muhammadhafeezmalik
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2015
- Messages
- 5,417
- Reaction score
- -17
- Country
- Location
Retired Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani, former head of the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), says military intervention in political affairs is a reality and detrimental to the country.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, when asked about allegations of Pakistan's military interfering in political affairs, the former ISI chief said that people were angry at the military's interference in political affairs. He also alleged that the judiciary was prosecuting him at the behest of the army.
"People are angry with this intervention," he said. Imran Khan's biggest problem (about him) is the impression that he did not come himself, he came with a heavy burden. Some people don't learn from history because they say we will make our own history.
According to Asad Durrani, "there is military intervention. Whether it should be or not is a debate that has not gone in any direction to date. The experience is that whenever the army intervened, the political parties that were tried to be kept out came back.
Citing an example, he said, "As Ayub Khan was supposed to keep Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto out, he came back and got elected. After Zia-ul-Haq, Bibi (Benazir Bhutto) came. As soon as Musharraf came out, the two parties which he thought should be kept out, both the Pakistan People's Party and the Muslim League-Nawaz, were elected after contesting the elections. So this (interference) is so harmful when you do (political) engineering. '
Asad Durrani was appointed Director General of Military Intelligence in 1988. In 1990, he was appointed as DG ISI. Since retiring in 1993, he has also served as Pakistan's ambassador to Germany and Saudi Arabia.
He is currently in the news again after the publication of his recent book, " Honor Amongst Spies." This book is the second in a series of his first published books, Spy Chronicles.
Asad Durrani is often the subject of controversy, whether it is about the information contained in his two published books or his statements about Osama bin Laden, which he calls his "analysis."
"Pakistan is facing internal problems"
As for the ongoing meetings of the United Opposition (PDM) against the present government, the leaders of the opposition parties are talking about the army interfering in political affairs.
Former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, during a PDM meeting, directly accused the Pakistani army chief of overthrowing his government and making Imran Khan successful in the 2018 elections. He also alleged that the judiciary was prosecuting him at the behest of the army.
Speaking on the occasion, Asad Durrani said, "Even when they (the army) do not exist, it seems that they have a role to play. The ISI is an organization primarily for counterintelligence. Because it consists mostly of army personnel and service officers present, especially their chiefs. So if they get this kind of (political engineering) job, more or less, they can do it. '
Regarding the PDM movement, he said, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman has the most experience in this field. Why would they listen to them (ie ISI) to sit down? The general impression is that there can be no (sit-in) without the ISI. As it was said before, nothing can happen without America.
On the current situation in Pakistan, he said, "Pakistan is facing internal problems and problems always remain. One thing is for sure, the most dangerous problem is inside.
Asad Durrani added, "Some people are politically angry at the moment. There is unrest in some areas, such as Balochistan. It faces political alienation.
"The economy is really bad. It's not that when the economy recovers, everything recovers. But when the government is not trusted and it is said that it has brought the army and what kind of a leader is he who says on everything that I will take a u-turn, then I will become a leader, otherwise I will not become one. Goes back to everything. Such a government is not trusted. What has happened is that all these issues have come together.”
"India is no longer a big threat"
The former DG ISI said that threats to the internal security of the country are currently the biggest threat to the country which should be tackled as a top priority.
During the interview, when asked which of the internal and external threats to Pakistan he thinks is the biggest threat at the moment, he said, "India is no longer such a big threat."
He said that after India's attempt to annex Kashmir on August 5, 2019, such big problems have arisen for India itself that it is no longer a threat to us.
"After what India has done on Kashmir, there is no threat to us on the eastern border. If they ever want to do something like Balakot, be prepared for it, otherwise they are so caught up in their own affairs that they don't care so much about Pakistan.”
According to Asad Durrani, "If you talk about threats from outside Pakistan, there are some other challenges."
According to General Durrani, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are among them big and new challenges. "Anyway, India has not always been the biggest threat to us," he said.
Elaborating on the internal challenges facing the country, he said, "The country is facing three types of challenges in which economy, political instability and social cohesion are major issues, because they have all come together."
"Some people are politically angry. There are some areas like Balochistan, where there is unrest among the people, some people whom I have mentioned before, are feeling politically alienated and isolated. The economy is really bad ... The credibility of the government is bad because people say they have been brought in by the army.
