Press Briefing by Siddique-ul-Farooque Information Secretary
Pakistan Muslim League, On Sunday November 18, 2001

General Pervez Musharraf succumbed to the US pressure and bypassing the national leaders and the friendly countries took a sudden U-turn on the country's Afghan policy.

In his address to the nation on September 19, the General held out assurances to the nation, allaying their fears in the backdrop of a worst track record of the earlier assurances. But all these assurances evaporated in thin air one by one throwing the nation in a state of chaos, confusion, despair and despondency.

Whatever assurances he had held out to the nation on behalf of the partners to the 'war against international terrorism' were contrary to the expectations. Facts made it crystal clear that throughout the whole gamut of Afghan affair, the international coalition neither consulted the General nor they gave any importance to his 'suggestions and recommendations' making it immensely clear that his 'role' was limited to just taking dictation.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) is putting the record of all the 68 days beginning from September 11 to November 17 to the nation to bring it in picture about what profits and losses the self-assertive General's Afghan policy brought to the nation. We will discuss them one by one under different heads as follows;

DEFENCE

The formation of a sincere and friendly government in Afghanistan after the humiliating defeat of the former USSR and its subsequent withdrawal from there, had blessed Pakistan with a safe 2400 kilometers strategic depth. There were friends and brothers everywhere in Afghanistan and there were almost no visa restrictions on Pakistanis.

But the 'wholehearted and unstinted' cooperation of the Musharraf government to the international coalition's 'war against terrorism' not only led to the formation of an anti-Pakistan government in Afghanistan on November 13 but it also cost Pakistan loss of the 2400 kilometers strategic depth. This has exposed the western borders of Pakistan to aggression any time in addition to the already barely defended eastern borders, as tanks and a heavy number of armed troops have also been deployed there.

Soon after the formation of their yet-to-stabilize government in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance leadership not only torched Pakistan Embassy in Kabul but they also chanted anti-Pakistan slogans. This was no less than a shot in the arm of the ever-hostile terrorist state of India that spared no occasion to damage the stability and integrity of Pakistan.

The so-called President of the Northern Alliance government Burhan-ud-Din Rabbani has ordered his troops to kill Pakistanis on sight and his Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has asked the United States and the allied countries to eliminate Pakistan with an atomic bomb. The above-mentioned facts make it abundantly clear that how much destruction General Musharraf has brought to Pakistan by changing the country's Afghan policy pursued by the civil dispensations.

ATOMIC PROGRAMME

During the tenure of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the nuclear weapons of Pakistan were in full state of preparedness and installed at different strategic locations to counter any aggression.

Fearing that after the nuclear explosions by India, Pakistan too will follow the course simply to redress the balance, the then President of the United States Bill Clinton requested Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif four times on telephone not to detonate the nuclear devices in exchange for three and a half a billion dollars aid. But he rejected his offer and detonated six nuclear devices making the country the seventh nuclear member of the atomic club.

On the contrary, General Pervez Musharraf collapsed to the international pressure and put different components of the country's nuclear devices at distant geographical locations.

In an interview with ABC correspondent Ted Koppel on November 10, General Musharraf said: "Pakistan's nuclear weapons are not ready to be fired, they are not mated, they are geographically apart and are not in condition in which a button has to be pressed to fire them." In sharp contrast to the 'revelation' of the General about the country's nuclear weapons, Indian nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Kalam and his successor Dr. Chadambram in their statements on November 12 and 15 respectively said: "Indian nuclear assets are safe and well in position and well in place. If weapons are made they are not meant for storing."

The disclosure of General Pervez Musharraf about the state of country's nuclear weapons amounts to inviting India to strike first and God-forbid! destroy Pakistan, as General Musharraf has told India before hand that it will take Pakistan a long time to move different components of its nuclear weapons to one location for assembly. If we see this disclosure of the General in the light of the latest statement of the so-called Foreign Minister of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan Dr. Abdullah Abdullah inciting the coalition force to eliminate Pakistan with an atomic bomb, we can only pray for the stability and integrity of the country.

ECONOMY

Our economy is in a shambles since the military took over on October 12, 1999 and there seems no light at the end of the tunnel at least in the foreseeable future if the recent statements of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Ishrat Hussain are taken into consideration.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz says that country's debt has swollen to 2 to 3 billion dollar or 150 to 200 billion rupees. While according to the State Bank Governor Dr. Ishrat Hussain the Afghan crisis will deal a blow of a cool $10 billion or Rs 650 to 700 billion rupees to the country. In fact the losses are beyond their comprehension and imagination. If we take into account the statements of these two responsible government high-ups, it means that one-year budget of the country has gone down the drain.

The question arises what have we achieved from the coalition countries? The government and the investors had expected that during his visit to the United States General Pervez Musharraf will not only win a write-off of $12 billion debt and an emergency aid of at least 6 billion dollar to compensate the losses incurred in the wake of the Afghan war. But all their hopes were dashed to the ground as the General came back with the promised aid of one billion dollar. According to a careful estimate General Pervez Musharraf has caused a loss of 1,000 billion rupees to the country but could not achieve even a farthing.

MUSLIM UMMAH

Before the self-destructive Afghan policy of General Pervez Musharraf, the Muslim Ummah considered Pakistan a fortress of Islam and looked it in high esteem. But the day the General started spying information to the coalition forces besides providing information and logistical support against Afghanistan, not only the atomic intallations of Pakistan became highly insecure but the country also lost its image in the eyes of the Muslim Ummah.

Today the general impression in the Muslim Ummah is that how can country help the Muslims which spies on a brethren Muslim state for the coalition forces and cannot even protect its own peaceful nuclear programme.

KASHMIR DISPUTE

During the rule of Pakistan Muslim League, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Lahore and under the shade of Minar-e-Pakistan he not only accepted Pakistan as a reality till Doom's Day but also expressed his determination to solve the Kashmir dispute in the interest of the peoples of both the countries and the region. On this occasion Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also signed the historic Lahore Declaration.

But the defective policies of General Pervez Musharraf and the shameful defeat of his stand on Afghanistan has emboldened India to refuse to come to the negotiating table to solve all the contentious issues and step up its genocidal operation in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir. The new spate of killings in the Held Kashmir have reminded the world of the blood-curdling gory killings of innocent Palestinians in the camps of Sabira and Shatila. India is now toeing the line of Israel in Held Kashmir but General Pervez Musharraf, who until recently was championing the cause of the innocent Kashmiris, is watching their genocide like a silent spectator.

The installation of a Pakistan-hostile government in Afghanistan has encouraged India to color the indigenous freedom movement in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir as terrorism, and unluckily the world is also accommodating its views in this regard.

The world support to the so-called Indian stand on Kashmir can be gauged from a statement of US Defence Secretary Colin Powell that "We want elimination of foreign assistance to freedom movement in Kashmir. War against terrorism will not end in Afghanistan. We want elimination of terrorism everywhere including Kashmir. The world is now accommodating Indian demands."

Pakistan Muslim league has put all these facts before the nation in all honesty and fairness. The terrible mess the country is in nowadays is solely due to the policies of General Pervez Musharraf. It is a fact that Pakistan has fallen in between two stools due to feather-brained policies of General Pervez Musharraf.