KARACHI: On the heels of a surprising claim by a former army spokesperson that the North Waziristan operation was delayed due to former army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s reluctance, former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani has come forward with a similar claim.
HunzaNews,July 12,2014
Gilani said on Friday that the reason the Pakistan Peoples Party government did not launch an operation in North Waziristan during its tenure was because then army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani insisted that the decision was his own.
Speaking to the media at a press conference in Karachi on Friday, the former premier said, “After the Swat operation, I had held meetings to state the action in North Waziristan, but the then army chief General Kayani wanted to take this decision on his own.”
General Kayani told him to leave the Waziristan operation at the disposal of the army, which, he said, would itself determine the date and time for any action. “This was the reason we did not insist and asked forces to make the decision on its own,” Gilani said.
Since June 15, the military has been engaged in a major offensive against militants in North Waziristan. The move followed failed negotiations between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government and the Taliban.
On June 30, former DG ISPR Maj Gen Athar Abbas claimed that an operation in North Waziristan was delayed by three years owing to then army chief Kayani’s reluctance.
“Gen Kayani thought he would be held accountable for sending troops into North Waziristan. And that is why he dilly-dallied on the operation due to which we wasted too much time and suffered losses,” he said, in an interview with BBC.
‘PML-N should honour Musharraf resignation deal’
During the press conference at the PPP media cell, Gilani also claimed that the current government was violating the deal under which Pervez Musharraf tendered his resignation from the president’s office in exchange for a safe passage.
The deal, he said, was made between the PML-N, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Establishment .
He also said that all the cases against Musharraf by the PML-N were a bad omen.
Gilani said, “It was decided to give Musharraf a safe passage without any hurdles. The PML-N leadership had also endorsed this idea.”
All those who were part of the negotiation with the Establishment on Musharraf’s departure should abide by the agreement, he added.
“Now, the PML N government has started opening new cases against Mushrraf, which I think is not good omen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the former premier also said that political forces, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, should avoid hatching conspiracies to derail the democratic dispensation.
“Let us join hands to strengthen democracy,” he said, adding that “PPP has difference with the PML-N government on a number of issues but it supports democracy and will let the government to complete its five-year term.”
PPP refutes deal talk
Refuting Gilani’s claim of any deal being struck, PPP leader Jahangir Badar claimed said that the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had completed his homework and that the PPP was ready to impeach Musharraf.
However, before pulling the trigger, Zardari sent Musharraf a message via then Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani that the former dictator should either resign or face impeachment.
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