Well, well, well! Things have changed, haven’t they? From a great patriotic enterprise, Kargil has now become an embarrassment—Musharraf and Sharif are neck-deep in the blame game. Musharraf ended his remarks to a TV channel with the warning: "Issues related to Kargil are extremely confidential and of paramount national importance, and these should not be publicised in the way that Nawaz Sharif is doing consistently."
What really could be so confidential and of paramount national importance about Kargil that people do not know? Certainly not the troop deployment and tactical manoeuvres during the clash. They are recorded history. Does the media coverage and comment after the Kargil conflict offer any clue about what the good general so desperately wants to hide?
In Outlook, September 27, 1999, this column said: "Now the truth is out. Not only did Osama bin Laden help the Kargil terrorists, newspapers confirm that Chinese troops crossed into Ladakh on July 1 to draw Indian attention from beleaguered Pakistan. At the height of the Kargil fighting Chinese army officials were in Skardu, monitoring supplies to the Pakistani soldiers at the front."
In Outlook, October 25, 1999 this column said: "Remember how the Chinese defence minister was in Lahore on the day that Vajpayee visited Nawaz Sharif? How the Pakistani army generals were again in Beijing one week before the Kargil invasion? How the taped conversation between the Pakistani generals revealed that Sharif was being kept in the dark?" These comments were based on media reports relying on official sources.
Last week, referring to Sharif, Musharraf said: "A PM is not worth his salt if he is being informed about the Kargil operation by his Indian counterpart." True. But what is the worth of a President taking orders from Beijing? So, why blame Sharif? And why should Sharif blame Musharraf? Both know which boss ordered Kargil. Musharraf prides himself for being blunt. He should speak up. In the long term, the truth never hurts. Only its cover-up hurts.
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
