ISLAMABAD: British member of the House of Lords, Lord Nazeer, has chided ousted prime minister Nawaz over his remarks pertaining to “Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai attack”.
Nawaz Sharif’s statement showed that he is trying to sabotage state institutions, he said, adding that the Indian state itself was involved in these attacks.
He further said no politician should issue a statement like that of Sharif about his own country.
Separately, Pakistan’s former ambassador to India Abdul Basit also denounced the statement issued by Nawaz, saying “the statement was regrettable”. Such statements undermine national integrity, added the former ambassador.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview to English daily Dawn’s Cyril Almeida that appeared on Saturday, Sharif was asked about the reasons for his ouster. However, instead of replying to the actual query, the ruling party’s ‘supreme leader’ steered the conversation towards national security and foreign policy.
“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?” alluding to the 2008 Mumbai attacks-related trials which have stalled in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable. This is exactly what we are struggling for. President Putin has said it. President Xi has said it,” Sharif was quoted as saying.
Referring to the trial of former military dictator retired General Pervez Musharraf, he said, “The Constitution has to be supreme. There is no other way. Look, we put a dictator on trial; it had never been done before.”
The Indian media picked up Nawaz’s statement and headlined it as “Pakistan’s confession of ‘playing a role in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks’”.
Several publications in India, as well as the current affairs, shows across the border gave extraordinary coverage to the statement. Headlines like ‘Nawaz Sharif questions Pakistan’s policy to allow ‘non-state actors’ to cross-border and kill people’ that referred to 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks were shared on the Indian media.