How The Pakistani Army Got
Rid Of Nawaz Sharif
Balwinder Singh
How The Pakistani Army Got Rid Of Nawaz Sharif
What a difference a day makes. Last week the bitter truth behind
this timeless aphorism was brought home with a bang to Pakistan's
former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. In an unreal melodrama which
looked like it was lifted straight out of some afternoon soap
opera, October 12, 1999 saw the democratically elected premier of
Pakistan being unceremoniously stripped of his title in an
alarming coup by the military, headed by General Pervez Musharraf.
The surreal sequence of events began with Sharif's impromptu
dismissal of General Pervez Musharraf from his position as Chief
of the Army Staff. That set the ball rolling and plunged the
country into a melodrama that seemed unpredictably frightening,
but in actuality was well-orchestrated and the momentous
realization of a well thought out tactical plan formulated by
Pakistan's Army. The chronological sequence of events as outlined
below should serve to assist our understanding of what the
unfolding scenario truly mean to India.
At 6:00 PM PST, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dismisses
Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf with immediate effect amid
persistent reports of differences with the commander. The real
reason behind this move is simple, Sharif had originally appointed
Musharraf thinking him to be a puppet in place of the
uncooperative General Karamat. Karamat had been removed by Sharif
in October 1998 because he refused to fall into place with
Sharif's grand plan which involved methodical dissolution of all
democratic institutions so that Sharif could have dictatorial
command over Pakistan. His clampdown on the Opposition, dismissal
of the Supreme Court justices, conspiracy with the ISI and long
history of having amassed immense wealth from corruption were
testimony to this. The only institution that had not succumbed to
Sharif's control was the Army. It was therefore imperative for
Sharif to have his puppet installed as the Chief of the Pakistani
Army. When Karamat refused to play ball, Sharif went over the head
of the two senior officers next in line and instead installed
Musharraf to the position, primarily because he was a Mohajir(one
of the Muslims who immigrated from India during partition).
Mohajirs are treated like scum in Pakistan because their
patriotism is considered suspect. Sharif thought he was making a
master stroke as he could never have imagined in his wildest
dreams that a Mohajir Musharraf could ever find supporters in the
Army. He was of course tragically wrong about both Musharraf's
acceptability as well as his unpredictable loyalty. The Kargil
Conflict however changed Sharif's perception of Musharraf rather
quickly. He realized that Musharraf was far more in control than
it appeared. Things also came to a head when Sharif insisted that
the so called Mujahideen withdraw after realizing that the whole
operation had been disastrous for the Pakistanis. Unlike Sharif
who saw the reality of defeat at India's hands, Musharraf who is
obsessed with the enmity against India refused to see reason and
withdraw his battered forces.
Ever since that episode, Sharif had realized the extent of danger
which Musharraf posed to his plans and was looking for a chance to
get rid of him. His decision came at a time when Musharraf was off
to Colombo and Mauritius. The Army got the wind of the decision by
10 am. At that point Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aziz, the second-in-command
and a Musharraf loyalist, contacted his chief in Colombo and then
urged the government not to carry out its plans. Lt. Gen. Aziz
also contacted the powerful head of the Rawalpindi Corps Lt. Gen.
Ahmed Mahmood who is the primary figurehead among the army brass.
Counter strategies were planned immediately even as a tense Sharif
pretended that nothing was out of the ordinary during a political
meeting at a village near the capital. He summoned Lt. Gen.
Ziauddin to his house at 3.40 PM and appointed him the new Army
chief after signing the orders of Gen. Musharraf's dismissal. In
the meantime Musharraf has been informed and he rushes to catch
the next flight back to Karachi.
A few minutes after Musharraf's dismissal has been announced on
PTV, army troops under the Rawalpindi Corps Commander Aziz
surround the official residence of Sharif. Army commanders outside
Sharif's residence say the Prime Minister is inside the building.
All Journalists and Sharif's political colleagues are blocked all
access to Sharif's residence. Soldiers also take over the houses
of several ministers, including Information Minister Mushahid
Hussain, Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz and Accountability Chief
Saif-ur-Rehman. The army then proceeds to take control of the
Governors' residences in Karachi and Peshawar. In Lahore soldiers
in jeeps and trucks have taken positions on the main mall road and
government buildings. The troops also surround Islamabad
International Airport and overrun the state-run radio and
television buildings.
Approximately one and a half hours later, at 7:22 PM PST, Pakistan
TV interrupts its English news bulletin five minutes before its
scheduled end even as the shocked newscaster is in mid-sentence.