He says, "We have taken over India ... After India's controversial citizenship law, other good people besides Muslims have also become disillusioned. So, in these situations you ask me what I will do? So, I would say sit down now. Because there is still no threat from the eastern border. "
"If we do something like Balakot again, get ready for it," he said. He is so caught up in his own affairs that he does not care so much about Pakistan. Pakistan has its own concerns. But if we have to look outside, we have one or two more challenges. A new challenge is Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey.
“There is an impression that Pakistan is more inclined to USA."
Talking about relations with Iran, Asad Durrani said, "Our relations with Iran after the revolution in Iran were against the will of the United States. Because they (the US) said that for more than 400 days (Iran) held our embassy hostage. We (Pakistan) said (Iran) is our neighbor. We have to keep in touch. "
"The United States was very angry when we had relations with China in the 1950s. One day he came to us and said let us talk too. '
Talking about the Pakistani Taliban, he said, "If we have supported the Taliban without their (US) consent, then we have not listened to the United States." But the impression is that we don't know how much we listen to America. "
"One of the reasons is that sometimes some people are too weak to listen to the United States. Because if they don't, they can't work. So whatever US say, they accept.'
"Changing the status of Gilgit-Baltistan will be a blow to Kashmir issue"
Recently, there has been talk of making Gilgit-Baltistan a temporary province. While opinions are divided in the country, Asad Durrani related a related story.
"When I was looking after the affairs of Kashmir, a close friend of mine, Yusuf, used to explain to me that the day we made a mistake in changing the status of Gilgit-Baltistan would be a big blow to our Kashmir cause," he said.
"Don't change the status of some things because whenever you change the status of something for political reasons because we want to make numbers, it will be a loss. Bahawalpur and Swat were very good states, they were brought into the mainstream and if these centers are involved in corruption, then there is a loss.
The Balochistan system could have been better handled in three ways, politically, economically and socially. But we took it and made it a province and it is not being handled till date.
"I used to say about the former FATA, don't do it, don't integrate it into the province," he said. It has its own special status, in some cases it is doing better than us, which is a five hundred year old system.
He said that Pakistan's system is not such that people would want to be a part of this system. He said that if Gilgit-Baltistan is to be given more rights then of course give it but do not make it a province of Pakistan by force.
According to Asad Durrani, some of the steps taken in recent days point to a decline in the capacity of the current government. When they can't do anything else, they change their status or write Srinagar instead of Kashmir or change the map. These are just some of the goal setting shareware that you can use. So it doesn't seem to be working.
Citing an example, he said, "One unit was created out of dishonesty. Because we had to give an answer to the majority of Bengalis. Balochistan was amalgamated because there was a question behind who would take care of them separately. Although previously they existed under one system. If you have a good system and people see that we want to come with you, then that's fine. But don't force people. "
"Pakistan can do nothing more than put the Taliban on the table"
Talking about the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan, Asad Durrani said, "Pakistan can use its influence on the Mujahideen and the Taliban to say that we accept whatever you decide after talking to the rest." There is nothing more Pakistan can do.
"We have always been in touch with the Mujahideen and helped them because they were expelling foreign forces. He did the same with the Taliban. Despite all the pressure, we maintained our influence and our relationship with them.
"It is very easy to prosecute under the Secret Act."
Talking about his book "Honor Amongst Spies" published a few months ago, he said, "What good is a book if there is no controversy?"
"It will be an official type of writing that you get from the ISPR or from the government. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. "
Earlier, the Pakistani military had demanded an answer from Asad Durrani for writing "sensitive information" in his book, “The Spy Chronicles”.
He said, "As far as revealing the secrets of the state is concerned, there was a lot of noise but no one has said to date what secrets were related to the state in this book." The easiest thing to do is to prosecute people under the Official Secrets Act. All the secrets were slowly revealed by someone from here, someone from there, so there is no question of secrecy. In the last seven or eight years, I have been bothered by a lot of people talking about Osama bin Laden. Although I only gave my analysis.
"It seems to me that by giving my analysis, I have shown a weakness or put my foot on the tail, of someone" he said. I gave an analysis based on what I would do if I were at the post then. '
"We don't have to have any insider information," he said. On the contrary, inside information is often wrong. But the situation is better than you think."
