Dear Sir

            I wish to tender an apology to all readers for two errors inadvertently committed by me in article on operation Grand Slam. I am also grateful to one very critical reader who drew my attention to these errors.

The subject article was done in a hasty manner and the draft was handwritten by me and typed by two different people, thus the two errors which were entirely avoidable had I performed the proof reading task religiously, the first error is the statement that the word "grand slam was not mentioned in Shaukat Riza’s book". What I had written in the handwritten draft was that "Shaukat Riza’s book has nothing to say about the detailed composition of various forces in Gibraltar" and that "the word Grand Slam is not to be found in the index of Shauakat Riza’s book". The typist typed it as "Shaukat Riza’s book does not contain the word Grand Slam". Naturally one observant reader was outraged and pointed out the error to me , since the book has a complete chapter titled "Operation Grand Slam" and naturally I was aware of this fact since I have been reading this "as difficult to read as a dead sea scroll work" since 1986 and trying to find out what Shaukat Riza actually wanted to say! The second error was about casualties in Grand Slam. This again was a typing error. The casualties of 13 Punjab i.e 24 killed were mistakenly written as casualties of 9 Punjab. Incidentally in the previous issue i.e July 2000 issue I had discussed these casualties in article Chillianwalla and had given the correct figures.

I may add that these errors are not as serious as many committed by 1000 times more illustrious personalities.i will quote four instances i.e one in which in a serving major general made Elphinstone a viceroy of India while in reality this was totally incorrect. another eminent author then a colonel, now a very senior officer, in a book sponsored by staff college quetta made humayun fight the second battle of panipat when he was already dead and also substituted the Hindu enemy for the suri enemy!, a third one in which there were many factual errors in the eaxminer report of 1992 Staff College entrance exams, a fourth one in which many factual errors were committed by illustrious personalities in the Green Book of Pakistan Army of the year 1992-93. I pointed these errors on all four occasions.only the first error was publicly acknowledged by the Staff College and that too after repeated letters written by me. On all other three occassions my parent formation headquarters 14 division was asked to warn me not to interfere with works of eminent personalities! Colonel Majid ex AQ 14 Division is a direct witness of this fact! He is retired and settled in Rawalpindi.

I also received certain complaints regarding casualties of units in Grand Slam. It was a pure military discussion meant not to let down any unit. 14 Punjab was commanded by uncle of a very close relative. Nothing offensive was implied!as far as 11 Cavalry is concerned, there is no doubt that the unit was mis employed and to date the scars remain. In 1971 the unit suffered more casualties i.e 24 killed in Chamb but the unit had no bitter feelings since they knew the GOC who had commanded the 6 armoured division earlier and the casualties occurred not because of incompetence but essentially because of the enemy factor in a situation in which someone had to make sacrifices to achieve a breakthrough. No wonder that the picture of General Eftikhar Janjua is the most pivotal part of 11 Cavalry’s tea bar.

I again regret the errors and offer my unconditional apologies to all readers. I also want to add that the Defence Journal had nothing to do with these typing errors.

kind regards

BANGLADESH ‘PM’ IMPLICATES PAKISTAN

The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajid is harping just one tune these days, and that is—those responsible in the Pakistan Army for committing atrocities against women and looting public property during the 1971 war, in the former East Pakistan, must be tried for war crimes.    

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, embarked on her Pakistan-bashing spree at the Millenium Summit of the United Nations, held in New York in the first week of this month. Raising this issue, whether it may have an element of truth in it or not, particularly on an occasion like the UN Summit is not without purpose. The sudden outburst against Pakistan, demonstrated by the Bangladesh Prime Minister over such a sensitive issue, leaves one to speculate if this was pre meditated, and staged with the connivance of her Indian counterpart.        

