Pakistan’s top civil-military body on Monday condemned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s remarks about the Mumbai attacks, describing them as “incorrect and misleading”, but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader insisted he had done nothing wrong.
Sharif’s remarks, made during an interview with Dawn newspaper last week, triggered a row in his country as he pointed to a Pakistani hand in the 2008 attacks. He also appeared to suggest the military was meddling in politics and had a hand in his removal from office by the Supreme Court last year because he was trying to end support for anti-India terror groups.
A meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), which Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi convened at the nudging of the angry army, reviewed Sharif’s comments on the Mumbai attacks and “unanimously termed this statement as incorrect and misleading”, according to an official statement.
The NSC believed it was “very unfortunate that the opinion arising out of either misconceptions or grievances was being presented in disregard of concrete facts and realities” and “unanimously rejected the allegations and condemned the fallacious assertions”, the statement added.
The meeting was attended by army chief General Qamar Bajwa, the two other service chiefs, ISI head Naveed Mukhtar and National Security Advisor Nasser Janjua.
{{/usCountry}}The meeting was attended by army chief General Qamar Bajwa, the two other service chiefs, ISI head Naveed Mukhtar and National Security Advisor Nasser Janjua.
{{/usCountry}}This was a rare rebuke of Sharif by a government run by his PML-N party, reflecting the growing tension between the ousted premier and the military.
But Sharif stuck by his remarks on Monday while talking to reporters outside an anti-corruption court in Islamabad. “What did I say in the interview that was wrong?” he asked.
He rejected suggestions that the comments were falsely attributed to him and said he would continue to speak the truth. “Former president Pervez Musharraf, former interior minister Rehman Malik and former National Security Advisor Maj Gen Mahmud Durrani had already confirmed (what I said),” he said.
When Sharif was asked by a reporter about suggestions that India was reluctant to provide evidence in the Mumbai attacks case, he replied, “There is no shortage of evidence – there is plenty of evidence.”
During the interview, Sharif had questioned the policy of using Pakistan-based terrorists for cross-border attacks on India. “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 had said. The statement was described by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday as “serious disclosure” that vindicated India’s position on the Mumbai attacks.
Sharif had also said such a state of affairs is “absolutely unacceptable” and even Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had said so.
Expressing disappointment at being labelled a traitor by some elements in Pakistan, Sharif said “Are those who tore apart the country and the Constitution patriots? Are those who pulled out judges from their offices patriots?”
The issue has also exposed rifts within the PML-N, with Sharif’s younger brother, Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying on Sunday that the remarks were “incorrectly attributed” and didn’t represent party policy.
Following the NSC meeting, Prime Minister Abbasi told a news conference in Islamabad that he had met Sharif and the former premier had told him he was “misquoted”. Abassi also said Sharif told him his remarks were “misrepresented by Indian media”.
Abbasi also contended that the NSC had not condemned Sharif directly, but the incorrect reporting of the interview. “As the prime minister, I stand with Nawaz Sharif,” he said, adding Sharif would remain the PML-N’s leader.