A History of the Pakistan Army by Brian Cloughley

My Dear Major Sahib,

While I greatly respect your military expertise and the dispassionate nature of the military analysis in your writings, I fear your intense likes and dislikes, nay hatred, of the personalities involved often gets the better of you.

I agree completely that the Kargil affair was an exemplar of bad planning and stupidity, of the rampant ad hocism that is the characteristic hallmark of PA planning and GHQ should have been willing to support the Kargil operations even if it meant a full-scale war with India IF that is what had been gamed out and agreed upon.

IIRC, this operation was originally proposed when Zia was COAS and after the presentation was made, Zia turned to Yaqub Khan and asked what do you think? And Yaqub Khan answered that it is an excellent plan for starting a full-scale war with India; at which point Zia shelved it. So it was known to all concerned what the possible consequences could be.

In the PA, very often when a new CO or GOC comes, he immediately scraps all the training plans, SOPs, etc, put in place by his predecessor and comes up with his own versions: how else is he going to show how bad his predecessor was and how good he is? This means that PA units have annual training cycles but they are often learning to undo what they learnt earlier! Maybe things are better now; my information is very old since its been a long time since I had much direct contact with PA officers.

In any case, your personal venom against Musharraf comes through and greatly weakens your analysis. Even though you are not a gunner, you must know that IF a unit's guns are firing over open sights, this means that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong and the situation is verging on disaster. In the normal course of events, a modern artillery regiment is never within miles of actual combat; that is why Artillery used to be categorized as a Combat Support Arm, not a fighting arm. The standard 105 mm used by the US Army in WWII had a range of 11.2 km and the British Abbot used until 1995 had a range of 17 km. The experimental Israeli 155mm SP howitzer had a range of 45 km. If the unit is firing open sights, it is about to get overrrun and things are getting really desperate.

So if 3 SP was firing at Indian tanks over open sights, the PA was caught with their pants down by the Indians; else the SP would have gotten the bleep out of there. If 16 SP did not so fire, it did not get caught by surprise by the Indians, not because it was cowardly or was far away from the fighting. Even for modern tanks, the ideal is to stand off and blow away the enemy one by one from a distance, not get caught in a situation where enemy tanks are interspersed with your own.

Again, as you know, the vast majority of service medals any soldier has are for meaningless things like holding elections or commemoration of umpteen gazillion years of Islam or Tamgha-e-Chamchagiri, or Sitara-e-Imtiaz. Very few medals are Sitara-e-Harb, or much less, Jurrat or Basalat (back when it meant something). Things in UK-Patterned armies have never been as bad as in the US or USSR armies. In the US, so many meaningless medals are routinely issued to soldiers that service ribbons are contemptously called 'fruit salad;' in the USSR, soldiers often had to wear them on both sides of the chest, they got so many of them.

So if Musharraf had a mentioned in dispatches from 1965, that was a lot more than most did.

Finally, if the PA lied through its teeth and said that they were only mujahideen, so what? It was war and lying and deception is fair usage. Why do the Indians jump up and down like howler monkeys over this? BFD; grow up. As a Pakistani, I am amazed that you feel this is something to comment on negatively!

Kargil was a disaster because GHQ refused to support its men; that is the disgraceful aspect of it, I agree.

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Jayp,

Ravi Rikhye/Mandeep Bajwa alleges that the SSG unit deployed on the Indian Western Front carried out vicious atrocities against IA units. In any case, I have some, not many but some, doubts about the actual atrocities carried out against the captured patrol or the downed pilot. I recall reading that wounds left untreated in extremely cold conditions, freezing and thawing, etc, often look as if the person has been tortured. Did the Indians release actual autopsy reports? Or did they simply release propaganda statements that their men had been tortured?

In any case, the jihad fi sabilillah stuff was started much before Zia's time; Yahya Khan and maybe, Ayub, started that ball rolling. Gen. Sher Ali Pataudi was a grade A religious nut as was, I think, K M Azhar. Zia merely perfected it.

