" Our Religion says to fight for Jihad " : Pakistani General
Reader comment on item: Arabs Disavow Hizbullah
in response to reader comment: What's Important is What's not Known

Submitted by Nihal (India), Jul 30, 2006 at 07:37

This is an open confession of Military Leadership of Pakistan which is best non NATO Ally of USA in the war against Terror.

If Rogue state Pakistan is best Non Nato Ally of USA in the War against Terror ,

I wonder what type of Ally is Israel to USA ??

Double standards will always harm West in this Global War against Militant Islam .

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'Our Religion says to fight for Jihad'-Pakistani GENERAL

Posted on 29 July, 2006
The Rediff Interview

Lieutenant General Muhammad Nasir Akhtar (retd) served in the Pakistan army for 36 years and took part in two wars against India.

He was corps commandant, Karachi, before he was assigned a senior post at army headquarters in Rawalpindi. After retirement he settled in Lahore to run a business and tour the seminar circuit, one of which brought him to India as part of a delegation of retired military officers led by Zafar Chaudhry, former air chief marshal, Pakistan Air Force.

While upbeat about the peace process in an interview to Managing Editor (National Affairs) Sheela Bhatt, General Akhtar proudly proclaims that the Pakistan army is a Muslim army fighting for jihad.

How many wars you have fought?

I have fought two wars against India. In 1965 I was in the Rann of Kutch and then in the Chhamb area in Kashmir. In the 1971 war against India I was posted in Sialkot.

How seriously do you take the peace process?

I am very positive. I feel both leaders are committed to peace. I am very, very positive. Peace will be established in the subcontinent. I believe the engagement of the two leaders must continue whatever be the case.

For 36 years of your life India was the enemy for you.

For a serving Pakistani soldier India is the enemy. And he is trained for it. But once we retire from service we have our own perceptions about things and events. We have to see the realities of life. It is not an immediate turnaround for us. Reality demands that peace must return to the subcontinent. We must eliminate poverty.

The war is not between India and Pakistan but against poverty. Between India and Pakistan the war is about Kashmir. It is a core issue which must be resolved. In our case everything that moves from head to foot is Kashmir.

For you Kashmir is not important because you are a large country but to us it is very, very important. It is the only issue.

How is your delegation different from other peace delegations?

It is very important because the senior army officers who are visiting India have served in high posts. They interact almost on a daily basis with the corridors of power. When you have seen things physically you are in a position to comprehend better at the higher level. Once we go back we can talk about India with authority.

We know war cannot bring results, only dialogue will.

What do you expect from India?

There should be flexibility when we talk. (Pakistan President) General Musharraf wants to change the mindset on both sides. He has proposed a seven point plan. Let us debate it.

India has said there will not be any redrawing of maps.

The LoC (Line of Control) is not acceptable to us. You can't fix a line that redrawing is not possible. Discuss it and then come to a conclusion. Give us a space to discuss. Development is moving both of us towards peace.

(Then prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee has said often that a strong and stable Pakistan is in India's interest. We appreciate that.

Once the Kashmir solution is found Pakistan will be much better equipped to fight poverty. If this problem continues we will not have enough funds to spare for development projects.

General Musharraf is courageously moving forward even after four attacks on his life. He is pushing on with the peace process. Terrorism and extremism can be contained only if you resolve the Kashmir issue.

Many Pakistanis have found on their first visit to Kashmir that the Kashmiris are not keen to join Pakistan either.

Then, the answer is a plebiscite.

The Pakistan army is considered hawkish and is believed to be highly Islamised.

All armies are hawkish, otherwise we can't survive.

When you talk of the Islamisation of the Pakistan army you must realise that we are Muslims. Right? We have lived with Indians before. A large section migrated to Pakistan from India. Now all of us are religious Muslims, but we are not fundamentalists.

We are practicing Muslims. Our army is the most modern army. But we are Muslims and our religion says to fight for jihad.

All over the world the armies fight with religion in their minds. Christians do. Yes, we are a Muslim army. There is no denying that fact. It has always been Islamised.

All armies have religion on their minds. When an Indian Muslim soldier fights against us he too has his motherland and his religion on his mind as an Iraqi would have when fighting against a Kuwaiti. When Pakistanis fight they fight for Pakistan and also for Islam.

Our religion says to fight for jihad. .......
us.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/27inter.htm

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