New Delhi: Former Pakistan Military General and Dictator Pervez Musharaf on Tuesday accepted his country's role in nurturing terrorist group and using them against the neighbouring countries particularly India and Afghanistan.
He also claimed that Pakistan is creator of Lashkar-Taiba and Haqqani network which the Pakistan regime term as non-state actors.
In an interview, Musharraf also accepted the fact that Pakistan trained and used Osama Bin Laden, Ayman-al-Zawahri and Jalaluddin Haqqani to exert their control in Afghanistan.
He further claimed that Pakistan treated Hafiz Saeed as a hero for his efforts to free Kashmir.
Musharraf said, “Religious militancy was nurtured by us and it was beneficial. We drove the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden was trained by us and he was our hero.”
Musharraf while speaking on the Kashmir issue said “We need to understand the historical perspective. Indian army was slaughtering Kashmiris in the late 80s. We needed to fight their oppression.”
Pakistan funded Lashkar. Hafiz Saeed was our hero, as so were the Kashmiris who crossed over to this side of the border to wage Jihad,” he added.
Musharraf said, “Similarly Jalaluddin Haqqani was once our hero, but now things have changed. These militant groups have different motives which cannot be equated with the state. Nonetheless, we cannot unleash an onslaught against them.”