Initially, Sheikh Hasina denied that her utterances vis-a-vis the issue in question was not Pakistan specific. She took this stance on realising the faux pas, she had committed and its potentially far-reaching implications on the present, cordial Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. But now, as reported by a section of Pakistan’s print media, having openly demanded trial of the Pakistan Army personnel, for war crimes, the Bangladesh PM has contradicted her own (earlier) statement—“that whatever she had said during her speech at the Millenium Summit of the United Nations regarding trial of war criminals was general and not country specific”. Her current, bold stance brings to fore nothing but her loyalty to her benefactors—the Indians, and her personal motives.

Granted, crimes may have been committed. But to blow out of proportion a sensitive ‘bilateral issue’, such as the trial of war criminals, at a forum where her Indian counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpaye had come, all geared up, to do nothing but bash Pakistan, was certainly not without reason. The Bangladesh PM, naturally, went out of the way to oblige her mentor and benefactor. On the personal side, she has intentionally tried to raise the emotions of the Bengali nation against Pakistan.  With general elections expected to be held in Bangladesh sometime in the fall of the year 2001, or may be earlier, no other issue could have proven to be more effective for PM Hasina to gain mileage in the forthcoming elections than this one.              

I seek to urge the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajid not to play  with the sentiments and emotions of her people, for personal gains. Please do not make those who have already inordinately suffered the wrath of the so called politicians, on both sides of the divide, suffer any more. If you and the people of Bangladesh at all have any genuine grievances against Pakistan, or against any particular segment of the Pakistani society, let’s, like two cultured and educated people, sit across the negotiating table and resolve them amicably. I must, however, admit that if Bangladesh continues to stick to the stance recently taken by you and your government, the extremely cordial and mutually beneficial relations that our two countries and peoples were able to establish, after almost three decades of extensive efforts, would not only deteriorate but may, I am afraid, also come to a grinding halt. 

Gentlemen, Mr. Ahmad Faruqui:

I have read the article of Mr. Faruqui (The Betrayal of East Pakistan, Defence Journal, May 2000, web address:

http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/may/betrayal.htm), and I wonder why did almost absolutely Muslim population of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) not ever want, since the formation of Bangladesh, to re-join their brothers in Pakistan?

(Muslims in Bangladesh are over 88%, you can find this information at e.g. the following page of a website dedicated to this country:

http://www.bangladesh.com/facts/population.html).

Thus, as it seems, it would be enough for Pakistan to establish a true Jihad movement in East Pakistan and to re-join its population of 127mn people (of which about 112mn Muslims) also as its enough strong army. The last one would also be needful as a rearward in the future victorious wars with Middle Asia (a part of former Soviet Union) that Pakistan and Afghanistan both seem to plan, aiming to establish there the Shariah Law.

I believe you will be so kind to forward this message to the Government of Pakistan.

Kind Regards,

From: Commander (Retd) Muhammad Azam Khan, P.N

23 Sept 2000

Dear Sir,

East Pakistan Debacle

Ref:  Your Telecon with the undersigned on 22 Sept.

It was indeed my proud privilege to speak to you on the telephone the other day. At the outset, let me assure you that I avidly follow your articles and views that appear so frequently in the national print media. Your suggestions and ideas are not only of interest and value to me but, rest assured, are held in esteem by a large cross section of the society. As we finished our short yet valuable conversation, I picked up the newspaper and came across another interesting article captioned “Musharraf on Hamood Report” (The News 22 Sept)  written by another distinguished journalist Nasim Zehra. The views reflected therein are more or less identical to what I had expressed in my article.

