Pak’s top leadership condemns Sharif‘s remarks on 26/11

Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership on Monday condemned the “fallacious” statement by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif about the Mumbai terror attack and termed it as “incorrect and misleading”.

Sharif, for the first time, questioned Pakistan’s policy to allow the “non-state actors” to cross the border and “kill” people in Mumbai as he publicly acknowledged in an interview that militant groups are active in the country.

His comments stirred a controversy, prompting the National Security Committee (NSC) - Pakistan’s top civil-military body - to call a high-level meeting.

“The meeting reviewed the recent statement in the context of Mumbai attacks...and unanimously termed this statement as incorrect and misleading,” said a statement issued after the NSC meeting held at Prime Minister’s House.

“The participants observed that it was very unfortunate that the opinion arising out of either misconceptions or grievances was

being presented in disregard of concrete facts and realities. The participants unanimously rejected the allegations and condemned the fallacious assertions,” it said.

The statement said that it was recalled during the meeting that the delay in conclusion of the Mumbai attack case was caused by India, not Pakistan.

“Besides many other refusals during the investigation, the denial of access to the principal accused, Ajmal Kasab, and his extraordinarily hurried execution became the core impediment in the finalisation of the trial,” it did.

Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba militants killed 166 people and wounded dozens in Mumbai in November, 2008. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was caught. Kasab was executed after a court found him guilty and handed down death sentence. After the NSC meeting, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met Sharif and conveyed to him the concerns of the military leadership over his remarks regarding the Mumbai attacks, the DawnNewsTV reported citing its sources.

During the meeting that lasted nearly 30 minutes, Sharif reiterated his stance and questioned if anyone could explain what was wrong with his comments. He wondered why a brouhaha was being created over his remarks when similar admissions have been made in the past by others, sources said.