The Rediff Interview /General Gul Hassan Khan
'The US thinks they can bully anyone'
Why are politicians so intimidated
by generals? Is it because they do not want to end the way
Mr Bhutto did?
No, politicians are not afraid of the army. They are afraid
of themselves. They have no confidence. If they had a good
mandate as Nawaz Sharief they would have had the confidence. But
before that all the politicians used the army for
support whenever they were in trouble.
Building up of confidence will take some time. It
will build up gradually. In other countries too there
were the same kind of problems as Pakistan faces today. And in
those countries they have today a strong democratically elected government.
That stage has to be developed in Pakistan. In India,
you always had a politically stable government which we didn't.
Why was that?
Because our politicians were weak. They were divided among
themselves. Some of them had no roots in Pakistan with a result
they had no following. Whereas in India, everybody had roots
in this country. Take Nehru or Vallabhbhai Patel for example, they
all had strong roots.
After Mohammad Ali Jinnah, why were there no other leaders in
Pakistan?
Because no one had roots in Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan
was a strong leader but he had no roots in Pakistan. He had more
roots in India than he had in Pakistan.
Many US analysts believe the next major conflict will
begin in South Asia between India and Pakistan. Do you think that
is a real possibility?
I don't know why we have to bring in the USA every time. We can do
without the USA. We can solve our problems. We don't need the USA. We
know each other very well more than than the Americans know us.
Do you think these analysts are wrong?
No, the point is that the US is the world's leading nation. And
they think that they can bully anyone. They are bullying Iraq.
And as far as Americans are concerned they want to bully weak
nations. They do not want to bully those nations which are strong.
Because they know that they cannot do it.
So you believe the US wants to act as the world's nanny?
They are the world's nanny. Because there is nobody else. The Soviet
Union is finished now, so they are the world's nanny.
What about nuclear weapons?
Do you think India has a nuclear weapon?
I believe so. I have not seen it. And as far as I know, they
exploded the nuclear bomb in 1974. You see nobody is going to
start a nuclear war overnight. They will have to think ten times
before doing that. A nuclear weapon is not like bullet firing.
It is devastating.
Do you feel India and Pakistan can engage in
a nuclear conflict?
I don't know. It depends on the leadership of that time. If there
is a sensible leadership on both sides I don't think they will
touch nuclear weapons. Wars have been fought without nuclear weapons.
Nobody talked of nuclear weapons then.
What about Pakistan? How many nuclear weapons does it have?
I have no idea. But till 1972 it had no nuclear weapons. Some people
tell me that Pakistan has nuclear bombs. But I don't know how true it is.
Do you think a non nuclear aggression pact between the two nations
will be a step towards a better relationship?
I think so.
Nawaz Sharief is talking about peaceful negotiations with
India, but do you think the Pakistan army will back him?
Yes, why not?
Isn't it true that there is a section of Pakistani
army generals who would like to humiliate India for the events
of 1971?
No, I don't think there are a large number of Pakistani generals
who feel humiliated. Take for example what happened in World War
II. Everybody is talking to Germany. Everybody is talking to France
and Japan. They have become a part of the European Union. So as time
passes, the situation changes.
So there are no Pakistani generals who would like to humiliate
India for the events of 1971?
I don't know. As I told you earlier, I don't talk to army generals
and I don't know any of them.
General Gul Hassan's photograph: Atul Chowdhury
Tomorrow: The Interview continues
Tell us what you think of this interview
|