Self-respect is priceless

Here are three letters published in Dawn

From Karachi by HUMA
President Pervez Musharraf’s book In the Line of Fire is no doubt written in a very readable style though its contents are highly controversial. But what simply cannot be forgiven, considering the fact that a publisher of repute has published it, are the many errors in the dates of important events. Here is a list of some of the errors I detected:

Iskander Mirza’s coup: Oct 8, 1958 (it was Oct 7) – p. 156
Ayub Khan’s coup: Oct 28, 1958 (it was Oct 27, 1958) – p. 156
Year of Benazir Bhutto’s second dismissal: 1997 (it was November 1996) – p.162
Census in Pakistan: 1997 (it was 1998) – p.169

Any good editor familiar with Pakistan’s history could have corrected these dates immediately.

From Karachi by Akber
With reference to Ms Huma's letter (Sept 27) pointing out the errors in dates in President Musharraf's book In the Line of Fire, I may add one more. On page 16, the author writes, "Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy, persuaded London that Britain could not hold on till then (June 1948) and had the date moved forward to August 1947. This was announced in April 1947." That is wrong. It was the June 3 plan (1947) that announced that India would be partitioned and the British would withdraw from the subcontinent.

President Musharraf is also reported to have defended in New York his move to write his memoir while in office. He says this is not unprecedented and cites the example of Nelson Mandela. The president would be well advised to revise his history. The Long Walk to Freedom was written earlier and published in mid 1994. South Africa's first all-race elections were held in April 1994.Mandela was inaugurated as the president of South Africa on May 10, 1994. That is the cut-off point for the book. He didn't write any book while in office.

From London (UK) by an Indian, Vipul Thakore
Officials were aghast and journalists were incredulous when Gen Musharraf turned a White House press conference into a book promotion, helped in some measure by President Bush who was only too happy to have his ally duck the question pertaining to the reported threat by Mr Armitage to bomb Pakistan into the Stone Age.

For President Musharraf some extra book royalty dollars are more important than the ‘izzat’ of the proud people of Pakistan, as he ridiculed his own country publicly. The latest revelation smacks of cowardice and submission.

No Indian leader would like to do or dare to do such a thing, as sovereign people of India would just get rid of him or her. They taught Indira Gandhi a lesson for declaring even a brief spell of emergency. The people of Pakistan, while individually brave and with care for honour, are impotent in front of the guns of their own army.

India’s main political parties have unanimously criticised President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s version of the Kargil conflict as detailed in his autobiography as more lies from Musharraf. President Musharraf’s attempt to undermine the Indian army to save his personal reputation from self-inflicted damage will come back to haunt him and Pakistan. In this he has performed another disservice for Pakistan.
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