The Kargil Conspiracy

The Nation 29 May 2003

A.H Amin



There is general consensus on the fact that military juntas are convenient agents of change employed by larger powers to bring desired policy changes in smaller countries.This is more true for Pakistan where the USA has had a record of using the military juntas as agents of change . Ayub was cultivated in the 1950s and proved his worth as USA’s collaborator par excellence in destroying democracy in Pakistan . The Zia coup was US inspired and had complete US blessings since the USA viewed Mr Z.A Bhutto as a dangerously charismatic leader capable of uniting the Islamic/Third World ! Thus Operation Foul Play of 5th July 1977 ! When Liaquat Ali Khan the then prime minister of Pakistan warned the US Ambassador to Pakistan that the Graham Report on Kashmir must be presented in the UN by 15th October 1951 he was assassinated on 16th October 1951 ! Raja Ghazanfar Ali then Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran noted that Liaquat had planned an Islamic conference to discuss Kashmir , Anglo Iranian Oil Company and Palestine !

Keeping this background in mind the fact that a deliberate conspiracy with a design to control and manipulate Pakistan’s geopolitical future with Kargil as the key point cannot be ruled out.It is possible that Kargil may have been designed as the catalyst to create a civil-military political conflict in Pakistan and as a future launching pad of a military coup.

In 1998 Nawaz Sharif often criticized as a man with limited IQ took one of Pakistan’s most decisive strategic command decisions defying USA , not appeasing it as Musharraf took in September 2001 ! It is on record that Nawaz Sharif did not surrender on one telephone call from US president like General Musharraf did and defied US threats not to go on with the nuclear tests despite four telephone call threats from US president Clinton and resolutely went on with Pakistan’s Nuclear blasts ! Recently Dr Qadeer Khan speaking at a function in Karachi on 3rd April 2003 stated that Nawaz even refused an offer of bribe from Clinton wherein Clinton had offered to deposite 100 Million USD in Nawaz Sharif’s personal bank account !

All evidence proves that Nawaz Sharif’s decision to go on with the Nuclear blast was a political decision and the role of the armed forces was merely that of a technocrat consultant ! It appears that from May 1998 the US policy makers came to the conclusion that Nawaz was an irresponsible man and must be taken to task..

By September 1998 it appears that the Americans had succeeded in their manipulations . The then Army chief General Karamat at this stage started pressurizing the political leadership to include the army in the political decision making .

Nawaz had done his homework well.With the ISI firmly under the prime ministers command under Lieutenant General Ziauddin one senior officer Zulfiqar presently chairman WAPDA had been sent to Ukraine to find details of kick backs given to General Jahangir Karamat in the Ukraianian tank deal with Pakistan.Full evidence was prepared of Jahangirs complicity in taking kick backs.Once Karamat asserted his political ambitions Nawaz threatened him with prosecution for taking kick backs ! Thus Jahangir Karamat’s unceremonial exit from power ! USA’s likely agent of change had been removed !

Now comes Kargil. With the appointment of Musharraf as army chief the more Machiavellian geopolitical moves were planned ! Major general Javed Hassan Khan previously military attaché to Washington where many military attaches are successfully cultivated by US intelligence was posted as Commander FCNA incharge of the forces in Gilgit ,Northern Areas including Kargil.The readers may note that this officer presently the commandant of the Pakistan Army’s National Defence College , back in early 1990s made Mughal Emperor Humayun fight in Second Battle of Panipat in his book “India- A Study in Profile” ! The fact is that Humayun was dead while Panipat was fought and Humayun had no connection with Second Battle of Panipat !

The men who planned Kargil military operation using Pakistan’s 80 Brigade to infiltrate Indian positions in Kargil Sector were instruments of a grand conspiracy to destabilize Pakistans political government which had defied the USA and wanted to make peace with India without US involvement !

Ambition of General Musharraf and his team while planning Kargil had infected the entire military thought process ! The Kargil plan was adventurist,superpower manipulated and its intrinsic violence penetrated and cut open the very arteries of the Pakistani state, spurting out in civil military strife and finally a military coup !

