In this Feb. 20, 1999 file photo, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, left, receives Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Wagah border near Lahore, Pakistan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif on May 28 admitted that Islamabad had “violated” an agreement with India signed by him and ex-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, in an apparent reference to the Kargil intrusion by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

“On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…it was our fault,” Mr. Sharif told a meeting of the PML-N general council that elected him president of the ruling party six years after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

Also read | Vajpayee, Sharif spoke over phone in the midst of Kargil War, says book

Mr. Sharif and Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999, after a historic summit. The agreement that talked about a vision of peace and stability between the two countries signalled a major breakthrough, but a few months later Pakistani intrusion in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir led to the Kargil War.

“President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan $5 billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests but I refused. Had [former prime minister] Imran Khan like a person been on my seat he would have accepted Clinton’s offer,” Mr. Sharif said on a day when Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.

Mr. Sharif (74) talked about how he was removed from the office of the prime minister in 2017 on a false case by then chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He said all cases against him were false while the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder leader Imran Khan were true.

He also talked about the role of former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam in toppling his government in 2017 to bring Imran Khan into power. He asked Imran Khan to deny that he was not launched by the ISI.

“I ask Imran not to blame us [of being patronised by the army] and tell whether Gen Islam had talked about bringing the PTI into power,” he said and added Khan would sit at the feet of the military establishment.

The three-time premier talked about receiving a message from Gen Islam to resign from the office of Prime Minister [in 2014]. “When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me,” he said.

Mr. Sharif also praised his younger brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for standing by his side through thick and thin. “Efforts were made to create differences between us but Shehbaz remained loyal to me. Even Shehbaz was asked to become PM in the past and leave me but he declined,” he said.

Mr. Sharif said after assuming the office of the PML-N President he would renew efforts to strengthen the party.

Srinagar:

Around 77.61 per cent voting was recorded on Wednesday in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections in Kargil, the first key poll to be conducted in Kargil district of Ladakh as Union Territory (UT) after Article 370 was scrapped in August 2019.

The votes will be counted on Sunday. As many as 85 candidates are fighting for 26 seats.

During the polling most of the voters talked about identity issues post scrapping of 370 and absence of democratic representation under Union Territory administration.

“We are angry because Modi has separated us from Kashmir in 2019,” said Zehra Bano.

Seventy-year-old Zehra was part of large number of women in Kargil who came out to vote.

Another voter said that they want to be reunited with Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory experiment has failed to deliver.

“we want statehood back. We didn’t get anything under UT and our children are unemployed,” he said.

The contest is between the BJP and the National Conference-Congress combine. The vote is being looked at as a referendum – if the people have accepted the Centre’s decision of August 5, 2019.

At a poll rally, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had urged voters to send a “clear message to reject or accept” the decision made by the NDA government on August 5, 2019.

Kargil has long been a National Conference stronghold.

Two powerful religious institutions – the Jamiat Ulema Kargil, known as the Islamia School, traditionally backing the National Conference, and the Imam Khumaini Memorial Trust backing the Congress – are driving the politics in Kargil.

Earlier, the Ladakh administration had denied the “plough” symbol to National Conference candidates which led to a legal battle, with the Supreme Court setting aside the Ladakh hill council polls, earlier scheduled for September 10.

Over the last three years, political parties, social and religious groups in Ladakh have forged an alliance opposing Ladakh’s UT status and demanding full statehood and constitutional protection under the 6th schedule. The rare political alliance between Buddhist and Muslim groups in Leh and Kargil districts is posing a major challenge to BJPs electoral prospects in Ladakh.

Kargil:

Drass, the world’s second-coldest inhabited place, is gripped by the election fever and preparations have been made for polling today. This is the first Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections in Kargil after Article 370 was scrapped and Ladakh was made a separate Union Territory (UT) in August 2019.

This election is a fight between the BJP and a combined Opposition of the National Conference and Congress. Wednesday’s vote is being looked at as a referendum – if the people have accepted the Centre’s decision of August 5, 2019.

Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Drass, said: “Wednesday’s vote is more about the identity of the people than development. The 73-year-old has worked as a porter with the Army for 40 years, including during the Kargil War in 1999.” He said that the people are feeling politically disempowered after Ladakh became a Union Territory.

“There are no elected MLAs or ministers here. The Hill Council has lost its authority after Ladakh was turned into a Union Territory. Yet this election is important for us,” Mohammad Iqbal said.

There are 85 candidates in the fray for the 26 seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil. The BJP is contesting on 17 and supporting some Independent candidates.

Kargil has been a traditional stronghold of the National Conference (NC) and the Congress was the main rival. Now, the opponents  have entered into an alliance to fight the BJP.

Two powerful religious institutions – the Jamiat Ulema Kargil, known as the Islamia School,  traditionally backing the National Conference, and the Imam Khumaini Memorial Trust backing the Congress – are driving the politics in Kargil. And religious clerics have also appealed to the people to vote against the BJP.

During campaigning, Jamyang Namgyal, the BJP MP from Ladakh, urged people to not vote for the NC-Congress alliance and called NC chief Farooq Abdullah a “Yazid” – a figure of hate for the Shia Muslims for his involvement in the killing of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, in the battle of Karbala.

“Farooq Abdullah didn’t allow Muharram processions in Srinagar to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. It was the BJP which allowed the procession in Srinagar after 34 years,” Mr Namgyal said at an election meeting.

Earlier, the Ladakh administration had denied the “plough” symbol to National Conference candidates which led to a legal battle, with the Supreme Court setting aside the Ladakh hill council polls, earlier scheduled for September 10.

The top court dismissed Ladakh administration’s petition opposing the allotment of the “plough” symbol to the National Conference.

After the Supreme Court order, the Ladakh administration in a fresh notification announced that polling will take place on October 4 and results will be declared on October 8.

The hill council elections are important since they are held in the wake of a rare political alliance between the Buddhist and Muslim groups in the region.

Over the last three years, political parties, social and religious groups in Ladakh have forged an alliance opposing Ladakh’s UT status and demanding full statehood and constitutional protection under the 6th schedule.