Army had ‘reasons’ to topple PPP govt

Classified contents of an affidavit submitted by the top Military Intelligence (MI) officer in Sindh at the time of the toppling of the Pakistan People’s Party government in 1990, state that the country’s powerful military establishment considered Benazir Bhutto a “security risk” for multiple reasons which led to the ouster of her government.
According to the affidavit submitted by Brig (r) Hamid Saeed Akhtar in the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Bhutto had publicly criticised the army for “crossing the red line by enriching uranium to the levels which were not acceptable to big powers. She also gave an interview to BBC in which she mentioned her support to India in crushing the Khalistan movement. Sometime later, the PM also criticised the army for conducting annual exercise in the Sindh province without her consent”.
Brig Akhtar said that the ISPR had to clarify through a press release that under the law, the COAS was not obliged to seek anyone’s permission for conducting training exercises in any part of the country.
According to the affidavit, the military was also wary of placements of Al-Zulfiqar cadres in Railways, PIA, Customs, Karachi Port Trust, Immigration, Excise and Taxation and other sensitive departments. “These activists of AZO had been imparted proper training by India in sabotage, arson, bomb blasts, mass killings and other acts of terrorism. The authentic record of these terrorists was available with all the intelligence agencies. All these matters were reported to higher ups through normal command channels,” he said.
“The general perception of the common man was that the ruling party had got the votes but lacked the vision to run the country. Something appeared to be in the offing. On 16th August 1990, President Ghulam Ishaque Khan dissolved the PPP government using power under Article 58 (2)b [Benazir’s government was toppled on August 6, 1990].
“In Sindh an interim government was formed under Jam Sadiq Ali as the Chief Minister. (A) On 12 September 1990, DG MI Major General Muhammad Asad Durrani visited Karachi and gave following orders to me. (B) Open six accounts in different banks and send me the title and number of each account. (C) Keep on monitoring these accounts. Some funds shall be deposited in these accounts from time to time. You will keep me updated regarding the balance in each account on weekly basis.”
Narrating the situation in Karachi at that time, Brig Akhtar said he assumed charge of the MI Sindh on July 23, 1990.
“At that time MQM had recently fallen apart from the ruling political party (PPP). PPP workers had resorted to taking revenge from MQM for their political betrayal through the use of force. MQM reacted even more violently. PPP, MQM, PPI, JI and JSM activists were relentlessly killing each other. The daily death toll was 100-110 besides countless left wounded and incapacitated. I immediately held meetings with Tariq Azeem, Dr Imran Farooq and Saleem Shahzad of MQM, Prof Ghafoor of JI, Dr Hameeda Khoro and Mumtaz Bhutto of JSF, Abdul Wahid Aresar of JSQM and Mukhtar Awan of PPI and gave them a strong message that if they did not stop the killing, arson and looting, the army may be forced to step in to restore peace.
“Initially the belligerent forces denied their involvement in the unlawful activities, however when irrefutable evidence of their crimes was produced, they took the advice more seriously. Following were the visible effects of intelligence intervention on security situation: (A) Within one week the killings reduced drastically from 100-110 to 20-30 per day, (B) Exchange of prisoners of the belligerent sides was arranged and the exchange took place in Karachi Corp Headquarters.
“All the above was achieved through negotiations and dialogue, not a single bullet was fired, nobody was kept in illegal confinement and no torture was committed to extract information. The importance of my primary task i.e intelligence and counter intelligence far outweighed my involvement in the internal security matters but at that time internal security had assumed greater importance.
“Soon after, the provincial government launched a police operation against Muhajir populace residing in Pucca Qila, Hyderabad on a day when the PM, COAS and Karachi Corps Commander were on a tour abroad and army units were out on annual exercise. In this operation police killed dozens of men, women and children. The matter was reported to higher echelons. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan ordered the army to move in and stop this carnage. The Station Commander Hyderabad gathered about 300 soldiers from the personnel left behind for guard duties and reached the site. On his intervention, the police force withdrew.
“PM Benazir Bhutto on her return to Pakistan gave a press statement that the army had supplied POF made weapons to Muhajirs. Police had besieged Pucca Qila to recover these weapons. When police force was about to reach the cache in Pucca Qila, the army stepped in and took away the weapons in military vehicles. Everybody was shocked by this statement.”