Not much seems to be going in his way. Army shrugged off Musharraf’s call for charging Kiyani with the violation of the Official Secrets Act. Also, Rashid Qureshi continues to make blunders, as usual.
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: The Army would respond, at its own time if so required, to the issue of the Official Secrets Act’s violation as demanded by President Pervez Musharraf.
The president in his encounter with his choice TV anchorpersons last Saturday found some of his ex-servicemen colleagues violating the Official Secrets Act and expected from Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to proceed against the violators.
ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas when asked if the Army was contemplating action against any of the ex-servicemen as has been desired by the president, he said, “If required, the Army would give its response to the issue raised in the media.”
Meanwhile, a defence ministry source told this correspondent that the Army does not see any urgency to blindly follow what has been suggested by the president. “At some appropriate time, the Army may give its response to the president’s view,” the source said.
Musharraf was extremely perturbed over the recent charge-sheet issued against him on the Kargil issue by his former colleague Lt-Gen (retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani, and had urged the Army chief to take note of the violations of the Official Secrets Act.
Kiyani had blamed Musharraf for the Kargil misadventure and revealed that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was kept in the dark on the issue. Kiyani had also attacked Musharraf on many other fronts, including the Lal Masjid operation.
Interestingly, while Musharraf expects from the Army chief to proceed against Gulzar Kiyani for what he sees as the revelation of official secrets on the issue of Kargil, his book “In the Line of Fire” talked at length not only about the Kargil issue but also disclosed many other secrets, including the handing over of a Pakistani national to the US authorities in return of dollars.
Presidential spokesman Maj-Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi had said in a private television channel that Jamshed Gulzar was never a Kiyani before, hinting as if he has added this to his name to link himself to the incumbent Army chief. However, the fact remains that Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani has been recognised and written as Kiyani even when he was corps commander Rawalpindi.