The Pioneer -- Sunday, September 2, 2000

Pervez dangerous if position is threatened

Rahul Datta; Deepak Sharma/New Delhi

He can be rash. If the situation spins out of his control he can be dangerous. And with a high-risk profile tinged with bravado, he can launch on a mission even if it has just 20 per cent chances of success.

Once at home, he is a different person altogether. He is known to consume liquor, but not in public. Is fond of ghazals. Might go through an English movie video. And in moments of joy, loves to dance to traditional music.... It's all about Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan.

Believe it or not, the Executive Head of the state, is still paying monthly installments of a newly constructed house in Karachi. Does not have an extravagant lifestyle. But has a passion for guns.

A comprehensive dossier on Gen Musharraf prepared by the Indian Intelligence agencies gives a deep insight into the personal characteristics, professional ability and the future prospects of the man who now heads the military regime in Pakistan.

Though Gen Musharraf has sided with fundamentalist groups, he and his brothers are comparatively liberal and trace this to their progressive upbringing. The General, a nominal muslim, does not go to mosque very often and neither offer namaz five times a day. Diverting from secular leanings, he is now backing the jehadis and even went to the extent of addressing the United Jehadi Council in Muzzafarabad.

IMAGE CONSCIOUS: The General is quite conscious of his Mohajir background. He had been wary of his ethnicity. his key aides are Punjabis and his No 2 political enemy in Pakistan is Mohajir leader Altaf Hussain, chief of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). Musharraf commands respect in the army and is considered a professional and morally upright. Son of a diplomat, Musharraf owns residential plots in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Lahore and agricultural land in Bhawalpur. He is paying installments for a house constructed in Karachi. The plots were purchased at reduced rates (20 per cent of the actual cost).

FRIEND-TURNED-FOE: While in GOC 1 Corps (Pakistan s Strike Corps), Musharraf was the army officer closest to Nawaz Sharif. He has been accused of passing classified information (relating to closed-door meetings with the army chief) to Sharif. He had ingratiated himself with the then PM by keeping the latter informed of the criticism of the Government s functioning during the the corps commanders conference.

KASHMIR: Gen Musharraf displays an air of ultra-nationalism which makes him anti-Indian. Kashmir has been the core issue for him since the 1965 war when he saw action in the Chawinda sector of Punjab. During the battle, his gun battery was hit by indian artillery attack. Musharraf, instead of retreating, off-loaded the ammunition from the burning gun, before the fire could ignite. For this act, he was awarded Imtiaz-I-Sanad. Even during higher studies in Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK, his subject was Arms Race in the subcontinent. He concluded in his research that all outstanding disputes in Kashmir should be resolved. In Zia-ul-Haq's regime, he was handpicked to crush the agitation in PoK. He volunteered to serve in the Special Service Group, a commando unit, and played a key role in Siachen. as COAS, the first initiative he took was aggression in Kargil. Now as the CE, the core issue for him is Kashmir.

FUTURE PROSPECTS: Though retiring next year, the General is in no mood to step down. With the passage of time, few signs of reforms, the initial hope that greeted the General is ebbing. There is growing concern that the army-driven crisis in Kashmir may eclipse hopes of reviving the economy. Intelligence agencies sum up: `The General is likely to take rash decisions in case his position is threatened or the situation spins out of his control.'