The Hindu : National : Book stingy on truth: Malik

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006
ePaper

National

National

Book stingy on truth: Malik

Describes Musharraf as `timid general'

V.P. Malik

Chandigarh: Describing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a "timid General," the former Chief of the Army Staff, General V.P. Malik, said there was a "lot of fabrication" about the Kargil conflict in In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.

"The book is stingy on truth. From the accounts I have read, it appears to be a narration with no references and there appears to be a lot of fabrication about facts," Gen. Malik, who was the Army Chief during the 1999 conflict, told PTI here.

On Gen. Musharraf's claims that the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, had decided to withdraw troops from strategic features in the Kargil sector, he said: "In his book Musharraf comes across as a timid General and seems to be passing the buck to Sharif. Though Musharraf ordered the operation in mid-January 1999 , he does not spare opportunity in passing the buck."

Dismissing claims that the Mujahideen carried out the Kargil operation, he said Gen. Musharraf in his book had admitted to the participation of the Northern Light Infantry in the fighting, supported by other regular troops.

"As regards casualties of Pakistani soldiers, immediately after the war ended, our intelligence put these numbers at between 730 and 750. However, we have seen some retired Pakistan Army Generals giving accounts of this figure varying between 3,000 and 4,000," Gen. Malik said, adding that Gen. Musharraf's claim of a victory in Kargil "makes me laugh." — PTI

Army officer refutes claim

Sandeep Diskshit reports from New Delhi

A senior Army officer claims that records show that at least 30 bodies of Pakistani officers were recovered during mopping up operations after the war.

The officer, of the rank of Colonel, is not willing to be identified, as the Army Headquarters has not officially reacted to Gen. Musharraf's book.

The recovery of a large number of bodies of officers in Drass, Batalik, Mushkoh and Kaksar areas clearly show the involvement of a large number of Pakistani troops in Kargil, he says.

The highest-ranking officer among the Pakistanis killed, according to the Indian Army, was Brig. Nusrat Sial of the 62 Infantry Brigade.

Among the other dead officers were one Lieutenant, 11 Captains, 12 Majors, one Colonel and four other officers. Army records list the dead officers of the Pakistan Army as Brig. Nusrat Sial, Commander (62 Infantry Brigade), Maj. Mohd Hanif (pilot), Maj. Muhammed Ali Hyderi (2 wing), Maj. Jawwad Khayal, Maj. Izhar, Maj. Suhail Arif (3 Special Services Group), Maj. Sayyad, Maj. Changezi, Maj. Wahid, Maj. Anwar Salim Akhtar (13 PoK battalion), Maj. Sadiq Anwar Abbasi, Maj. Sayeed (7 Northern Light Infantry), Maj. Asim Ahmod (6 NLI), Col. Mushraf (Commanding Officer, 1 Frontier Force), Capt. Farooq, Capt. Mehmood Tariq, Capt. Inam, Capt. Nasir Hameed, Capt. Raja Inamullah, Capt. Faiyaz, Capt. Aziz (pilot), Capt. Zulfikar Ali (2 wing), Capt. Habib (7 NLI), Capt. Syed Ashar (11 NLI), Capt. Kamal Sher (12 NLI), Capt. Imran (S&T Bn), Lt. Ejazur Rehman, nickname `Cheeta' (25 Sind) and an artillery officer whose name was illegible.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National