KARACHI: A robust debate was held on the Kargil conflict on the opening day of the Adab Festival, against the backdrop of the relaunch of the second edition of Nasim Zehra’s book Kargil to the Coup: events that shook Pakistan at the Governor House on Friday.

A historic effort at documenting one of the most significant events of Pakistani civilian, military and political landscape, Nasim Zehra’s narrative is an objective look at the Kargil conflict from all possible angles, with testimonies from generals who served during the time — including those who backed the venture as well as those who opposed it.

The purpose of the panel discussion was to question whether institutions in Pakistan would use the book to recognise the policy failures that led to the Kargil conflict and prevent such similar misadventures in the future.

Second edition of Nasim Zehra’s Kargil to the Coup: events that shook Pakistan launched

“The Kargil operation was based on an illusion,” said Ambassador Shahid Amin.

“The intention of the operation was good; to activate the Kashmir issue is absolutely understandable considering that India is forcefully occupying Kashmir and they had also surreptitiously captured Siachen. So there was a strong feeling in Pakistan, certainly shared by the authors of Kargil, that this had to be undone. However, the question is what was feasible and the best way to move forward,” he said.

“This is where the operation failed. I join those who believe that it was a disaster and wrongly conceived, and its great failure was it did not anticipate the reaction of India and the international community,” he added.

“We did not learn from 1965; the same mistakes were made in Kargil,” said Ambassador Amin.

Journalist and foreign policy expert Ahmed Rashid pointed out that Kargil negatively impacted Pakistan’s status in not just the region, but also internationally.

“Kargil was a watershed for Pakistan. The collapse of our foreign policy for the next 20 years, our isolation in the region, our isolation with our allies and the west, our condemnation of helping extremism, they all go back to Kargil. This is the main factor behind the massive distrust that exists regarding Pakistan,” he said.

Author of the book, Nasim Zehra said the fact that the civilian government was excluded from the decision making was an appalling development which still persisted to date. She especially highlighted the fact that at the very same time the government was engaging with the Indian government and negotiating, the Kargil operation was being carried out. “At the time the prime minister was not even able to recognise what had happened and that we had crossed the LoC. It was a disaster all around,” she said.

During the discussion, the military was criticised for not allowing civilian governments, including other stakeholders such as academics, journalists and think tanks, to have a say in foreign policy and encouraging debate. Current talks with the Taliban, in which the civilian government has been completely bypassed, were given as the latest example.

Lieutenant retired Gen Tariq Waseem Ghazi said that the military refused to give up its preponderant position of national security unless and until there was civilian competency which could be established through the establishment of institutions that had inputs and outputs of quality.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2019