Islamabad, September 06, 2005 (Agencies)

Terming the 1965 war as "wrong," the then Pakistan Air Force chief Nur Khan has said that it was the result of attempts by Pakistani Army to push a large number of militants into Jammu and Kashmir.

He accused former military ruler Ayub Khan and his Generals of telling a "big lie" to the nation that India had provoked the war.

Air Marshal (Retd) Khan's account of the war, published in the local daily Dawn on Tuesday, coincided with Pakistan's commemoration of the 'Defence Day' on the 40th anniversary of the conflict.

Khan said the war was the result of attempts by Pakistani Army to push a large number of armed militants into Jammu and Kashmir without even informing Air Force and Navy.

He said Pakistani Army suffered heavy losses in the war. "They (the coterie of Generals around President Ayub Khan) had planned the 'Operation Gibraltar' for self glory than the national interest.

"It was wrong war and they misled the nation with a big lie that India rather than Pakistan had provoked the war and that we were the victims of the Indian aggression."

He said Gen Ayub was told on the second day of the war by Army Chief Musa Khan that Army had even run out of ammunition.

"That was the extent of preparation of army. And information had shocked Gen Ayub so much that it could have triggered his heart ailment which overtook him a couple of years later."

Charging the Army with starting the "unnecessary" war, Khan said "rumours about an impending operation (by Pakistan Army) were rife but army had not shared plans with other forces."

Khan said since the 1965 war "was based on a big lie and was presented to the nation as a great victory, the army came to believe its own fiction and used Ayub as its role model and therefore continued to fight unwanted wars -- the 1971 war, the Kargil fiasco in 1999."

"In each of the subsequent wars we have committed the same mistakes that we committed in 1965," he said and demanded that a 'Truth Commission' should be constituted to determine "why we failed in all military adventures."

In a detailed account of the war in which Pakistan Army suffered serious reverses, Khan said he understood from Gen Musa Khan that "something was afoot."

He was later told about the plans by GoC Akthar Hassan Malik to send a large number of militants into Jammu and Kashmir to fight the Indian Army.

"Don't worry, because the plan is to send in some 800,000 infiltrators to throw out the Indian troops with the help of the local population," Malik told him giving an impression that the Indians would not be able to retaliate and therefore the Pakistan Air Force need not get into the war time mode.

Pointers:

• Ayub accused of telling lie that India provoked war
• 'Operation Gibraltar' planned for self glory than the national interest
• Pakistanis were the victims of the Indian aggression
• 1965 war was a big lie, presented to nation as a great victory
• Army used Ayub as role model, fought unwanted wars* 1971 war, Kargil fiasco in 1999.
• In each wars we committed same mistakes that we did in 1965