Musharraf book: Chutzpah not to be dimissed

New Delhi, Oct 2: If there is one word that can best describe Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's just-released memoirs, "In the Line of Fire", it is chutzpah.

Derived from Yiddish, it means 'brazen audacity' amongst other interpretations that include enormous gall and nerve. The book has become an instant best-seller and the media-savvy General has used every available opportunity in the US and UK (where he was visiting) to promote the book and sales have reached record levels.

However, the excerpts that have been published on some crucial aspects of the book reveal certain characteristics about the General personally and, more importantly, about the Pakistani state and the nature of the politico-military relationship and the manner in which the phenomenon of religious radicalism and terrorism have evolved over the last 25 years in that country.

All these facets have critical relevance for India - more so after the findings of the Mumbai police in the 7/11 bomb blasts that indict the ISI - and the world in general, apropos the on-going war on terrorism.

The personal element about these memoirs has already received wide mention in the news of the last few days and what is central is the manner in which Gen Musharraf has projected himself - as a fiercely courageous and upright soldier, who has always been "in the line of fire" and placed the interest of his country above all.

By itself, such a stance is unexceptionable and every soldier of any nation would have a similar value code. However it is the manner in which Gen Musharraf interprets his own career in the higher ranks that reveals the man's megalomania . This is reflected in one section, where he refers to the manipulation in the Pakistani military's promotion system and notes that when he was a Brigadier, his name was dropped from the promotion list for Major Generals.

The Pakistani Prime Minister at the time was Ms Benazir Bhutto but later on he was added to the list and promoted.

Gen Musharraf writes: "My promotion as Army Chief is next only to a miracle, seen with all the seniority manipulations, negative propaganda against me and my character assassination." The use of the word 'miracle' is instructive, for it suggests a conviction about divine intervention, which has been invoked by many leaders in history, who believed - quite sincerely - that they were the saviours of their nation.

Gen Musharraf's contempt and disdain for the politicalconstituency in Pakistan is one of his trademarks and he has projected the Pakistani Army as the only institution that can hold the country together and save it - from the corrupt practices of the political classes. It is this streak that runs through the narrative but what is illuminating is the manner in which he has deliberately distorted history - on crucial issues - to project himself and the Pakistani military in very favourable light.

This aspect is most glaring in the case of Gen Musharraf's version of the 1999 Kargil War and his interpretation is that India was planning an offensive and that the Pakistani military took counter-measures to strengthen their defenses.

He further adds that this was "a tactical marvel of military professionalism." This convenient distortion (lie?) is at complete variance with the reality of how the Kargil War began and, forget the Indian version, even Pakistani military analysts at the time had a completely different account of the events.

One of the more objective and authoritative accounts of the Kargil War was published in the UK's Royal United Service Institute's (RUSI) Journal in April 2002. Authored by Brigadier (rtd) Shaukat Qadir of the Pakistani Army, it clearly noted that in November 1998 (six months after the May 1998 nuclear tests) the Pakistani military leadership (Gen Musharraf was the Army Chief) had made this plan to occupy territory on the Indian side of the LoC in the Dras-Kargil sector.

Whether their Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief was in the loop or not is not germane now - but as Brig. Qadir adds, the Pakistani military leadership went ahead with this reckless plan without thinking through the politico-diplomatic consequences of their grand tactical initiative. Yes, it is true that the Indian military was caught by surprise and gradually the scale of the intrusion and the role of the Pakistani military was revealed. Yet all the time, Islamabad maintained a faÇade of the Pakistani military not being involved and called it an intrusion by mujahedin and irregulars - shades of 1947 and 1965?!! Finally, of course, India won the war but only because of the personal bravery of its young officers and soldiers who climbed vertical peaks at heights of 18-20,000 feet and became martyrs in the process.

Qadir adds in his article: "Pakistan decided, for some inexplicable reason, to disclaim responsibility for the incursion.

Not only did this cause considerable politico-diplomatic embarrassment to Pakistan, it also made other truthful assertions suspect...(finally we) suffered the condemnation and the embarrassment of being caught in blatant falsehood." Now, seven years after the Kargil War, Gen Musharraf offers his version which stands the truth on its head and, more blatantly, the author interprets this war as a major victory for Pakistan for it served to internationalize the Kashmir issue! The truth was that after Kargil, even the USA, which till then had been ambivalent about the Kashmir issue told Pakistan sternly that borders could not be redrawn and that creating a nuclear scare would be counter-productive.

Security analysts would argue that Kargil was a major strategic setback for Pakistan and a big gain for India. But that is to digress.

In like fashion, Gen Musharraf re-writes the entire A Q Khan episode in his memoirs and, as per his version, the Pakistani military had no involvement at all. This absurd claim is made, despite all the evidence to the contrary including the use of Pakistani Air Force planes to transport up to 18 tonnes of material out of the country! The most incredible claim in the book is the suggestion that India had secretly benefited from the A Q Khan network and this very clever innuendo is made perhaps to cast aspersions on India's track-record as a responsible and credible nuclear power.

However, it is in the various references to terrorism and the role of the Pakistani military that Gen Musharraf makes some startling revelations. The fact that the US had paid large sums of money to the Pakistani government for the capture of certain al-Quaida leaders and cadres is recorded. However, this claim has since been withdrawn by Gen Musharraf during some media interviews in the USA.

This is a clear admission of the collusion between the Pakistnai military intelligence - the ISI - and the terrorist groups and this part of the memoirs will be studied very closely by security experts the world over. The UK has also expressed grave concerns about the ISI-Taliban collusion though this was angrily denied by Gen Musharraf.

Furthermore, the Musharraf memoirs provide till now unknown details about the Taliban leadership, meetings with Saudi royalty, the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl and the courier system operated by the al-Quaida, amongst other nuggets of terrorism- related information. All of this will provide a very valuable insight into the inner workings of the Pakistani military, right-wing religious groups and the perpetrators of radical Islamic terrorism.

The memoirs may be seen as a very readable mix of certitude and chutzpah but this is a book that is not to be dismissed so lightly.

At one level, this autobiography offers an insight into a complex personality who is now controlling the destiny of a nation and its 140 million people. Arrogant, cocky, impulsive, supremely self-assured, convinced about his own righteousness, blind to his obvious duplicity - there are many traits one discerns in the memoirs.

This book provides a wealth of detail to study the character of a military leader of a nuclear-capable state, where the military is in control of the 'bomb'. It is also a nation whose military has been engaged for decades in creating a self-image based on a mirage of itself and of its adversary - India.

This institution - the Pakistani military- has actively encouraged the growth of religious radicalism and related terrorism in both India and Afghanistan. In the process, it has thwarted all secular democratic forces in Pakistan and weakened the internal structures of the state.

For India, the deeper relevance lies in the manner in which Gen Musharraf responds to the tentative agreement reached in Havana with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The India-Pakistan composite dialogue of January 2004 is predicated on certain benchmarks and commitments. These relate to terrorism for India and Kashmir for Pakistan. Soon after returning to Islamabad on September 30, Gen Musharraf reiterated that his Havana meeting was very constructive and that the joint mechanism was a sign of progress.

Now with the Mumbai police having asserted that the ISI had a hand in the July 7 suburban train blasts in Mumbai, the resilience of Havana and the personal credibility of Pervez Musharraf will be on test. For a man who projects himself as being committed to uprightness and the blunt truth, Gen Musharraf will now be in the 'line of fire' - the fire of truth.

UNI