ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: Several former top military officials and politicians today lambasted former Pakistani Air Force chief, Air Marshal Noor Khan, for his remarks that Pakistan should not fight over Kashmir and that any threat from India has been unnecessarily exaggerated.

Denouncing the remarks of Khan, Maj Gen (Retd) Tajammul Hussain Malik said, it (the remarks) gives an indication that, ``he (Noor Khan) is not aware of the art of war.''

Terming the speech at a seminar in Karachi recently as ``dangerous'', he said such remarks frustrate the people and stressed that Islamabad was capable of any fighting war and can defeat the Indian Army on any front.Veteran politician and president of the Pakistan Democratic Party, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, attacked both Khan and Sindh Governor Moinuddin Haider, who supported Khan's for their remarks.

Reacting to Khan's statements in Lahore yesterday, he said, ``if they are so confident about India's good intentions they should save Pakistan's entire defence budget and demand to abolish the institution of the Army.'' Another former Army Chief Maj Gen Mirza Aslam Beg, said that the objective of such statements was to demoralise the Pakistani people and force them to accept Indian hegemony.

Urging the government to slash the defence budget by at least 20 to 25 per cent, Noor Khan had said that Pakistanis should stop treating Kashmir as ``jugular vein'' of Pakistan and that the threat from India has been unnecessarily exaggerated. The Sindh Governor had also supported Khan's argument saying ``we should have an open mind about Kashmir.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.