Army troops have overrun the broadcasting station and surrounded
the building. PTV goes off the air. Mobile Phones are not allowed
to function after this point and phone lines are shut down.
In the meantime, a drama is unfolding on the plane on which
Musharraf has rushed back from Colombo after hearing of his
"early retirement". The PTV announcement comes as the
plane is mid way to its destination. As the General's flight
approaches Pakistani shores around 6.30 PM, the pilot is told that
he does NOT have permission to land at Karachi or Lahore. The
flummoxed pilot flies the plane towards the town of Nawabshah,
about 200 km north of Karachi. At this stage an enraged Musharraf
barges into the @#%$pit and commands the pilot to head back
towards Karachi airport, shouting "I will see who stops the
plane from landing in Karachi."
The hapless pilot is forced to comply and maneuvers the plane back
towards Karachi. As the plane approaches Karachi airport, the
control tower warns that they will not authorize it to land. When
the pilot tells the control tower that they are running out of
fuel, the civil aviation authority directs the pilot to take it to
any neighboring country. At this the pilot is forced to respond
that the only neighboring country was India and to his shock the
reply from the control tower is "Take the plane to India
then!" By now an infuriated Musharraf grabs hold of the
speaker and barks out, "This is the Chief of the Army Staff
Gen. Pervez Musharraf and I am ordering you to allow the plane to
land since it is running short of fuel." Simultaneously the
head of 5 Corps of Karachi Lt. Gen. Muzaffar Usmani takes control
of the Karachi control tower and the airport. Finally the control
tower yields, and the aircraft lands around 7.45 PM after a delay
of one hour. He is immediately greeted by Gen. Usmani and whisked
off after receiving a full formal army reception. Musharraf
immediately leaves for the corps headquarters without even meeting
his family members who are waiting to receive him at the airport
and proceeds to take personal charge of the operation.
At 8:25 PM PST leader of the opposition Benazir Bhutto gives
separate interviews to Fox News and BBC TV. In her typical
sensationalistic manner she claims that "It looks like a
civil war in Pakistan, as there are reports that some sections of
the army had turned pro-Nawaz Sharif and were resisting the
coup," Squarely blaming Sharif for the army revolt, Bhutto
accuses the prime minister of trying to "dismantle" the
country and its institutions by dismissing the president, chief
justice and two army chiefs. "Sharif has been treating
Pakistan as a family-run corporation and has treated all
constitutional institutions with scant respect," Bhutto said
adding Sharif's interference with army had proved to be the
"last straw". Pakistan is now in a state of civil war.
She said this was a "battle between the forces of theocracy
and democracy", and that she was the victim of "gender
discrimination.
At 10:15 PM PST, A US State Department spokesman declares that the
situation in Pakistan is "confusing". He says Pakistan's
Ambassador to the US could not give them answers to the key
questions that were asked as to who was in control. The spokesman
reiterates that the US wishes to see the constitution respected in
Pakistan. He states that "if there has been a coup" the
US hopes for an early resumption of democracy in Pakistan, and
till then there could be " no business as usual with
Pakistan".
By 10:20 PM PST, all channels of Pakistan television and Radio
Pakistan have resumed transmissions. All PTV channels carry the
same programming consisting of national songs, and radio Pakistan
carries a news bulletin that appears to be a recording from before
the present crisis broke.
Five minutes later at 10:25 PM PST, PTV and Radio Pakistan
announce that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has
been 'dismissed' and that Gen. Pervez Musharraf will address the
nation 'soon'. No time is given for the broadcast. CNN reports
that people are on the streets of Islamabad shouting,
"welcome army, welcome army". The Press Trust of India
reports that the Indian Army has been put on full alert following
the developments in Pakistan.
A few hours later Musharraf addresses the Pakistanis. He declares
that the armed forces had to take the action as a "last
resort to end uncertainty and turmoil" in the country. He
states that "For the moment I only wish to assure you that
the situation in the country is perfectly calm stable and under
control." In no uncertain terms he also issues a ridiculously
veiled threat to India by saying "let no outside forces think
that they can take advantage of the prevailing situation." He
claimed that the self-serving policies being followed by Sharif's
government had "rocked the very foundations of the country.
Despite all my advice (Sharif government) tried to interfere with
armed forces, the last remaining viable institution in which all
of you take so much pride and look up to at all times for the
stability, unity and integrity of our beloved country. But all my
efforts and counsel to the government it seems were to no avail.
