's territory when they've withdrawn due to heavy winter isnt exactly bravery......
However,camping in such a cold place for a 50 yr old Army General sure is!!!!!!!
@Indian Wisdom: Therein lies the tragedy.
Too bad he cannot enter either PAK or India now.
Has it ever occurred to anyone that India laid in waiting for Kargil to unfold?
What are the Pakistan Media Channels upto? and to what end? Utter Rubbish
“They were never told about the aims and objectives of their mission,” maintained Hussain.
Unfortunately even the founders of Pakistan were not sure of of the aims and objectives of the mission called Pakistan except that it has to be "Not India"....................No big deal!!
That's like a true but thoughtless commando. Kargil failed because the strategy was indefensible at the strategic level. In spite of all the bravery of Musharraf, as in the words of former Indian Army Chief, we should not make another SSG-trained commando as our Army Chief in the future. Commandos are trained for tactical warefare. They are great tacticians not good strategists. Kargil was a tactical success but strategic failure. Perhaps, it all happened because of Muharraf's commando training. Brave but reckless.