The Hindu : `Probe Musharraf's links with Taliban'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

International

International

`Probe Musharraf's links with Taliban'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Sept. 2. The arrest of some of the officers in the Pakistan military for their alleged links with extremist outfits has sparked a debate within the country. It revolves around a view that there is no big deal in the supposed links.

Opposition parties, both religious and mainstream, have flayed the military leadership for carrying out investigations against the army officers for being sympathetic to Afghan resistance forces (remnants of Al-Queda and Taliban). Their logic is that after all successive governments in the country, military and civilian, have been more than friendly to these forces. They have wondered why similar probe not be conducted against the President, Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan was one among the three countries in the world to recognise the Taliban and was the last to sever links with it in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the Bush Administration's policy of "either you are with us or against us". "If the investigations are being held against those who supported militancy or resistance in Afghanistan, then from General Zia-ul-Haq to General Pervez Musharraf, every one should be probed into," remarked the Opposition leader, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, at a news conference here along with leaders of all the major Opposition parties.

The MMA leader said since the start of the Afghan war, many generals have been engaged with these forces and wondered why the probe should be confined to a few officers. "Can anyone deny that General Musharraf did not help the resisting forces (Taliban) before the incidents of 9/11?"

Religious parties have also turned their ire against the U.S. They believe that in the guise of operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. has established bases in Pakistan and is interfering in its affairs.

The MMA leader has alleged that earlier only civilians were being kidnapped but now the situation has worsened to the extent that even army officers are not out of the range of American intelligence operatives. The English daily, Dawn, in an editorial, said the news should not come as a surprise to anyone that there are elements within the military that have been affected by the "crusading bug". It said it was inevitable that the long and close exposure of the army and its various agencies to the Afghan situation should have had its ideological fallout. Even before that, when Zia-ul-Haq was army chief, he was believed to have been quite dedicated to converting the rank and file to his own religious views. "Joining the military does not mean that a person forfeits his right as a thinking individual and to hold his own opinion about matters religious and temporal. But having actual links with extremist organisations or with any other political grouping is a different issue altogether and violates military regulations. The army high command should be worried about what has surfaced and carry out a thorough screening of its men, and do so in a transparent manner and lay the facts before Parliament, it said.

On a different plane, the paper said that the military should also note that it had allowed itself to become susceptible to political influences because of its repeated readiness to rule the country and patronise favoured politicians and parties. Army chiefs from Ayub Khan have seized power and then acted as full-blown politicians.

Another paper, Daily Times in its editorial said that these reports raise a number of disturbing questions. "We know that there was a time when the Pakistan army and its intelligence services were supporting, arming and reinforcing the Taliban militia. That is no more a secret".

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