The heroes of those rocky pinnacles are all dead ! Sacrificed in vain ! Diabolically launched into the valleys of death by men who now are dead earnest to make peace with India but propelled by promiscuous and unadulterated ambition wanted to sabotage Nawaz Sharif’s Lahore Peace move in 1999 ! Once Vajpayee came to Lahore on Nawaz’s initiatiave in 1999 he was a vampire but once Musharraf went to Agra later Vajpayee was an angel !

At the super power level Kargil was planned with a view to ridicule Pakistan’s political leadership , embarrass the Pakistani prime minister and to create a civil military divide aimed at a military coup in Pakistan ! Why ! Someone may ask naievely ! Because the USA views the military junta in Third World countries as a more reliable collaborator agent of change than a prime minister who repeatedly defies US threats of retaliation and a 100 Million USD bribery offer !

Thus Kargil operation was launched with an ulterior motive to divide Pakistan’s political and military leaderships ! It is an unfortunate fact of history that Nawaz Sharif was mot aided by a good defence analyst team ! Those who were with him and supposedly considered defence experts were either in secret league with Nawaz’s handpicked military man or too naieve to understand the military intricacies of Kargil !

Kargil in the final analysis stands out as the meticulously planned conspiracy catalyst employed to trigger a chain of events that led to the primacy of the military junta on 12 October 1999 !

So far the Americans have succeeded ! The Pakistani Nuclear programme is in safe hands ! Pakistan , the beautiful woman in words of General Habibullah has sold herself to , not the highest bidder , but the only bidder at a relatively low price !

The military junta has divided the society ! Bought the pillars of state ! Balkanised the political parties ! Marginalised the society introducing unjust ethnic domination in the army , reduced the Sindhis into a political minority , pitched Punjab against Sindh by Machaievellian agreement to Thal Canal and is all set to strike a deal with India which would ensure that Pakistan’s military junta is given a permanent share in the political hierarchy simply because it is USA’s best and most reliable agent of change ! Life goes on !

So if 3 SP was firing at Indian tanks over open sights, the PA was caught with their pants down by the Indians; else the SP would have gotten the bleep out of there. If 16 SP did not so fire, it did not get caught by surprise by the Indians, not because it was cowardly or was far away from the fighting. Even for modern tanks, the ideal is to stand off and blow away the enemy one by one from a distance, not get caught in a situation where enemy tanks are interspersed with your own.
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16 SP did not fire because it was nowhere in the Battle of Chawinda my dear Sir.It only arrived when the situation was stabilised and there was no fear of any Indian breakthrough.

At the time it arrived the critical time of battle of Chawinda was over.

What 3 SP did at Chawinda was done by no other unit of artillery and 3 SP did well because it had a brilliant Commanding officer.

I am not from artillery but I was attached with 15 SP another magnificient unit in 1984 when I had a disciplinary problem with the commandant of 11 Cavalry.

My Dear Major Sahib,

The 'Kargil Conspiracy' is just embarrasing. It destroy's your credibility completely.

To pick just one little bit in that article. Liaquat Ali Khan's assasination was, most likely, the work of the Communist Party since he was adamant about the death penalty being handed down and the conspirators were confident of very lenient sentences and a quick release. Lo and behold, the PM is murdered and the conspirators are quickly released. Who benefits the most from Liaquat's death? The US?

According to Shaukat 115 Brigade commander came to know through unspecified sources (probably some angels helping 115 Brigade)Indians on 12th September had squandered their last opportunity to outflank the Pakistani 6 Armour that the Indians had captured Zafarwal at 0800 hours 12 September and sent the above mentioned force which recaptured Zafarwal at mid day 12 September. Later Shaukat claims that this force was ordered to withdraw to Dhamtal!74 Shaukat has repeated a claim which appears to be as false as the one advanced by Gurcharan Singh regarding the 2 Lancers squadron having occupied Zafarwal on 12th September and later withdrwaing from it on orders of the 116 Indian Brigade!

I am glad that some one is reading at least.Good job Mr Fuzair.

my dear Fuzair Sahib.Who is credible ? Chaudry Shujaat Hussain ? General Musharraf ?

