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The Wages of Truth

As the Najam Sethis and Hussain Haqqanis of this world discovered to their discomfort, there is a price to be paid for writing the truth. Pakistan and other third world countries notwithstanding, this is intermittently true even in US of A, the bastion of freedom of expression and of speech, there being always elements who will militate against facts being presented as they are instead of being what they would like it to be. The moment you talk about accountability a personal smear operations goes into full swing. Others are now coming on the firing line, they include Khushnood of Sahafat, one of the really brave, outstanding newspapermen of Pakistan. That a “dirty tricks” campaign would be sanctioned by those who are holding high office and are supposed to be mature and responsible, is reprehensible. Unfortunately more loyal-than-the king underlings particularly those striving for stars, have often a way of convincing powers-that-be that their best interests are served by concocting smears, it can backfire to the detriment of the perpetrator. Two can play the same game and what has emanated from one source and gone unsolicited to various newspapers and magazines will not be as sensational if the muck-raking is entered to in earnest. After all this is an Islamic country and there are laws against rank un-Islamic behaviour, particularly in public. However, there are two reasons to hold one’s fire, viz (1) if others are stooping in the gutter one should not react the same way and (2) there is always the chance that a third party has got into the act to stoke the fire for their own motivation.

The reaction to McCarthyism soon exploded that myth in the 50s in the US that in the context of national issues individuals do not matter. In the face of vicious personal smears emanating from people occupying jobs paid out of government estimates, they matter even more. Senator McCarthy was feared for destroying an individual’s life by the simple accusation of being a “communist”, yet today the power of democracy has ensured that almost all those hounded by him have been cleared and he in turn has become a symbol in US history of being the perpetrator of false persecution. Truth will always prevail even though those who expose the truth will suffer. When pitted against logistics paid for by the exchequer it certainly becomes a difficult proposition but in the face of the power of “the great silent majority” that stands for justice, evil will crumble as surely as a castle of sand on which the reputation of some have been built upon.

Those trying to prevent the seeking of accountability about Kargil are missing the point. Nothing will be served by trying to persecute any single individual. Learning from our mistakes and apportioning blame where it is due is the objective. In the pure military sense we have inflicted a tremendous defeat on the Indians, yet in the overall context why did we lose out in a big way as a nation? There is a general feeling of despondency all over the country and no amount of roadshows will change that. Our credibility has been shot to smithereens, the tragedy will keep on unfolding as the perpetrators escape censure. The entire media has been mobilised to muddy the truth and save some jobs. One may pay a high price for speaking the truth individually, the price this nation may pay for covering up the truth may be one which no country can afford to pay.

Muslims have ultimate faith in God and have no fear from human beings, particularly such cowards who put guns on other’s shoulders and are not prepared to put their names to the text of what they send surreptitiously. One does have apprehension for one’s life, reputation, possessions, etc but all these pale before one’s faith in God to keep doing what is a must out of the knowledge that all the vitriol is far less than what others have borne since the very dawn of Islam. That is the consequence one must face in persevering with the truth, as Muslims we must learn to bear it with far more fortitude, rising above one’s normal endurance for such things.

Why is so important to hide the facts? Kargil is not a military secret from the rest of the world, particularly when we have given the Indians a drubbing. Why hide the facts from the intelligentsia in Pakistan, given that the public has a limited capacity for absorbing the truth? And let us not blur the facts here. The Pakistan Army is a magnificent fighting force and that fact has been repeated time and again not only by me but almost everyone in the electronic and print media. What the NLI did in Kargil is nothing short of miracle, 1,200 men against 60-70,000, outgunned and subjected to incessant air and artillery pounding, they inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. No one questions the tremendous sacrifice given by the officers and the men. For that matter no one questions the generalship right upto the COAS. It was a brilliant plan and militarily the operation succeeded. The Indian Army was shown up as never before, suffering grievous casualties with severe losses also in material and morale. Their Chief, Gen Prakash Malik, was shown up to be a blunderer extraordinary, he panicked and threw in all his reserves and then some. He denuded his strike forces and made a hash of the command and control structure in the vicinity of Kargil. He even dismounted some armour units in the rush to get troops to Kargil. And to beat it all, he had the effrontery to appear in a NEWSWEEK interview as if the battle had been won by him! Had it not been for such blunders, the Indians could well have opened a second and even a third front, whether to our detriment is debatable. All this is true and yet we had to walk away from a magnificent victory because the endgame and the consequences thereof had not been thought out. In a recent article General Jehangir Karamat, the previous COAS, made a telling comment in quoting from “Alice in Wonderland” as to whether we really knew where we were going. If the Indian COAS had not been so ineffective and inept, we in Pakistan would have been in a real predicament.

The question is one of judgement and propriety thereof, of ensuring maturity in both the evolving of and the sanctity of national security. That is no reflection on the Army but some answers are necessary to stop conjectures. One notes that when the COAS states particularly that the PM was “on board”, the Minister of Information Syed Mushahid Hussain, does not deny it. That clearly goes in the COAS’ favour or maybe the Honourable Minister finds it more expedient to keep his personal future options open. It could well be that explicit permission with full briefing as to the possible political fallout was sought by GHQ from the PM in order to redeem the honour of the COAS and some of his closest aides, this should be clearly stated, if it was given. Why should the COAS take the blame for exercising poor judgement if the ball is firmly in the PM’s court, being “on board”? And since Mushahid has not made any move to defend the PM’s position, it would well be that the COAS is correct about his contention but being a good soldier he is taking the heat for the PM. For the sake of the Army and the COAS, one hopes such conclusions are right. What is confusing is that the “bus diplomacy” was very much still fresh when Kargil started and while there is enough evidence to suggest that the Indians had been asking for it, the PM is clearly a man of peace. Could the PM have dual personality, a Dr Jekyll that seeks peace publicly and a Mr Hyde that secretly seeks to destroy it? Somehow this logic is difficult to comprehend. In such circumstances what is the sin of asking for a clarification by enquiry by qualified persons? If that is indeed a sin, and the price one pays for it is to be smeared by muck and face persecution, then one must reconcile oneself to the fact that that is the price one must pay for the truth. Throw whatever muck you want to throw at me, gentlemen, by now you should know I can take it and you will not be able to silence the truth. God has ordained my fate, whatever it is, no mortal can change it.

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