In tirade against military, Sharif owns up to 26/11 role

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has questioned the policy of using Pakistanbased militant groups for crossborder attacks on India as he mounted a scathing attack on the military establishment’s perceived meddling in politics.

Sharif, ousted from his post by the Supreme Court last July for dishonesty in the Panama Papers case and subsequently barred from contesting elections for life, indicated during an interview with Dawn newspaper that Pakistan had been isolated by the world community for failing to counter terrorism.

On the campaign trail in Multan ahead of general elections expected in a few months, the three-time premier said: “Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me.

“Why can’t we complete the trial?” he added, an apparent reference to the trial of seven Lashkar-e-Taiba members, including operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, for their alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable. This is exactly what we are struggling for. President (Vladimir) Putin has said it. President Xi (Jinping) has said it…We could have had 7% growth (in GDP), but we are not,” he added.

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