Islamabad, Oct 27: Former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf revealed that the country was involved in funding, training and using militancy as a tool to further its interest in the neighbouring regions of India and Afghanistan. The ex-army general accepted that Islamabad is the creator of a number of non-state actors in the region, including Lashkar-Taiba and Haqqani network.
Musharraf also claims that the country treated Hafiz Saeed as a hero for his efforts to free Kashmir from the oppression of Indians. Apart from using cross-border terrorism in India, Musharraf accepted the fact that Pakistan trained and used Osama Bin Laden, Ayman-al-Zawahri and Jalaluddin Haqqani to exert their control in Afghanistan. (ALSO READ: Hafiz Saeed crowd funding Rs 3,500 crores for terrorist activities against India?)
In the interview, Musharraf was recorded as saying, “Religious militancy was nurtured by us and it was beneficial. We drove the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden was trained by us and he was our hero.”
Speaking on the Kashmir conflict, the former President said, “We need to understand the historical perspective. Indian army was slaughtering Kashmiris in the late 80s. We needed to fight their oppression. Pakistan funded Lashkar. Hafiz Saeed was our hero, as so were the Kashmiris who crossed over to this side of the border to wage Jihad,” he added.
“Similarly Jalaluddin Haqqani was once our hero, but now things have changed. These militant groups have different motives which cannot be equated with the state. Nonetheless, we cannot unleash an onslaught against them,” Musharraf said in the later part of the interview.
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