Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that his own generals and soldiers, rather than politicians, betrayed him. “I will not blame the politicians. My own men (soldiers and generals) disappointed me. They betrayed me,” Mr Musharraf said. In an interview to the private Pakistani channel Geo TV, Mr Musharraf said the
generals disappointed him when he was in power. “I do not feel betrayed by politicians as they were not related to me, like soldiers,” Mr Musharraf said and named two of his former aides, retired lieutenant-generals Mehmood Ahmed and Muzaffar Hussain Usmani, saying each one of the two wanted to become vice-chief of the Army and both quit when refused a loyalty reward, as demanded by them.
He also criticised former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul (Retd) and termed him an extremely ambitious person who wanted to lead the religious forces of Pakistan. Mr Musharraf disclosed that Lt. Gen. Gul advised him to take a back seat after the 1999 coup and give him the helm to rule the country.
Mr Musharraf said PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif, and not foreign powers, was dangerous for Pakistan. When asked to comment on the WikiLeaks report that called President Asif Zardari “dirty” and Mr Nawaz Sharif “dangerous”, Mr Musharraf refused to speak about Mr Zardari but chose to call Mr Sharif a “closet Taliban” and a threat to his country. He said Mr Sharif, whom he toppled in a military coup in 1999, could not get along with any Army Chief or President, and alleged that the PML-N chief ordered an attack on the Supreme Court. He revealed that Mr Sharif never wanted to conducted nuclear tests. “He was actually forced to order nuclear explosions (sic),” he added.
Mr Musharraf also did not spare the PML (Quaid-e-Azam) leaders, who supported him during his days at the helm, saying they were part of all decisions but backtracked when he was “out of power”. He admitted that promulgating the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s advice was a “bad idea”. He also said he had not wanted to meet (the late) Benazir Bhutto in person, but did so as wrongly advised by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
Speaking about the character of his opponents, Mr Musharraf said he found Imran Khan and Mehmood Achakzai men of character, but described Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan as not of his word. He praised the MQM, saying the party, its Nineties record regardless, did good work when it assumed power through elections.
Mr Musharraf also denied accepting all US demands at once. He said he had no other choice but to join and support the war against terrorism in the wake of 9/11 because he saw India joining hands with the US and its allies to the detriment of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
On his ouster from power, Mr Musharraf said that in retrospect he believed the lawyers’ movement, the NRO, and curbs on the media had brought about his fall, and that he chose to quit the presidency on realising it was pointless continuing as a powerless man at the receiving end of curses emanating from Parliament sessions and Cabinet meetings.