Lt. Gen Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani (r) July 1928 - 1 Nov 2008

God Bless, and R.I.P.

The landmark Geo interview of the ex-Corps Commander of Rawalpindi, dated 2nd June 2008, in which he made important revelations which started the landslide pressure on Musharraf's impeachment, ultimately forcing Musharraf to resign in August.

Host: Shahid Masood
Guest: Lt.Gen (r) Jamshed Gulzar Ahmed Kiyani



Comment:
The major revelations were:

- Musharraf kept the Prime Minister of the time, Nawaz Sharif alongwith the entire Federal Cabinet out of the loop on Kargil, and the briefings were superficial not giving the whole story. The questions raised by important functionaries including the then Foreign Minister, Sartaj Aziz, were never answered in the briefings. Even the Naval Commander was left uninformed of details of the plan.

- The subsequent hijacking case resulting in removal of elected Government of Nawaz Sharif was no more than a 'story', and hinted the plane in question was a chartered one - not a commercial flight, and with no fare-paying passengers in it.

- That White-Phosphorous bombs were dropped on Jamia/Hafsa, containing chemical pellets which stick to the flesh and burn through to the bone.*

- That as Chairman of the Public Service Commission (after retirement), he was under pressure to hire nominees of Shaukat Aziz. When he insisted on merit, he was asked to resign but refused. For that he was dismissed and appealed to the Supreme Court, where his case is still pending.

*Later there was criticism he was wrong and didn't know the difference between harmless smoke bombs and chemical weapons.

The counter-criticism however was that if an infantry officer was promoted all the way to Lt. General without knowing that difference, and later made Corps Commander of strategically the most important Corps in the country, that would raise very serious doubts on the entire military establishment of the Pakistan Army. That immediately quietened the objections towards Gen Kiyani's statement.