ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan President, Gen Zia Ul Haq, had three phased plan for the “liberation” of Kashmir valley through political subversion, chaos and terror, some newspapers in Pakistan have reported, PTI says.
Although there is no official confirmation on the veracity of reports which have carried contents of the purported speech of the late President, observers here do not rule out the possibility of a sinister design behind the whole operation.
Asked to comment on these reports, a foreign office spokesperson told a Pakistani journalist at a press briefing on Thursday that he was not aware of it. “I will have to look at these reports (before making any comments).” he said.
Gen Zia, who was killed in a crash on August 17, 1988, spelt out details of the operation codenamed “OP Topac” at a high level meeting in his residential office in April 1988. The secret operation was named after Topac Amru, an Inca prince, who fought an unconventional war against Spanish rule in the 18th century Uruguay.
The martial law dictator’s speech speaks of assistance to “our Kashmiri brethren in getting hold of the power apparatus of the state by political subversion and intrigue.”
He outlined schemes to snap communication lines between Jammu and Kashmir and within Kashmir and Ladakh destroying base depots at Srinagar and other places and also putting out of action air fields and radio stations located at critical points.
The entire operation was apparently intended to be carried out in the latter half of 1988 under the supervision of the powerful inter-services intelligence (ISI).
A senior Pakistani journalist however said that the whole scheme appears to be “cooked up” and “far-fetched”. He said Bhutto had virtually clipped the wings of ISI after shifting Hamid Gul. Besides, she had enough problems to tackle within the country to get involved in such a treacherous game, he observed.
The analyst’s conjecture that perhaps the ISI was waiting for Najibullah government’s ouster and return of Afghan refugees before putting the plan into “full gear” in Kashmir was brushed aside by the journalist as “sophomorist.””
The main portion of Gen Zia’s purported speech reads “gentlemen, I have spoken on this subject at length before, therefore I will leave out the details as you know due to our preoccupation in Afghanistan. In the service of Islam I have not been able to put these plans before you earlier.
“Let there be no mistake, however, that our aim remains quite clear and firm -the Liberation of Kashmir valley -our Muslim brothers cannot be allowed to stay with India for any length of time, now.
In the past, we had opted for hamhanded military option and therefore, failed. So, as I have mentioned before we will now keep our military option for the last moment as a coup de grace, if and when necessary.
“Our Kashmiri brethren in the valley, though with us in their hearts and minds, are simple minded folk and do not easily take to the type of warfare to which say, a Punjabi or an Afghan take to naturally, against foreign domination, he said.
The general continued -the Kashmiris, however, have a few qualities which we can exploit. First, his shrewdness and intelligence, second, his power to persevere under pressure, and the third, if I may say so, he is a master of political intrigue.
“If we provide him means through which he can best utilize these qualities he will deliver the goods. Sheer brute force is in any case not needed in every type of warfare especially so in the situation obtaining in the Kashmir valley as I have explained earlier.
“Here we must adopt those methods of combat which the Kashmiri mind can grasp and cope with -in other words, a coordinated use of moral and physical means, other than military operations, which will destroy the will of the enemy, damage his political capacity and expose him to the world as an oppressor. This aim, gentlemen, shall be achieved in the initial phases.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 23, 1990