I have given my one cent and you can give yours , which I respect.

That's not what I meant by 16 SP not firing; you know that I meant if 16 SP did not engage in near-hand-to-hand combat, it doesn't mean that they were a 'bad' unit or that they saw no action. The nature of modern artillery usage in war is very different from Civil War artillery fire or the Napoleonic wars. Simply saying that 3 SP did fire over open sights and 16 SP did not says nothing about either unit's inherent 'goodness' or 'quality.' 16 SP could have been continually engaging the enemy for weeks and 3 SP could have seen action only for 2 hours but in that time they fired over open sights because they were taken by surprise--note, I'm not saying that's what happened, but by itself firing over open sights proves nothing.

Re: # 20 The communists had no part in this job.It was the Pakistani establishment , the police , even many politicians from Punjab . But you seem to know better since you were heading the Intelligence Bureau at that time.

Neither Musharraf nor Shujaat is credible as far as I'm concerned. However, neither is your version. ;-)

Re: # 24 It appears that you have done the gunnery staff course sir ! As a layman humble armour officer I was told by some very reputable gunner officers about the role of 3 SP in Chawinda and all agreed that 16 SP had a nominal role in Chawinda.

Re: # 26 My Lord , I respect your opinion . Have a good day.

Here is an account of 1 SP's role from a relatively senior officer who I think is a credible narrator :--

On 16 September the Indians captured Jassorian and Buttar Dograndi and almost achieved their aim of cutting the Chawinda-Pasrur road. The Indian GOC encouraged 17 (Poona) Horse to cut the road at mile 3 by promising the 'Maha Vir Chakra', the highest Indian gallantry award to the commanding officer. The Indian tanks advanced towards Chawinda railway station and were engaged by 1 (SP) Field Regiment over open sights by Major Rashid till 25 Cavalry tanks arrived and in the tank battle, the tank of the commanding officer of 17 (Poona) Horse was knocked out, the commanding officer was killed and the attack fizzled out. With Jassorian and Butter Dograndi lost, Chawinda, defended by 24 Brigade, was outflanked from the west and the brigade commander had doubts about holding on.


The Way it was
Brig Z.A Khan

Frankly we never heard of 16 SP's role till 1999.May be by some delayed divine revelation.

I learnt a great deal from Pakistani artillery when I was attached with 15 SP.Particularly from Lt Col Afsar Gulji,Major Zohrab and a few others.However I must admit that Mr Fuzair is a great admirer of the in chair man.A successful man always is like that .

Tailpiece - What the Paki CGS wanted to do with Pakistan's most prized artillery asset in 1965 War:--

The Pakistani Chief of General Staff General Malik Sher Bahadur was a man of limited vision and had little understanding of the decisive role of artillery in modern warfare!The outcome of Battle of Chawinda may have been different had Sher Bahadur succeeded in disbanding 4 Corps artillery as he very much wanted! Gul Hassan has described in his memoirs in some detail Sher Bahadur’s myopic wish to disband Headquarter 4 Corps Artillery and distribute its units piecemeal to other formations, just before Grand Slam in which this headquarter played the most decisive role. Luckily two men Brigadier Reilly the Anglo Indian Director Artillery and Brigadier Amjad Choudhry convinced Gul to take a stand in his capacity as DMO. (Pages-171 & 172-Gul Hassan Khan-Op Cit). Amjad stated in his book without naming Sher Bahadur (since it was 1976) that it was the intention of GHQ to make headquarter artillery 4 Corps do the work of a ‘traffic control centre’.Amjad stated that ‘I argued with him (Gul Hassan) that our corps artillery should not be employed in penny packets. I suggested to him that if the Corps Artillery was used as a GHQ reserve of firepower, it would enable the GHQ to influence the course of battle in any sector which needed reinforcing. Brigadier Gul Hassan saw my point and agreed with me and and ordered us to concentrate between Wazirabad and Sialkot’ (Page-35-Brig Amjad Chaudhry-Op Cit) .