Pervez Musharraf Says Osama Bin Laden Was A Hero – OpEd
In a startling revelation, former Pakistan President and General Pervez Musharraf Saeed has claimed that during his time in power Osama bin Laden and the Taliban were heroes for Pakistan. “The Kashmiri freedom fighters including Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi were our heroes at that time. Later on the religious militancy turned into terrorism. Now they (referring to terrorism in Pakistan) are killing their own people here and this should be controlled and stopped,” he said.
Musharraf also said that Lashkar terrorists were given a heroic welcome, and Pakistan trained and supported them. He praised the militants to have fought well in Kashmir.
The former army chief was responding to a question about action against LeT’s Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. He has reportedly admitted that it was Pakistan who trained the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden, Haqqani Network and Hafiz Saeed. Musharraf made these claims reportedly during an interview with Pakistani news channel Dunya TV.
General Pervez Musharraf reportedly also added that whoever came from Jammu and Kashmir were treated as ‘heroes’. He further said that Pakistan trained Lashkar for attacks in Kashmir and Taliban was trained to counter Soviet Union.
A prominent Delhiite, Musharraf also said that Osama bin Laden, Haqqani and Ayman al-Zawahiri were their heroes. “We introduced ‘religious militancy’ to flush out Soviets. We brought Mujahideens from all all over the world. We trained Taliban, gave them weapon and sent them for war and they (militants) were our heroes. Osama bin Laden and Haqqani were our heroes,” quotes India Today as him saying.
Towards the end of the interview, Musharraf reportedly said that the same terrorists who were once supported by Pakistan, have now become a threat to Pakistan itself. “In 1990s the freedom struggle began in Kashmir…At that time Lashkar-e-Toiba and 11 or 12 other organisations were formed. We supported them and trained them as they were fighting in Kashmir at the cost of their lives,” Musharraf said.
It is not in the order of international diplomacy that the USA killed those in Pakistan, a close non-NATO ally that considered as its heroes.
However, Pakistan is not worried about the protocol aspect when it comes to attacking Muslims by their enemies even in Pakistan, which the American military set up occupies and has made Islamabad a safe sanctuary for state terror operations.