Regarding the controversies associated with the book, he repeated Mirza Ghalib's poem:
“Hain Kawakib Kuchh, Nazar Aate Hain Kuchh
Dete Hain Dhoka Yeh Baazigar Khula”
"To say that I have been harmed, no, I have benefited."
"Many people in the army wrote their books and no one asked them what they wrote," he said.
Who has not seen Musharraf's book?? Shahid Aziz's book is very critical. On this people said that he has the right, he can write. But to this day no one has stopped. I was told by the then Army Chief General Waheed Kakar at the time of retirement that you have to see for yourself how far to write your point and how far not to. Do your own sensor and that's the rule. "
Talking about title of the book Honor Among Spies, he said "This is not the title I suggested," he said. My title was to be something else: ‘A Tale of Two Books’, which I suggested.
"Because it's based on the first two books. But then there is the fact that the former is a good title. It is written in this book what was wrong and what was not. What can be done as an excuse and what cannot be done.
"The main character in this legendary story is Osama bin Laden," he said. For which I have created a fictional character, the great daughter of Laden. Women fighters, terrorists, libertarians. "
Razia Sultana has always mentioned Chand Bibi in our jihadis (the role of women) and also in India. Women jihadists were greatly influenced by Laila Khalid. Laila Khalid was a Palestinian and she is mentioned in this story.
www.bbc.com
(Translation provided, hopefully this thread will not be locked)
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, when asked about allegations of Pakistan's military interfering in political affairs, the former ISI chief said that people were angry at the military's interference in political affairs. He also alleged that the judiciary was prosecuting him at the behest of the army.
"People are angry with this intervention," he said. Imran Khan's biggest problem (about him) is the impression that he did not come himself, he came with a heavy burden. Some people don't learn from history because they say we will make our own history.
According to Asad Durrani, "there is military intervention. Whether it should be or not is a debate that has not gone in any direction to date. The experience is that whenever the army intervened, the political parties that were tried to be kept out came back.
Citing an example, he said, "As Ayub Khan was supposed to keep Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto out, he came back and got elected. After Zia-ul-Haq, Bibi (Benazir Bhutto) came. As soon as Musharraf came out, the two parties which he thought should be kept out, both the Pakistan People's Party and the Muslim League-Nawaz, were elected after contesting the elections. So this (interference) is so harmful when you do (political) engineering. '
Asad Durrani was appointed Director General of Military Intelligence in 1988. In 1990, he was appointed as DG ISI. Since retiring in 1993, he has also served as Pakistan's ambassador to Germany and Saudi Arabia.
He is currently in the news again after the publication of his recent book, " Honor Amongst Spies." This book is the second in a series of his first published books, Spy Chronicles.
Asad Durrani is often the subject of controversy, whether it is about the information contained in his two published books or his statements about Osama bin Laden, which he calls his "analysis."
"Pakistan is facing internal problems"
As for the ongoing meetings of the United Opposition (PDM) against the present government, the leaders of the opposition parties are talking about the army interfering in political affairs.
Former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, during a PDM meeting, directly accused the Pakistani army chief of overthrowing his government and making Imran Khan successful in the 2018 elections. He also alleged that the judiciary was prosecuting him at the behest of the army.
Speaking on the occasion, Asad Durrani said, "Even when they (the army) do not exist, it seems that they have a role to play. The ISI is an organization primarily for counterintelligence. Because it consists mostly of army personnel and service officers present, especially their chiefs. So if they get this kind of (political engineering) job, more or less, they can do it. '
Regarding the PDM movement, he said, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman has the most experience in this field. Why would they listen to them (ie ISI) to sit down? The general impression is that there can be no (sit-in) without the ISI. As it was said before, nothing can happen without America.
On the current situation in Pakistan, he said, "Pakistan is facing internal problems and problems always remain. One thing is for sure, the most dangerous problem is inside.
Asad Durrani added, "Some people are politically angry at the moment. There is unrest in some areas, such as Balochistan. It faces political alienation.
"The economy is really bad. It's not that when the economy recovers, everything recovers. But when the government is not trusted and it is said that it has brought the army and what kind of a leader is he who says on everything that I will take a u-turn, then I will become a leader, otherwise I will not become one. Goes back to everything. Such a government is not trusted. What has happened is that all these issues have come together.”
