Imran Khan vows to bring Mumbai attack perpetrators to justice

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday raised the stakes on bridging the trust deficit between the two countries by saying he will bring the 26/11 perpetrators to book.
He held out the assurance that as prime minister he would ensure there was no terrorism originating from Pakistan. “India must understand the legal process takes time, but I will bring the Mumbai perpetrators to justice. We have to follow the rule of law,” he said in a freewheeling interview with Mail Today that touched upon Kashmir, Hafiz Saeed and the US. Khan is in India to attend the World Economic Forum meet in Gurgaon.
India has repeatedly made the demand at the highest level on bringing the 26/11 masterminds to book – in April this year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari met in New Delhi and more recently during the non-aligned meet in Tehran in August. India regards this as a confidence-building measure.
Khan was confident of winning the Pakistan polls. “I have created the only democratic party in Pakistan. We are now preparing for a democratic tsunami,” he said.
On relationships with India, he said he was in favour of a new beginning. “All these years we have had a relationship which was detrimental to the entire subcontinent. We moved one step forward, two steps backward. Mumbai came, (and) we were back to square one,” said Khan, adding that the pillar of the relationship would be trust.
Khan, who turns 60 on November 25, appeared to be making the right noises on relations with India. The question remains on whether the tenor of what he has said on his visit to India will change once he returns home or if he comes to power. He has been ambiguous in the past on Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. On Tuesday, he was once again far from categorical on the issue, saying: “India puts too much emphasis on it. I will declare jihad to save Pakistan, will disarm all militant groups in Pakistan.”
Then he bowled a bouncer, saying: “Even terror leaders can be transformed. I am sure they can be put into nation building, human beings can change. I will make them realise that militancy is not a solution.”
Khan the prime ministerial aspirant spoke the language of a statesman, selling the idea of improved India-Pakistan relations with a mix of candour and obfuscation. He stressed the need for a strong leadership in both countries to take on vested interests “who want to make money on the conflict”.
He said young people were tired of the continuing hostility between the two countries, adding that there can be no military solution on Kashmir and that he fancies himself to take the peace initiative. “It can be resolved. I will work on a road map by making people from India, Pakistan and Kashmiris look for a solution by sitting on a table.”
For good measure he added: “India is using troops in Kashmir. They are losing the battle of heart and minds. It’s like treating cancer with dispirin.” When asked about his ties with the ISI and the Pakistan army, he went on the offensive. “I will quit politics if anyone can prove I have taken one rupee from the ISI,” he thundered. Khan was at his candid best when talking about relations with the US. “I am not anti American but I am not an American stooge,” he said, adding: “My message to the new US President is to give peace a chance. We should convince the US that it is not in their interest that Pakistan should be run by an American stooge Asif Ali Zardari.”
He repeated his opposition to US drone attacks in Pakistan. If elected prime minister he said he would “disengage with the US war to end the jihad narrative which has led to the birth of the suicide bomber”. He also spoke out against the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad because Osama-style executions created martyrs.
Tricky issue: It was impossible to let Khan go without getting him to speak on the Zardari family and the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. Asked about the Bilhina love story – the rumoured relationship between Bilawal Zardari, the Pakistan President’s son and the country’s foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar – he laughed the question away. “I don’t know what happened. Don’t ask me,” he said as he walked away to play a new innings as a speaker at a big-ticket international event.