Islamabad: As the public resentment over the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti grew with calls for a ‘decisive battle to liberate’ Balochistan from Pakistan, four former Generals have backed the Opposition's criticism of President Pervez Musharraf's handling the crisis.
With Baloch nationalist leaders publicly expressing resentment that their survival lies in separation from Pakistan and the time has come for a "decisive battle," former Army Chief Aslam Beg slammed Musharraf for the way the government handled the crisis.
"It was an ill-conceived idea and badly-handled operation to capture an 80-year-old man hiding in a cave. The second mistake was that the task to capture Nawab Bugti was given to Pakistan Army, instead of other law-enforcement agencies, despite the knowledge that he would die fighting instead of surrendering to military forces," he was quoted as saying by Daily Times.
Beg identified Islamabad's third and most serious mistake as failing to hand over Bugti's body to his relatives for the burial. "It was not in consonance with our culture. This has become our sarkari culture (to do the things contrary to cultural norms and national laws)."
He predicted that Bugti's death would give new impetus to both nationalist parties as well as the political opposition, which, he said, has so far failed to create any real challenge to the military-led regime.
Beg's comments were endorsed by two former chiefs of ISI, General Assad Durani and General Hamid Gul, as well as retired Lt General Talat Masood.
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