Lt. General (retired) Abdul Majid Mallik has written his autobiography in Urdu, published in 2015 with the title “Hum Bhi Wahan Maujood Thai” (translated “I was also present there”
It mentions (translated):
“An important event like Kargil required research and analysis but we showed our traditional lack of interest. But India is far ahead of us in these matters. In India not only inquiry takes place, but the report is also published, those responsible are punished. After Kargil, they continued this practice of holding an inquiry. The failure of Indian Army Intelligence was recognized, and necessary corrective action was taken in this respect. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, no such inquiry is held in such matters.” (p.252)
He writes further on the same page.
“Various events of Pakistan have become only memorandums from which we have learned nothing, no conclusions drawn. Many famous people were assassinated, many unpleasant events took place but in no case, the report was made public and there is no system of punishing those at fault. For separation of East Pakistan, Hamoodur Rahman Commission was appointed on which attempts were made to influence it but its report was never made public. It so happened that this report was first made public not by Pakistan but by India. Success or failure of Kargil operation apart, great shock in confidence was received by the government and the Army. In short, the entire responsibility for the Kargil fiasco lies on Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf and his three companion Generals.”
He continues:
“I can with confidence say that Pervaiz Musharraf did not give any prior brief on Kargil to Nawaz Sharif. (p. 255)
“For his continued objection to the project Musharraf had him under house arrest for a few days after his takeover.” (p. 258)
“Musharraf rang from his hotel room in Beijing, talked at length with Gen Aziz about Kargil who was informed about my reservation. This conversation was recorded by Indian Intelligence and replayed in part” (p. 247)
“Bhutto had given the author (ranked sixth in seniority) indication that he would be appointed next Army Chief but the one at seventh (Mohammad Ziaul Haq) was appointed.
He cites Rafi Raza’s Book Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Pakistan 1967-1977 (on page 162). He resigned from armed forces, but Z. A. Bhutto offered him the post of ambassador of Libya and UAE which he refused, and then of Morocco. At that stage Gen. N. M. Reza, acting Foreign Secretary called and advised him “Mr. Mallik do not be a fool. Get out of this country, otherwise, your life, your family’s and friends’ life will be made hell” (p. 150).
“West Pakistanis were mostly responsible for the separation of East Pakistan. Aziz Ahmed, Chief Secretary of East Pakistan, a favorite of Bhutto prohibited strictly his Bengali Muslim Minister not to hang in his backyard clothes for drying in the sun” (p. 161)
“In March 1971 I was present in Dacca as DMO when the action started. From the helicopter, I saw many villages on fire and the army was moving forward and then I also saw that in the evening when the officers met they showed pride in taking such steps.” (p. 108)
In July 1958 on a secret mission in GHQ preparing for Army take over in October under Martial Law with then-Brig. Atiqur Rahman and Peerzada, Gen. Azam was deputed to present resignation papers to Iskander Mirza, which he did. The remark of Naheed Mirza “What will become of my cats?”
As ambassador in Morocco and reflecting international concern he wrote a 21-page letter (Annex II) to Ziaul Haq for substituting the death sentence of Bhutto.
Joined politics, enjoyed it to his satisfaction after retirement.
Considers the following to be assets of Pakistan (1) geographical location (2) excellent manpower (3) strong agriculture base (4) strong army (5) Scenic beauty ( 6) Untapped resources.; Shortcomings of Pakistan (1) Lack of political leadership (2) duality of belief and practice in religion (3)increasing lack of values (4) extreme intolerance (5) increasing population.
At age of 95, mentally and physically active, a thriving family, a lot of welfare work to do and agriculture as usual.
There is another book in Urdu recording some facts of History. It is “Such to ye hai” (translated “Truth is this”) published in March 2018 by Shujaat Hussain, the politician with great administrative experience.
The author claims to be a college associate of Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf and his close associate, Tariq Aziz.
On p.100. it is mentioned that on the crash of Zia’s plane Ghulam Ishaq Khan asked the three Chiefs of the Armed Forces to take over but they all declined and preferred to follow the Constitution. This matter has remained controversial, everyone taking credit for keeping the Armed Forces out.
On page 163 he records that Nawaz Sharif was briefed twice about the Kargil.
Gen. K.M. Arif laments in “Khaki Shadows Pakistan 1947-1997” first published 2001 (p. 88-89)
“The destruction of the war diaries in the Pakistan Army and the disappearance of the wartime records in the Foreign Office could not be simple coincidences. It is logical to suspect ulterior motives behind these misdeeds. These were premeditated acts of a sinister master plan prepared by those who wielded authority.”
Now coming to my personal experiences at a far humbler level, I still cannot understand how could:
- A High Court of a province demand an assurance from the Sessions Judge that he will never care to report correct figures of pending cases in his own court.
- Government departments say that they have implemented the recommendations made in the Report on the Eradication of Corruption. When asked to show one such compliance there was no response.
- Education Department question the authority of the Chairman of a statutory commission to seek information whether a notification under Copyrights Act had issued or not? All details about these events are recorded in memoirs elsewhere.
At such challenges I relied on my own survival kit as hereunder:
- Facts, correct and complete prove, opinions without such facts confuse
- Want of Legitimacy (acts without Jurisdiction) destroy the system and the wrongdoer himself
- Do not risk your life or career at the foolish and unauthorized act of others, howsoever high and powerful
- In the matter of Faith never consider yourself to be the wiser.
- The Civil Society needs men of values not men of merit.
Experiences of a Lifetime 