“In the 1990s, the freedom struggle began in Kashmir”. At that time Lashkar-e-Taiba and 11 or 12 other organisations were formed. “Nonetheless, we can not unleash an onslaught against them”, Musharraf said in the later part of the interview.
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Former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf said that before asking for Hafiz Saeed India should handover Army Colonel who was involved in the Samjautha blast which killed many Pakistanis. He said Saeed and Lakhvi type people enjoyed the status of heroes at that time. “Hafiz Saeed was our hero, as so were the Kashmiris who crossed over to this side of the border to wage Jihad”, he added. He also added that later this religious militancy converted into terrorism. The former Pakistani president claimed Pakistan’s governments actively supported terrorists in order to foment militancy in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which is at the heart of its dispute with its larger nuclear-armed neighbour.
When asked whether there should be any action against Saeed and Lakhvi, Musharraf said: “No comments”.
The former Pak military chief additional claimed that his nation trained Taliban, Ayman-al-Zawahri and Jalaluddin Haqqani to counter Soviets in Afghanistan.
He acknowledged that Pakistan trained jihadists from all over the world and sent them to fight against Russian Federation in Afghanistan.
Further hitting out at the RSS, Musharraf said, “RSS stands for Hindu supremacy in India and they are imposing this supremacy over Muslims”.
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Meanwhile, India on Tuesday told Pakistan that it will have zero-tolerance to cross-border firing and infiltration bids.
