By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, May 27 (IslamOnline) - In a short, half-hour speech in Urdu broadcast live by Pakistan TV, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said Monday, May 27, that India has created a war hysteria, that Pakistan does not want war but was prepared to fight to the last drop of blood if war is thrust on the Pakistani people. “If war is thrust on a Muslim, he faces it as a ghazi (warrior) or shaheed (martyr),” Musharraf said.

Musharraf started his speech with a note on the referendum last month which elected him as president of Pakistan. Pakistani opposition parties have contested the legality and transparency of the referendum.

Musharraf said that it was a free and fair referendum and if that there was any negligible malpractice he was sad and sorry for it from the core of his heart. He announced that the forthcoming general elections next October will be free and fair. He invited foreign observers to come and see it for themselves. He added that democracy in Pakistan will be real.

Turning to the current tension on the borders, he said that the whole Indian armed force, including the army, navy and air force, is standing now against Pakistan.

“There was a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament last December and we condemned it as a terrorist act but the Indian leadership initiated rash actions as a result of its traditional enmity of Pakistan,” he said.

Things started to ease a little when another terrorist attack occurred on an Indian army barrack in Jammu this month. It too was a terrorist act and we promptly condemned it and said that whosoever commits such acts is an enemy of Pakistan.

Musharraf went on to allude that these terrorist acts may be tailor-made to suit certain Indian policies. He explained that the perpetrators of all these acts attributed to the Pakistani military intelligence (ISI), like the Parliament and Jammu attacks, were promptly killed but the killers of Abdul Ghani Lone were allowed to flee despite the presence of a large number of police and army force in the area. He also repeated that there are so many terrorist attacks on churches, mosques and other places in Pakistan and alluded that these may be the work of Indian agents.

Musharraf said that Indian leaders' statements lead to war hysteria. He said that Pakistan is a “responsible state which does not allow its territories to be used against others.”

While Musharraf failed to announce any specific measure as was expected, he categorically said that “now there is no infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC).” At the same time he reiterated that “there is a freedom movement in occupied Kashmir, and Pakistan is not responsible for this freedom movement but we will support it politically, morally and diplomatically,” he announced.

Musharraf reiterated that Pakistan does not want war but if war is imposed on Pakistan it will be repulsed with full force.

At this point Musharraf changed over from Urdu to English and said: “Pakistan does not want war. Pakistan will not initiate war. Pakistan is doing nothing beyond LoC. Pakistan will not allow export of terrorism.”

Continuing his speech in English, he said, “Pakistan has taken very brave initiatives since my January speech" and asked the world community to ask India to (a) de-escalate; (b) reduce tension on the borders; (c) initiate dialogue; (d) stop all atrocities against the Kashmiri people; (e) allow human rights organizations and foreign journalists into Jammu & Kashmir.

Musharraf asked the world to take note of “the atrocities by Hindu extremists in Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and elsewhere against Muslims, Christians and Scheduled Castes (i.e., untouchables).”

Switching back to Urdu, Musharraf told the Kashmiri people that “Kashmir is in our hearts and Pakistan will always discharge its moral, political and diplomatic obligations towards the Kashmiri people.”

Concluding his speech, Musharraf said that “Islam teaches us justice and peace but if war is thrust on us we will not surrender.”

India's leadership is expected to comment on Musharraf's speech Tuesday, May 28. The only official reaction Monday came from the External Affairs Spokesperson Nirupama Rao who said about the Pakistani leader's claim of having stopped cross-border infiltration: “what you see is not what you get.”

She added that India was going through the speech and a concerted reply would be given by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh Tuesday. Rao added that, “We have to assess General Musharraf's statements in their totality.”

Asked to comment on General Musharraf describing India as the “enemy”, she said: “This is in the tradition of Pakistan. We have seen very little difference in his approach towards India.”