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ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that the decision to withdraw troops from Kargil was made by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The president said Mr Sharif put him in a tight corner by trying to make him propose the withdrawal but he stuck to his position that it had to be a political decision and he could only give the military ‘reality’ of the Kargil operation.
“I gave the military reality… He (Sharif) wanted to use my shoulders for firing his gun,” the president said.
He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Urdu version of his memoir titled “Sub sey Pehlay Pakistan,” translated by his brother-in-law Hidayat Khaweshgi
The president pointed to ruling Pakistan Muslim League’s president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who was present on the occasion and said that he attended the meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet on July 2, 1999, when he gave a detailed briefing on military aspects of the Kargil operation as army chief.
President Musharraf said that in his book “In the Line of Fire” he had given a factual and honest account of Kargil and Agra Summit. He said the negative reaction it had evoked in the Indian media made him feel happy because that conveyed he was right.
IRAQ: Gen Musharraf rejected the British army chief’s view that troops from Iraq should be immediately withdrawn and warned of its dire consequences for the region.
“I don’t agree with him,” the president said when a journalist drew his attention to the UK general’s proposal.
The president criticised the British general for floating the idea, saying that it would have a negative bearing. “Decisions and strategies ought to precede events.”
BOOK: Defending the decision to write the book while in office, the president said: “We need to have a sense of time and my sense of time is always right.”
The explanation he offered for the changed title of Urdu version of his book was that it made more in the Pakistan context.
He said the main objective of the book was to use his standing to promote Pakistan’s perspective on key issues and rectify its distorted image in the world.
Answering a question, the president said besides relying on his memory to narrate events in his book, he had consulted official documents and got input from his aides. Conceding when he set out to write the book about two years ago, it seemed a formidable task, he said: “Even my mother never thought I could ever write a book, leave aside a bestseller.”
Rejecting criticism on the book, he said: “I give no lift to it.” However, he said he found it disturbing when critics said he was into self-projection, boastful and arrogant. “Certainly, this is misplaced criticism.”
On a lighter note when the president was asked about the reaction of his wife to the mention of his two premarital romances in his book, he flushed and said with a smile: “I will pass the question… it is a sensitive issue!”
His message to the media was: “We need to be positive and optimistic and should be proud of what we are and what we are doing and what we have achieved.” His parting note was: “And even if there is something wrong, hide it and counter it.”
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, his wife, federal ministers, parliamentarians and serving and retired civil and military bureaucrats. President Musharraf’s wife Sehba Musharraf, mother Zareen Musharraf to whom he has dedicated the book, his friends and relatives were also there.
