Chaudhrys were on board regarding emergency: Musharraf

Musharraf expresses lack of trust on political leadership regarding army-related matters.

Former President Pervez Musharraf said his political supporters, including the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, were on board regarding the imposition of emergency, contrary to what they claim now.

There was divided opinion on the complex issue of emergency but the majority of the politicians favoured it at the time, Musharraf stated  in an exclusive interview with Express 24/7.

However, he did not mince words while expressing his lack of trust on the political leadership regarding army-related matters. “If I had any opinion against General Kayani, Chaudhry Shujaat or any political person would be the last one I’d say it to,” he said, deftly avoiding the host’s question regarding the sentiment within the armed forces on the imposition of emergency.

The army derives its importance not from the pendency of the Kashmir dispute, but from the Pakistan-specific deployment of Indian armed forces, said Musharraf while dispelling what he called the myth of Kashmir-centeredness of the army. That the army fears the resolution of Kashmir dispute would lead to loss of its importance as an institution is a western and Indian propaganda, he said.

Speaking about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, he admitted that Pervaiz Elahi, Ejaz Shah and Hamid Gul were the three individuals named by Ms Bhutto in her famed letter addressed to him (Musharraf) before her return to Pakistan.

He said he never believed Elahi or Shah would try to inflict harm on her since they’re more responsible than that. However, Gul is an intelligence man through and through and he utilises his ex-intelligence connections frequently. That coupled with the fact that Gul admittedly hated Bhutto could lead one to conjecture his involvement in her assassination but he does not believe that himself, said Musharraf.

Regarding Nawab Akbar Bugti, Musharraf said he did not regret the military operation against him. Divulging details of the meeting that was arranged at the behest of political leaders, he said he had asked Bugti to come and meet him in Islamabad instead of “paying homage to Dera Bugti.” He said he had demanded that Bugti meet him without the Kalashnikov-wielding, face-covered army of bodyguards. He claimed to not recall why the meeting did not eventually materialise.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2010.