Sir

I’m working as an Engineer in Qatar Airways and stationed at Doha, Qatar. I’m an engineering graduate of P.A.F. Academy Risalpur and belong to a family having military background. I would like to highlight a very critical issue and want my feelings to be communicated to the higher ups in Pakistan Army.

Here in Middle East, Indians have a lot of influence on the print and electronic media. No chance of maligning Pakistan is ever wasted in this region. As a matter of fact, Pakistan is considered as a bully by most of our Arab brothers. I’m often asked questions by my Arab friends that why Pakistan is harbouring terrorism in Kashmir. They believe Kashmir to be part of India and support the Indian viewpoint. They also refuse the ideology of Pakistan saying that we (the Muslims of Pakistan) are no different than the Hindus of India and, therefore, the creation of Pakistan was not justified (for my Arab friends).

Sir, this should be an eye opener for us. The people I’m talking about are not common people who can get deceived by Indian propaganda. They are intellectuals and professionals with vast experience in their respective fields. Our Embassy in Qatar never bothers to promote the Pakistani side of the story. No efforts are ever made to tackle Indian propaganda. Yet we are hiring and promoting officials who have callous and indifferent attitude towards safeguarding Pakistan’s interests.

Secondly, I have been reading a lot about the Kargil issue. Indians have made it look like their military victory. You surf the net and you will find the e-world full of Indian version of the story. Somewhere they list the names of Pakistani officers and men killed by their gallant troops, on another site you will see the statistics of Pakistani troops killed in this battle, elsewhere they will narrate stories of valour displayed by their soldiers in routing the entrenched enemy (who had strategic advantage by occupying high peaks). I have hardly come across any web-site, which can truly match the Indian sites. I have yet to find a page on the internet, which tells our side of the story.

Being a Pakistani, I have a question for our Army higher ups in general and General Pervez Musharraf in particular — Why are we afraid of telling the world what happened in Kargil? Did our troops fail (like the Indians claim) or were our men unable to match the so-called “Courage and Valour of Indians”? I’m sure that Pakistani troops have displayed unmatched courage and supreme sacrifice, which is not being disclosed to the nation. This is a real pity for the nation who is made to believe that they suffered a debacle (greater than 1971) when in fact brave sons of that nation re-wrote the history of Salahuddin Ayubi.

Please do not let the sacrifice of people like Captain Sher and Havaldar Lalak Jan go in vain. I’m sure there were many more of them but nobody ever told us about them. Is there anyone who will tell the truth?