'Pakistan lost terribly in the 1965 war with India'

Pakistan "lost terribly in the 1965 war" with India, a Pakistani historian has admitted.

Historian and political economist Akbar S. Zaidi dispelled "the victory myth', saying that there can be no a bigger lie as Pakistan had lost terribly, Dawn reported on Saturday.

Zaidi said that people are unaware of this fact because the history taught in Pakistan is from an ideological viewpoint.

Delivering a lecture titled 'Questioning Pakistan's history', he said: "Students are not taught the history of the people of Pakistan rather it is focused on the making of Pakistan."

Zaidi, who teaches history at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, was speaking at the event organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Karachi University.

"With the celebration of the victory in the 1965 war round the corner, there can be no bigger lie that Pakistan won the war. We lost terribly in the 1965 war," he said.

He asked people to read political and strategic analyst Shuja Nawaz's book "Crossed Swords" that exposed the reality of the war.

The remark comes with with Pakistan just two days away from observing Defence Day and marking the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war.

During his lecgture, Zaidi asked: what is Pakistan’s history and is there a need to question Pakistan’s history. And when was Pakistan formed? Aug 14, 1947 or Aug 15, 1947? For him the fact we are still talking about historical events 68 years later that are apparently settled is interesting.

On when was Pakistan created, he said one obvious answer is it did so on Aug 14, 1947 but he read out an excerpt from a Pakistan Studies textbook in which it was claimed it came into being in 712AD when the Arabs came to Sindh and Multan. “This is utter rubbish!” he said, rejecting the textbook account.

Later while responding to queries, Zaidi explained that Parsis and Hindus contributed hugely in the educational development of Karachi and in a similar manner the Sikhs in Punjab.

“History in Pakistan is taught from an ideological viewpoint. Pakistan needs to be seen as a geographical entity.”

On separate identities, he replied there was no need to do so. “I can be a Sindhi, Hindu and Pakistani simultaneously.” - IANSA court here on Saturday extended, till September 7, the police custody of Indrani P. Mukherjea and two other prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Seeking extension of the remand, the Mumbai police, among other things, claimed that Indrani was not cooperating with them in the murder investigations of her daughter Sheena Bora.

Indrani, 47, the wife of former media baron Peter Mukherjea, was produced in the court along with her former husband Sanjeev Khanna, 50, and her driver Shyamvar Rai, 43, as their remand ended on Saturday.

Accepting the police plea, Additonal Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S. M. Chandgade granted three days extension of police custody for the three accused.

In its detailed remand copy, police said they wanted to investigate attempts made after the victim's death to prove that she was alive by misusing her email id, and sending emails to several persons from it.

Police was in touch with the concerned email service providers, as well as Skype internet on which calls were made, the details of which were awaited.

Police also wanted to know at whose behest the crime spot where the victim's body was disposed off - Gagode village in Pen, Raigad district, around 95 kms south of Mumbai - was selected and why.

The investigators are seeking to details of certain credit cards transactions through which purchases were made from different places, details of bank accounts and related aspects in preparation for the crime.

Moreover, details of the bank accounts and financial transactions by the accused trio was also needed to be probed, as also more investigations in Kolkata where a part of the conspiracy to kill Sheena Bora was hatched, and to unravel the motives behind the crime.

After the court order, the trio was taken back to the Khar Police Station. - IANS