"India is no longer a big threat"
The former DG ISI said that threats to the internal security of the country are currently the biggest threat to the country which should be tackled as a top priority.
During the interview, when asked which of the internal and external threats to Pakistan he thinks is the biggest threat at the moment, he said, "India is no longer such a big threat."
He said that after India's attempt to annex Kashmir on August 5, 2019, such big problems have arisen for India itself that it is no longer a threat to us.
"After what India has done on Kashmir, there is no threat to us on the eastern border. If they ever want to do something like Balakot, be prepared for it, otherwise they are so caught up in their own affairs that they don't care so much about Pakistan.”
According to Asad Durrani, "If you talk about threats from outside Pakistan, there are some other challenges."
According to General Durrani, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are among them big and new challenges. "Anyway, India has not always been the biggest threat to us," he said.
Elaborating on the internal challenges facing the country, he said, "The country is facing three types of challenges in which economy, political instability and social cohesion are major issues, because they have all come together."
"Some people are politically angry. There are some areas like Balochistan, where there is unrest among the people, some people whom I have mentioned before, are feeling politically alienated and isolated. The economy is really bad ... The credibility of the government is bad because people say they have been brought in by the army.
He says, "We have taken over India ... After India's controversial citizenship law, other good people besides Muslims have also become disillusioned. So, in these situations you ask me what I will do? So, I would say sit down now. Because there is still no threat from the eastern border. "
"If we do something like Balakot again, get ready for it," he said. He is so caught up in his own affairs that he does not care so much about Pakistan. Pakistan has its own concerns. But if we have to look outside, we have one or two more challenges. A new challenge is Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey.
“There is an impression that Pakistan is more inclined to USA."
Talking about relations with Iran, Asad Durrani said, "Our relations with Iran after the revolution in Iran were against the will of the United States. Because they (the US) said that for more than 400 days (Iran) held our embassy hostage. We (Pakistan) said (Iran) is our neighbor. We have to keep in touch. "
"The United States was very angry when we had relations with China in the 1950s. One day he came to us and said let us talk too. '
Talking about the Pakistani Taliban, he said, "If we have supported the Taliban without their (US) consent, then we have not listened to the United States." But the impression is that we don't know how much we listen to America. "
"One of the reasons is that sometimes some people are too weak to listen to the United States. Because if they don't, they can't work. So whatever US say, they accept.'
"Changing the status of Gilgit-Baltistan will be a blow to Kashmir issue"
Recently, there has been talk of making Gilgit-Baltistan a temporary province. While opinions are divided in the country, Asad Durrani related a related story.
"When I was looking after the affairs of Kashmir, a close friend of mine, Yusuf, used to explain to me that the day we made a mistake in changing the status of Gilgit-Baltistan would be a big blow to our Kashmir cause," he said.
"Don't change the status of some things because whenever you change the status of something for political reasons because we want to make numbers, it will be a loss. Bahawalpur and Swat were very good states, they were brought into the mainstream and if these centers are involved in corruption, then there is a loss.
The Balochistan system could have been better handled in three ways, politically, economically and socially. But we took it and made it a province and it is not being handled till date.
"I used to say about the former FATA, don't do it, don't integrate it into the province," he said. It has its own special status, in some cases it is doing better than us, which is a five hundred year old system.
He said that Pakistan's system is not such that people would want to be a part of this system. He said that if Gilgit-Baltistan is to be given more rights then of course give it but do not make it a province of Pakistan by force.
According to Asad Durrani, some of the steps taken in recent days point to a decline in the capacity of the current government. When they can't do anything else, they change their status or write Srinagar instead of Kashmir or change the map. These are just some of the goal setting shareware that you can use. So it doesn't seem to be working.
Citing an example, he said, "One unit was created out of dishonesty. Because we had to give an answer to the majority of Bengalis. Balochistan was amalgamated because there was a question behind who would take care of them separately. Although previously they existed under one system. If you have a good system and people see that we want to come with you, then that's fine. But don't force people. "
"Pakistan can do nothing more than put the Taliban on the table"
Talking about the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan, Asad Durrani said, "Pakistan can use its influence on the Mujahideen and the Taliban to say that we accept whatever you decide after talking to the rest." There is nothing more Pakistan can do.
