Sharif firm on his statement that Pakistan was behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that he is firm on his statement about accepting that the fact that 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were carried out in collusion with Pakistan. Following this, the anti-India groups and extremists have started blaming Sharif of being a traitor. Shaken up by these revelations, the Pakistani military had arranged a top-level security meeting. While replying to the venomous campaign against himself, Sharif asserted that he had not said anything wrong.

Pakistan has been defending itself so far, by stating that the terrorists involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were ‘Non State Actors’, not connected with the Pakistan government or the military. Sharif had raised a question during an interview with the Pakistani Daily ‘Dawn’ asking, ‘These terrorists had gone from Pakistan, so was it the right thing to allow these terrorists to go and kill 150 people in Mumbai?’ There was uproar in Pakistan following the interview. A section of the media has started blaming Sharif of treachery for taking a pro-Indian position. Following this, the Pakistan military arranged for a high-level security meeting.

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Sharif has endorsed the Indian claim. Pakistani Prime Minister has claimed that the Indian media and some people in Pakistan have misinterpreted Sharif’s statement. The members of Sharif’s party also have taken a similar stand in an attempt to cover-up Sharif. In spite of the stinging criticism, Sharif has shown the uprightness to stand firm behind his statements. Sharif pointed out that his statements were also accepted by Former Dictator Pervez Musharraf, former Minister for Interior Rehman Malik and former National Security Advisor Mahmud Durrani.

Insisting that it has to be accepted that the terrorists went from Pakistan, he pointed out that it was because of these double standards that Pakistan’s image had crashed at the international level. Sharif asked as to why was nobody listening to Pakistan, despite Pakistan having sacrificed more than 50000 lives in the war against terrorism.

Former Prime Minister Sharif targeted the Pakistani army saying ‘I am called a traitor for speaking the truth and those who have trampled over Pakistan’s constitution are called patriots.’ While indicating that this was a conspiracy of the Pakistani army, Sharif criticised that a section of the Pakistani media has labelled him as a traitor because they are being forced to do that.

Sharif, who was the main opposition party leader during the time of the cowardly attack on 26/11, had accepted that the attack was carried out by terrorists from Pakistan. Sharif appealed to the people of Pakistan saying, ‘Whenever there is a terror attack anywhere in the world, why is that the finger is always first pointed towards Pakistan?’ After stepping down as the Prime Minister, Sharif has once again tried to show the mirror to Pakistan for reflecting upon its actions.