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How many times must Pakistan prove that it breeds terror?

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Rajeev Sharma
Rajeev SharmaNov 02, 2015 | 20:28

How many times must Pakistan prove that it breeds terror?

Pakistani ranting that India is its eternal enemy has been proven wrong time and again by its own countrymen, that too by persons of "stature". This time the responsibility was well discharged by none other than former president and army chief, Gen Pervez Musharraf, who spilled the beans very well known to the world. But the truth coming out from the horse’s mouth has value.

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Musharraf said terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the Taliban were heroes for Pakistan and admitted that Pakistan supported and trained groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in 1990s to carry out militancy in Kashmir. And to a question whether terrorists Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi should also be "controlled and stopped", Musharraf said, "No comments." He said that "religious militancy" was started by Pakistan which brought militants from all over the world to fight against Soviet forces, adding that in 1979 Pakistan was in favour of religious militancy.

"We trained Taliban and sent them to fight against Russia. Taliban, Haqqani, Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were our heroes then. Later they became villains," he said, adding that people need to understand the whole environment at that time.

The whole world always knew where the hub of terrorism was. On every occasion, despite clinching evidence being available to prove Pakistani hand in every act of terrorism, the failed State was not dealt with sternly by the international community and allowed to continue with its objective, of spreading terrorism, on the false pretext made by it that it too was a victim of terrorism and was doing all to eradicate it.

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Musharraf has unabashedly acknowledged that his country was instrumental in the rise of the villains of the world, worshipped by Pakistanis as heroes. Does the world need any other confirmation about the Pakistani agenda? Is this not sufficient evidence, enough to declare Pakistan as a terror State and a sponsor of international terrorism? What is the US waiting for, when the former resident of Pakistan has himself admitted that the terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, who obliterated the "Twin Towers", the American status icon, was its hero? It is time the US differentiates between a strategic asset and a hardcore terrorist.

India has been screaming from all international platforms that terrorism has no place in a civilised human society. It has given more than enough evidence of Pakistani involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai  carnage.

Following Musharraf’s true but thoughtless (from the Pakistani point of view) admission, a top American Senator Tim Kaine has said that the remarks of former Pakistan president were "not surprising".

Senator Tim Kaine, an influential Democratic Senator in two powerful Senate committees of foreign relations and armed service told the Defence Writers Group thus: "I am not surprised to hear him say that in the past that (Pakistani supporting and aiding LeT) was the case. I think that the evidence about ties between some aspects of the Pakistani government with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in connection with the attack in Mumbai in 2008 is pretty hard to deny."

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Kaine, who visited the 26/11 terrorist attack sites in Mumbai last October, also said "When you get into the intel (intelligence information) and explore, you get the questions how high the ties were and how officially they were sanctioned. But there were definitely ties (between Pakistani government and LeT).”

Downplaying the statement, Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit said Pakistan was itself a big victim of terrorism, especially since the 9/11 terror attacks on the US. “It serves no purpose for us [to train terrorists]. All militant organisations have been proscribed, and Pakistan is committed not to allow its territory for terrorism anywhere in the world. Rather than being stuck in the past, let us look ahead.”

The tall claim made by the Pakistani envoy that all militant organisations have been proscribed is yet another big lie as the so-called ban is only on paper and criminals like Hafeez Saeed and Lakhvi are enjoying state patronage. Given Pakistan’s record, Basit’s remarks that “rather than being stuck in the past, let us look ahead” can only be interpreted as implying that 9/11 and 26/11 were acts of the past, let us look ahead for more acts of terror by our heroes.

It is not understood as to how Pakistan still manages to receive substantial aid and arms from the US for its steadfastness in supporting terrorism. The US seems to be extra-impressed as it has always considered Pakistan its strategic asset, though one doesn't know what for – whether for fighting terror or fomenting it?

Now if the world does not wake up even after this sensational admission by Musharraf, it will only mean that terrorists are a welcome section of the human society and we are all wholeheartedly backing them, when in our homes we do not allow even rodents to enter and promptly get rid of them with rodent repellents. Is terrorism our choice? Let the world decide!

Last updated: November 02, 2015 | 20:28
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