Bhushan
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Pak trained terrorists to fight India: Musharraf
NEW DELHI: It's hardly a candid confession but it still has the power to shock.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf admitted what India and the world have known for a while now -- that the Pakistan government trained terrorists against India and pushed them into Jammu and Kashmir.
In an interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, Musharraf said, "(Militant groups) were indeed formed. The government turned a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir."
Official sources here said this admission was "no surprise". "We have known of the close links between Pakistan government and terror groups for a long time." But even though this is a known fact, this would be the first time such an admission has been made by a former head of state.
Questioned about Pakistan security forces training these terrorists, Musharraf said, "The west was ignoring resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the west -- especially the United States and important countries like Germany -- to resolve the Kashmir issue."
Significantly, despite growing evidence that Pakistan's use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy has boomeranged, leading to mushrooming of terrorism within Pakistan, Musharraf did not regret starting the terror train against India. Asked whether the "neglect" of the Kashmir issue gave Pakistan the right to train underground fighters, he said, "Yes, it is the right of any country to promote its own interests when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner."
Musharraf is planning a political comeback to Pakistan. So, the question analysts are asking is, why would he be making these admissions that is embarrassing to Pakistan now?
The defiant tone on using terror to force India to discuss J&K will obviously play well with the domestic audience.
But there could be other reasons as well for the candour. It's possible that Musharraf, who is known to be a strong "tactical" player, might be using this to embarrass his successor, General Pervez Kayani. While Kayani has laid bare his "India-centric" outlook, the automatic conclusion that Kayani in his previous job of DG-ISI would have overseen the training of terrorists against another country cannot but be embarrassing to him.
Particularly at a time when Wikileaks and a new book by Bob Woodward both clearly point to the Pakistan army-ISI duo in training and promoting international terrorism.
Second, Musharraf's admissions also reach an old political adversary of his -- Nawaz Sharif. After all, Sharif was PM during the worst of the Kashmir terrorism in the 1990s. Sharif and his PML(N) would be automatic adversaries for Musharraf. Sharif is also known to be very close to both the ISI and Pakistan's maverick chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. Neither of them would welcome Musharraf back to Pakistan.
Third, Musharraf could also be peddling his "acceptability" quotient to the west, whose support he will need to return to Pakistan. Just like Benazir Bhutto before him, Musharraf might be thinking that verbal acknowledgment of a dark past might show that he's willing to turn a new leaf. Bhutto played a similar game when she was plotting her return to Pakistan.
The Pakistan foreign office and Sharif have both denied Musharraf's confessions.
During the interview, on Afghanistan as well, Musharraf went against the established Pakistani line that the Haqqanis and Hekmatyars and Taliban could be reconciled and brought into the Kabul power structure. While Pakistan may have convinced some westerners of this, Musharraf openly scoffed at such a plan. "After 9/11, they (the US) fought the Taliban instead of strengthening the Pashtuns who could have taken on the radical Taliban.
Now, you try to negotiate with so-called `moderate Taliban', but there is no such thing as a moderate Taliban. There are Taliban and Pashtuns. But as I have always said: All Taliban are Pashtun, but not all Pashtun people are Taliban. Again, you should reinforce the ancient Pashtun clans who are not ideologically aligned with the Taliban to govern Afghanistan and to fight the Taliban. That's my strong advice."
NEW DELHI: It's hardly a candid confession but it still has the power to shock.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf admitted what India and the world have known for a while now -- that the Pakistan government trained terrorists against India and pushed them into Jammu and Kashmir.
In an interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, Musharraf said, "(Militant groups) were indeed formed. The government turned a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir."
Official sources here said this admission was "no surprise". "We have known of the close links between Pakistan government and terror groups for a long time." But even though this is a known fact, this would be the first time such an admission has been made by a former head of state.
Questioned about Pakistan security forces training these terrorists, Musharraf said, "The west was ignoring resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the west -- especially the United States and important countries like Germany -- to resolve the Kashmir issue."
Significantly, despite growing evidence that Pakistan's use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy has boomeranged, leading to mushrooming of terrorism within Pakistan, Musharraf did not regret starting the terror train against India. Asked whether the "neglect" of the Kashmir issue gave Pakistan the right to train underground fighters, he said, "Yes, it is the right of any country to promote its own interests when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner."
Musharraf is planning a political comeback to Pakistan. So, the question analysts are asking is, why would he be making these admissions that is embarrassing to Pakistan now?
The defiant tone on using terror to force India to discuss J&K will obviously play well with the domestic audience.
But there could be other reasons as well for the candour. It's possible that Musharraf, who is known to be a strong "tactical" player, might be using this to embarrass his successor, General Pervez Kayani. While Kayani has laid bare his "India-centric" outlook, the automatic conclusion that Kayani in his previous job of DG-ISI would have overseen the training of terrorists against another country cannot but be embarrassing to him.
Particularly at a time when Wikileaks and a new book by Bob Woodward both clearly point to the Pakistan army-ISI duo in training and promoting international terrorism.
Second, Musharraf's admissions also reach an old political adversary of his -- Nawaz Sharif. After all, Sharif was PM during the worst of the Kashmir terrorism in the 1990s. Sharif and his PML(N) would be automatic adversaries for Musharraf. Sharif is also known to be very close to both the ISI and Pakistan's maverick chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. Neither of them would welcome Musharraf back to Pakistan.
Third, Musharraf could also be peddling his "acceptability" quotient to the west, whose support he will need to return to Pakistan. Just like Benazir Bhutto before him, Musharraf might be thinking that verbal acknowledgment of a dark past might show that he's willing to turn a new leaf. Bhutto played a similar game when she was plotting her return to Pakistan.
The Pakistan foreign office and Sharif have both denied Musharraf's confessions.
During the interview, on Afghanistan as well, Musharraf went against the established Pakistani line that the Haqqanis and Hekmatyars and Taliban could be reconciled and brought into the Kabul power structure. While Pakistan may have convinced some westerners of this, Musharraf openly scoffed at such a plan. "After 9/11, they (the US) fought the Taliban instead of strengthening the Pashtuns who could have taken on the radical Taliban.
Now, you try to negotiate with so-called `moderate Taliban', but there is no such thing as a moderate Taliban. There are Taliban and Pashtuns. But as I have always said: All Taliban are Pashtun, but not all Pashtun people are Taliban. Again, you should reinforce the ancient Pashtun clans who are not ideologically aligned with the Taliban to govern Afghanistan and to fight the Taliban. That's my strong advice."
