Srinagar, 10 April: A former ISI chief credited with creating the Afghan Taliban, has said
his country's Army will not change its India-centric policy unless the
Kashmir issue is resolved.
“The kind of terrorism which is going on in Pakistan is due to Kashmir
issue,” Hamid Gul, the former head of the Inter Services Intelligence
who is believed to have created Kashmiri militants groups and finds
frequent mention in the documents released recently by the
whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, claimed in the CNN's Connect the World
programme. “The second [reason] is because of the wrongful occupation
of Afghanistan, by the allied forces, it's very wrongful,” he argued.
“So I think that proud nation is being really ravaged which is very
wrong. So, this is the root cause — unless you address the root cause,
you are not going to find the solution, as far as Pakistan's orientation
towards India is concerned that is a reality, and Indians themselves
are making it a reality,” General Gul claimed. “This is amazing that
India continues to aim at Pakistan and considers it the enemy — Kashmir
dispute is still going on; Kashmir movement is very much on the boil,
and at this time it is expected that Pakistan should shift forces from
the eastern border and transfer them to the western border — it is not
possible, we don't have the resources,” he said.
The former ISI chief told the CNN that the Soviet occupation was wrong, and so is the American occupation.
“And that Afghan nation will not accept that position, Afghan nation has
never accepted for past 5000 years, they won't accept it now. So I
don't regret it at all, because at that time the whole world was with
us. “I think then America should be the first to regret that adventure
at that time,” he argued.
General Gul argued that there can be no peace in Afghanistan without
Mullah Omar. “I think Mullah Omar has to be spoken to — that's very
important — because without him no settlement in Afghanistan can take
place. He symbolises the national resistance of Afghanistan against the
occupation,” he said.