Whatever little I could gather from your profitable views was that perhaps most of the Bangladeshis have forgotten the cruel memories of that tragic period. I also read with interest a news item the other day that said: “a BD opposition member jailed in Dacca for flying Pakistani Flag on the roof top of his house”.  The conclusion, that I have drawn as a result of my exhaustive discussions with officers returning from Bangladesh after attending various courses and (or) other official errands, however, is that most of the citizens hold us in nothing but contempt. The enormity of the wounds may have emaciated with the younger generation coming up but the “War of liberation”, as they term it, forms an integral part of the curriculum of courses conducted in most Armed Forces institutes of BD. The topic is debated and deliberated threadbare. At times, according to our officers, they felt embarrassed for the manner in which Bangladeshi officers unleashed venom at the immoral acts and atrocities committed by our forces during 1971. Regardless of the bias of BD officers or citizens towards us, the fact remains that we have, hitherto, done little to make amends to our rapidly declining moral standards which being, particularly important for the Armed Forces. As part of the society that has registered constant erosion in all spheres we may have been effected in more than one way. Repeated interruptions in democratic process, on one account or the other, may also have contributed towards our falling standards. But is there a remedy to the disease that has so malignantly and endemically spread across all tiers of the Armed Forces.

As part of the panel that was assigned research study on 1971 while attending War course at NDC, I had the opportunity to browse through some of the highly classified material pertaining to that period. In the process, I also had detailed discourses with various senior officers who were then in position(s) of authority and had the privilege to read the testimony, given before the commission by some very senior officers. Needless to mention that both Military and Political factors contributed towards the catastrophe but, as I said, whatever Bhutto’s personal power compulsions were, General Yahya and other senior military leaders took all key decisions including postponement of National Assembly session scheduled for March 25, 1971 and arrest of Mujibur-Rehman. As such nothing exonerates us of the overall responsibility for the upheaval.

Today, reconstituting a fresh commission may be of little significance, in fact inconsequential since most of the principal players are no longer in our midst and those around can easily juggle around with words to prove their innocence. Our primary concern, nonetheless, should have been the total breakdown of moral and ethical code in the Armed Forces. We have failed on that account. Section 24 of the Pakistan Army Act 1952 and identical sections in the PN Ordnance 1961 stipulating action against acts of cowardice or disgraceful surrender were, even remotely, never considered to be invoked.

In the aftermath of second WW and its nuclear devastation, Japan has come out as the most dynamic and progressive country with a vibrant economy and staunch supporter of Nuclear non-proliferation only since they learnt their lessons and have never forgotten Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Thus, if not for punishment the lessons must be drawn for catharsis. In time immemorial, casualties, in my humble opinion, are only of trifling value and it is the conduct of the victor and the vanquished that is remembered. Thus while millions throughout the world mourn Hazrat Imam Hussain each year, nobody even remembers when Yazid died. When Adolf Hitler was told of the impending defeat of German Army on the Russian front during second WW and the colossal casualties his troops had suffered he remarked:

“What is life. Life is the Nation. An individual must die anyway. Beyond the life of individual is the nation”.

Consequent to our discussion and as I recollected, thereafter, from memory, the following para may please be added to my already submitted article (where the case of two naval officers has been brought forth) to make the same more meaningful.

“——-What kind of influence these officers may have on their subordinates, years from now, is anybody’s guess. Yet another case is that of a naval officer of middle order seniority who, with an exceptionally good service record, was selected as the crew member of the newly inducted Agosta 90-B Submarine (a platform, purchase of which has generated more controversy than any other defence deal in the country’s history). The officer was alleged to have kept the public money (foreign exchange) in his personal account with impious intentions. The story, as it goes, was revealed only once the subject officer for certain reason fell apart with one of his subordinates who disclosed the real intentions of his superior. The officer redeposited the money in the Government treasury stating the same to be an omission only. Despite having concrete evidence of foul intentions, the officer, for reasons of expediency, was let off with minor punishment and continues to hold his post. In other instances, personal dossiers of some naval officers were “tampered” with documents “apportioning blame” removed to purge them and benefit the officers. Many officers and men regularly visit abroad on assignments/visits where they are treated as state guests, hardly anyone returns the state money upon his return”. These and many other intellectual dishonesties only embolden an individual to indulge into other moral and (or) material illegalities at the state expense that eventually cost the nation dearly”.

Sir, in the final analysis, even if a modest attempt is made to cure the disease, it may be a worthwhile beginning.

I look forward to host you at my place, at your convenience, and educate myself. For the time being I’m at Lahore.