Instead, they now turned their attention on the Army itself.
Despite all my advices, they tried to interfere with the armed
forces. Our concerns again were conveyed in no uncertain terms,
but the government of Nawaz Sharif chose to ignore all these and
tried to politicize the Army, destabilize it and tried to create
dissension within its ranks. I wish to inform you that the armed
forces have moved in as a last resort to prevent any further
destabilization. I have done so with all sincerity with the armed
forces firmly behind me."
Musharraf also alleged that there was a virtual attempt on his
life when he was returning home, "On my way back, the PIA
commercial flight was not allowed to land at Karachi but was
ordered to be diverted to anywhere outside Pakistan, despite acute
shortage of fuel, imperiling the life of all the passengers",
he said adding "thanks to Allah, this evil design was
thwarted through speedy Army action".
The fundamentalist Islamic face of Musharraf was in ample display
as he peppered every second phrase with references to Allah. The
entire speech sounded more like a preparatory lead in to inspire
the Pakistan before the announcement of war against India.
"Dear brothers and sisters, your armed forces have never and
shall never let you down, INSHALLAH. We shall preserve the
integrity and sovereignty of our country to the last drop of our
blood. I request you all, to remain calm and support your armed
forces in the re-establishment of order to pave the way for a
prosperous future for Pakistan. May Allah guide us on the path of
truth and honor. Allah Hafiz. Pakistan Paindabad."
Given the fact that Pakistan has already seen 25 years of army
rule in its past, it hardly comes as a surprise that a military
coup has taken place. What is particularly troubling for India in
this instance however is the fact that this time Pakistan has
nuclear weapons in its fundamentalist and irrational hands. Given
the rabid Islamic brand of terrorism that has dictated this
extremist country's policy to its neighbor, the fears of an
escalated conflict are well justified. The danger is also
intensified by the fact that Musharraf is one of the primary
instigators of the Kargil infiltration, and an imbalanced
religious fundamentalist. He is famous for his direct links to
Islamic terrorist groups like Lashkar-E-Toiba and the Taliban. One
particularly worrisome aspect of his personality is his background
of immigration from India. In general the "Mohajirs" of
Pakistan tend to be far more extreme in their Islamic heal and
hatred against Kafir India, as they feel the need to prove their
loyalty to Pakistan via this animosity against India.
Not too long ago in 1977 ,Pakistan was under the complete control
of army , when general Zia-Ul Haq had dismissed Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto's government and declared martial law while proclaiming
himself as the martial law administrator. Eight years later, Haq
had given a civilian set up to Pakistan after lifting the martial
law but remained in total control of the country as an all
powerful president. The country, however, returned to a civilian
mode in 1988 when Haq died in an air crash and Bhutto's daughter
Benazir Bhutto was "democratically" elected as the Prime
Minister.
The rumors behind the coup also question the role of the United
States in the entire affair. Despite advance knowledge that such
plans were afoot, the military coup seems to have left the US
mostly unconcerned. Some weak references to renewed sanctions were
made by the US and then surprisingly followed by a statement that
if civilian rule were reinstalled in three months , the US would
consider removing restrictions on arm sales to Pakistan. This is
an incredibly hypocritical attitude considering the bogey of
nuclear war that was raised by the US during the Pokhran blasts.
If such a situation had taken place in India, the airwaves would
have been overflowing with concern and condemnation that nuclear
weapons are in the hands of the military. One of the reasons for
the downplayed reaction could be that the US may have played a
supportive role in the coup to in order to pave the way for
reinstallation of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. The preemptive
reactions and carefully engineered moves taken by the Pakistani
Army even before Musharraf landed in Karachi, amply demonstrate
that this was a well planned, methodical and orchestrated coup.
The background to the coup, the character of Musharraf, the
reactions of other countries and the espionage information that
was retrieved during Operation Vijay must all be scanned
thoroughly and analyzed in order to ascertain what the next move
of Pakistan will be. Given its history of animosity, it is not
implausible to think that these are just a series of steps being
taken to put an attack plan against India into action. The BJP led
government needs to be extremely wary and explore all
possibilities, in addition to fortifying India's defenses.
Given the menacing import of this Pakistani coup, troubled times
lie not too far ahead. India's resources and strategy must be
aimed at resolving the problem of Pakistan's incessant need to
provoke conflicts. If the only solution to this lies in having to
get involved in an unavoidable conflict, ensuring victory via
elimination of the enemy remains our best choice.
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