The Rediff Interview /General Gul Hassan Khan

'The US thinks they can bully anyone'

Why are politicians so intimidated by generals? Is it because they do not want to end the way Mr Bhutto did?

No, politicians are not afraid of the army. They are afraid of themselves. They have no confidence. If they had a good mandate as Nawaz Sharief they would have had the confidence. But before that all the politicians used the army for support whenever they were in trouble.

Building up of confidence will take some time. It will build up gradually. In other countries too there were the same kind of problems as Pakistan faces today. And in those countries they have today a strong democratically elected government. That stage has to be developed in Pakistan. In India, you always had a politically stable government which we didn't.

Why was that?

Because our politicians were weak. They were divided among themselves. Some of them had no roots in Pakistan with a result they had no following. Whereas in India, everybody had roots in this country. Take Nehru or Vallabhbhai Patel for example, they all had strong roots.

After Mohammad Ali Jinnah, why were there no other leaders in Pakistan?

Because no one had roots in Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan was a strong leader but he had no roots in Pakistan. He had more roots in India than he had in Pakistan.

Many US analysts believe the next major conflict will begin in South Asia between India and Pakistan. Do you think that is a real possibility?

I don't know why we have to bring in the USA every time. We can do without the USA. We can solve our problems. We don't need the USA. We know each other very well more than than the Americans know us.

Do you think these analysts are wrong?

No, the point is that the US is the world's leading nation. And they think that they can bully anyone. They are bullying Iraq. And as far as Americans are concerned they want to bully weak nations. They do not want to bully those nations which are strong. Because they know that they cannot do it.

So you believe the US wants to act as the world's nanny?

They are the world's nanny. Because there is nobody else. The Soviet Union is finished now, so they are the world's nanny.

What about nuclear weapons? Do you think India has a nuclear weapon?

I believe so. I have not seen it. And as far as I know, they exploded the nuclear bomb in 1974. You see nobody is going to start a nuclear war overnight. They will have to think ten times before doing that. A nuclear weapon is not like bullet firing. It is devastating.

Do you feel India and Pakistan can engage in a nuclear conflict?

I don't know. It depends on the leadership of that time. If there is a sensible leadership on both sides I don't think they will touch nuclear weapons. Wars have been fought without nuclear weapons. Nobody talked of nuclear weapons then.

What about Pakistan? How many nuclear weapons does it have?

I have no idea. But till 1972 it had no nuclear weapons. Some people tell me that Pakistan has nuclear bombs. But I don't know how true it is.

Do you think a non nuclear aggression pact between the two nations will be a step towards a better relationship?

I think so.

Nawaz Sharief is talking about peaceful negotiations with India, but do you think the Pakistan army will back him?

Yes, why not?

Isn't it true that there is a section of Pakistani army generals who would like to humiliate India for the events of 1971?

No, I don't think there are a large number of Pakistani generals who feel humiliated. Take for example what happened in World War II. Everybody is talking to Germany. Everybody is talking to France and Japan. They have become a part of the European Union. So as time passes, the situation changes.

So there are no Pakistani generals who would like to humiliate India for the events of 1971?

I don't know. As I told you earlier, I don't talk to army generals and I don't know any of them.

General Gul Hassan's photograph: Atul Chowdhury

Tomorrow: The Interview continues

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