"We have always been in touch with the Mujahideen and helped them because they were expelling foreign forces. He did the same with the Taliban. Despite all the pressure, we maintained our influence and our relationship with them.
"It is very easy to prosecute under the Secret Act."
Talking about his book "Honor Amongst Spies" published a few months ago, he said, "What good is a book if there is no controversy?"
"It will be an official type of writing that you get from the ISPR or from the government. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. "
Earlier, the Pakistani military had demanded an answer from Asad Durrani for writing "sensitive information" in his book, “The Spy Chronicles”.
He said, "As far as revealing the secrets of the state is concerned, there was a lot of noise but no one has said to date what secrets were related to the state in this book." The easiest thing to do is to prosecute people under the Official Secrets Act. All the secrets were slowly revealed by someone from here, someone from there, so there is no question of secrecy. In the last seven or eight years, I have been bothered by a lot of people talking about Osama bin Laden. Although I only gave my analysis.
"It seems to me that by giving my analysis, I have shown a weakness or put my foot on the tail, of someone" he said. I gave an analysis based on what I would do if I were at the post then. '
"We don't have to have any insider information," he said. On the contrary, inside information is often wrong. But the situation is better than you think."
Regarding the controversies associated with the book, he repeated Mirza Ghalib's poem:
“Hain Kawakib Kuchh, Nazar Aate Hain Kuchh
Dete Hain Dhoka Yeh Baazigar Khula”
"To say that I have been harmed, no, I have benefited."
"Many people in the army wrote their books and no one asked them what they wrote," he said.
Who has not seen Musharraf's book?? Shahid Aziz's book is very critical. On this people said that he has the right, he can write. But to this day no one has stopped. I was told by the then Army Chief General Waheed Kakar at the time of retirement that you have to see for yourself how far to write your point and how far not to. Do your own sensor and that's the rule. "
Talking about title of the book Honor Among Spies, he said "This is not the title I suggested," he said. My title was to be something else: ‘A Tale of Two Books’, which I suggested.
"Because it's based on the first two books. But then there is the fact that the former is a good title. It is written in this book what was wrong and what was not. What can be done as an excuse and what cannot be done.
"The main character in this legendary story is Osama bin Laden," he said. For which I have created a fictional character, the great daughter of Laden. Women fighters, terrorists, libertarians. "
Razia Sultana has always mentioned Chand Bibi in our jihadis (the role of women) and also in India. Women jihadists were greatly influenced by Laila Khalid. Laila Khalid was a Palestinian and she is mentioned in this story.
Ø¢Ø¦Û Ø§Ûس Ø¢Ø¦Û Ú©Û Ø³Ø§Ø¨Ù Ø³Ø±Ø¨Ø±Ø§Û Ø§Ø³Ø¯ دراÙÛ: âسÛØ§Ø³Û ÙعاÙÙات ÙÛÚº ÙÙج Ú©Û ÙداخÙت اÛÚ© ØÙÛÙت اÙر ÙÙÚ© Ú©Û ÙÛÛ ÙÙØµØ§Ù Ø¯Û ÛÛâ - BBC News اردÙ
ساب٠ÚÛ Ø¬Û Ø¢Ø¦Û Ø§Ûس Ø¢Ø¦Û Ø§Ø³Ø¯ دراÙÛ Ú©Ø§ Ú©ÛÙا ÛÛ Ú©Û Ø¹Ùرا٠خا٠کا سب Ø³Û Ø¨Úا ÙسئÙÛ Ø§Ù Ú©Û Ø¨Ø§Ø±Û ÙÛÚº ÛÛ ØªØ§Ø«Ø± Ùائ٠ÛÙÙا ÛÛ Ú©Û ÛÛ Ø®Ùد ÙÛÛÚº Ø¢Ø¦Û Ø¨ÙÚ©Û Ø®Ø§Ú©Û Ø¨Ùجھ ÙÛ Ú©Ø± Ø¢Ø¦Û ÛÛÚºØ Ú©ÚÚ¾ ÙÙÚ¯ تارÛØ® Ø³Û ÙÛÛÚº سÛÚ©Ú¾ØªÛ Ú©ÛÙÙÚ©Û ÙÛ Ú©ÛØªÛ ÛÛÚº...
www.bbc.com
(Translation provided, hopefully this thread will not be locked)
Last edited:
