Khwaja Rahat Latif in his column ‘Kargil once again’, has said that the PM(Nawaz Shaif) should have supported to retain what had been gained by the army and mujahideen and should have agreed to a ceasefire rather than total withdrawal; he further that this wrong decision caused immense damage and was responsible for the Shadat of many soldiers.
The writer ignores the fact that it was because too many casualties were already taking place and communication lines had been cut and the battle was almost lost. This is despite what Musharraf says, that the decision was taken to approach Washington. When Nawaz Sharif tried to bargain with Bill Clinton, the latter showed him a satellite map of Indian troops amassed at the Pakistan border. Nawaz Sharif averted an all out war with India, which Musharraf had almost precipitated. Musharraf’s motivated attempt at sabotaging the Lahore Declaration resulted in India hardening its position on Kashmir and it was many years before Vajpaee so much as even agreed to meet Musharraf. The Kargil misadventure not only cost unnecessary loss of many precious lives but also did immense damage to the Kashmir cause.
KHURSHID ANWER,
Lahore, February 19.