Terrifying memoirs of Col. Rafi-ud-Din, the security guard in the jail of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan.

 

I went with him to Mecca on the President's special flight. We spent one day and one night in Makkah and two days and one night in Madinah where we were Saudi royal guests. I saw General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq performing Nawafil all night or engaged in recitation. This dedication of his created in my heart immense devotion and respect for him. During this trip, I met General Sahib several times, but there was no special conversation except "Salam wa Alaikum" or respect.

If I had been present in Rawalpindi after my return, I would have received Eid from General Sahib on every Eid. He would have greeted me warmly on such occasions.After Bhutto's execution, my platoon was shifted back to the cantonment. A few weeks later, the military secretary called me to the GHQ. During the meeting, he told me that according to intelligence reports, my life was in danger and that the President had ordered him to be sent abroad as a military attache. He told me that I should prepare to go abroad for these duties.A few days later, I was transferred back to the Military School, Quetta, where I and General Zia-ul-Haq met during a banquet in the late 1980s. He asked me, "Colonel Rafi, you are still here." I told them that orders had been issued to send me out but for unknown reasons they have not been carried out yet. The General gave some instructions to his Military Secretary and I was finally appointed Defense Attach at the Jakarta Embassy in October 1981.General Zia-ul-Haq paid an official visit to Indonesia and Malaysia in the last days of 1982. On arrival he met me and my wife with a big smile. During his visit, I briefed him on Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei and arranged his visit militarily, which he was very happy about. During this visit, I also had a good time with them. Since they worked late into the night, I spent many hours with them, briefing them on the Indonesian military system in particular and providing answers to their many doubts. Even during this visit, he did not talk to me about anything other than government work.

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I returned to Pakistan in October 1984. Perhaps due to my long experience in SSG and intelligence, I was assigned a special job in ISI Islamabad. During these duties, I had the opportunity to meet President Zia-ul-Haq several times. Since the nature of our work was very important from a national point of view, usually in two or three months, the President would spend almost one day from morning to evening in this department of ISI, where Zuhr and Asr prayers were offered several times. used to. On such occasions, Mr. PresidentThe officers concerned were briefed on the performance of ISI and future plans were also discussed. In those days, I had to arrange meetings of the President with many foreign dignitaries, in which the Foreign Office and protocol were not involved, and these offices were not even aware of such meetings. During this time I also had the opportunity to have long meetings with the head of the world's most powerful and invisible government. During these few years, I never had a private conversation with General Zia Sahib, but our conversation was always limited to national responsibilities.

In the last days of 1987, "I called the President's Military Secretary and made an appointment with him," during which I told him that some of my friends were advising me that I should write my memoirs. General Zia-ul-Haq Sahib, who was talking to me in a very good mood, immediately got angry when he heard me say this and said to me, "Colonel Rafi, Bhutto has been dead for many years and people have forgotten him." That even his own relatives are going to forget him. ”He warned me in a stern tone that I should use common sense. He was not a smiling general at the time, but I had never seen or heard of him in such a state. He got up from his chair in the meeting room in the same moodI also got up and shook hands with him. As soon as I took a couple of steps to get out, he called me and said, "Colonel Rafi, if you ever have a problem, bring it to my notice." Keep calm and don't try to get men out of the grave. I regretted my shortcomings and fell silent and stepped back from the presidency.

In March 1988, on the occasion of my son's wedding, I sent a letter of invitation to President General Zia-ul-Haq. I was informed that the wife of the President has gone abroad for treatment but Mr. President will take this opportunity. On the occasion, President Pearl Continental visited Rawalpindi. He was very excited this evening and told me that an important American delegation was supposed to meet him, but my son's wedding was no less important to him. He presented gifts to the bride and groom and made the party flourish for a long time. After I left, they thanked me and my wife and our son Dr. NasirRafi and daughter-in-law Rabab Nasir were invited to the Presidency for tea. Since Begum Zia-ul-Haq spent a lot of time abroad for treatment, we could not go for the banquet. And my meeting with General Zia-ul-Haq at Pearl Continental proved to be the last.