ISLAMABAD: Former corps commander Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul has said that even if the Constitution is suspended in the present circumstances, there will be no big change in the country.

In an interview with The News on Thursday, he said people would demand the blood of politicians and won’t listen to them in the presence of the Objectives Resolution. He said every ruler in Pakistan committed mistakes. The army should take the country’s command for a short period and act professionally. He said the army should get rid of the black sheep within its ranks and hold others accountable for their wrong deeds. He said if the army did not take over, there would be a civil war in the country.

Replying to a question, he said Turkey was a role model to follow, adding that the Turkish army took over for some time, did its job and then there were elections. “But, in our country, personal desires start ruling the rulers and everyone wants to be in power for a long time.” He said East Pakistan gave more sacrifices for Pakistan and Ayub Khan made the country strongest.

Responding to a question about India, he said the RSS ideology was in its bloom now. The Brahman thinking was a ruse. Narendra Modi was truly representing the RSS. He said they thought that they were going to be an economic power, but chances of India’s breakup were visible. He said Modi considered Muslims equal to dogs and as he said dogs were often crushed by vehicles.

He said if there was a war now, it won’t be traditional, but rather bombs would be thrown in response to bombs. He said: “I fear that Modi’s fate will be like that of Gandhi.” He said the RSS tagged the murderer of Gandhi as hero.

To a question on Socialism and Islam, he said there were similarities and dissimilarities between the two. Islam and Socialism both wanted to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi visited Lenin in this very context.

He said: “Two satans were

focusing on us. The first was Communism which we defeated and the second is on the way to destruction.”About China, he said this country was not a Socialist country as was generally perceived. They believed in the market economy and Islam also did so. He said the job of the states was not to run metro buses. This was the job of people. He said: “We have helped China reach the hot waters.” He said he could not say that China would try to impose its hegemony on Pakistan, but it was possible after 100 years. China did not support or oppose any specific political party in Pakistan. It was linked up with the people of Pakistan. Now even Americans said the world could not succeed till Confucius was not followed globally.

Regarding a question about Christians, Jews and other religions, he said: “We oppose them on the basis of ideology and we are opposed to those who want to impose their orders on us. Islam prefers Allah Almighty’s orders to all. Our Constitution is full of contradictions. Islam doesn’t allow party system. Assembling and consultations are the only way out in Islam. Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had come for the whole humanity. In Pakistan, every political party wants to carry Islam till Islamabad.”

Responding to a question whether we are part of the Muslim world or not, he said it was true as well as false at one and the same time. “The main difference between us and other countries is monarchy,” he said, adding that in a monarchy, people followed the order of the king, but, in Islam, people toed the line set by Allah Almighty.

He said Nawaz Sharif was ready to send army to Saudi Arabia, but Pakistanis were against this decision. He said the Arab countries now talked about Arab nationalism. The present situation demanded that they call an OIC meeting and “if they have something against Iran, an attack on Iran can be launched from our country”. He said Jamal Abdul Nasir sent 70,000 army men to Saudi Arabia and the result was a defeat from Israel.

He said: “By not sending army to Saudi Arabia, we acted like stopping a good friend from jumping into fire.” He said a reasonable number of Pakistani army men were always present in Saudi Arabia and about 200,000 former soldiers were working in that country, but there was no Abraha attacking Saudi Arabia. There was no threat to Riyadh. So the decision not to send the Pak army to Saudi Arabia was correct.

He said there was a big difference between Al-Qaeda and Daish and this difference was based on philosophies. He said Osama bin Laden didn’t want to attack any Muslim country, especially Pakistan. He said Osama had pledged allegiance to Mullah Umar. He said the Arab Sunni Tehreek was getting stronger in all Arab countries and it would be very dangerous. “We will not be part of this movement because we are Sunnis and non-Arabs.” He said this movement aimed at conquering Tel Aviv, setting aside Arab differences.

He said there was also no similarity between the Taliban and the Daish. He said the Taliban should be supported and should not be forced to join the Ashraf Ghani government. He said the American philosophy was that they could themselves create Taliban and this theory was present in Obama’s book.

He said the TTP was a new Mukti Bahini which was being supported by India, Israel and America. He said it was correct that Muslim countries supported India and it was because of monarchies, but there was no place for monarchy in Islam. He said the US committed a mistake by not supporting Saudi Arabia militarily. They had also shifted their intelligence network to Jabooti. “We should also remember that Russia had united Yemen and Putin’s intentions are no secret.”

Replying to a question, he said Pakistan had reached a stage where everyone was looking at Gen Raheel. There was no doubt about the honesty and professionalism of Gen Raheel and his link to a family which won the Nishan-e-Haider, he said, adding that this was the highest medal which was awarded to those guarding the country.

