Mohammad Jamil
The National Security Committee (NSC) on Monday categorically took exception to premier Nawaz Sharif’s recent statement on the 2008 Mumbai attacks and unanimously termed it completely false and misleading. According to the handout, “the participants observed that it was very unfortunate that the opinion arising out of either misconceptions or grievances was being presented in disregard to concrete facts and realities. The participants unanimously rejected the allegations and condemned the fallacious assertions.” It was recalled during the meeting that the delay in conclusion of Mumbai attack case was caused by India, not Pakistan. It also stated that India denied Pakistani investigators’ access to Ajmal Kasab, the convicted Mumbai attacker who was hanged by India. After the NSC meeting, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi met Nawaz Sharif and asserted that the Indian media manipulated Nawaz Sharif’s statement to create an issue.
If he had taken some pain to go through the contents of Nawaz Sharif’s interview published in Dawn he would understand that Indian media had carried the contents of Nawaz Sharif’s interview; of course his remarks were played up by the Indian media as an “admission” rather confession of Pakistan’s involvement in the terrorist attacks. Nawaz Sharif, in his interview to a leading English Daily the DAWN, had said: “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?” While the establishment exercised tremendous patience and observed restraint on Nawaz Sharif’s campaign against army and judiciary, but now he reached a stage where national interest is being sacrificed by showing to the world that he is the last wall standing between terror-sponsoring establishment and the will of free world.
His statement has given India a tremendous leverage on Mumbai attacks and endorsed Indian version. Pakistan may continue denying it and defending it, Nawaz Sharif with one stroke has done something the Indian RAW was not able to do in the last decade. FATF sword is already hanging on Pakistan, and it would be almost impossible to prepare any defence against the grey list, and Pakistan may actually find itself landing in the black list. Who will defend Pakistan when the Quaid of the PML-N becomes the mouthpiece for International powers that are bent on isolating Pakistan? His mentioning that Russia and China also have similar views is an effort to tell Pakistani audience that military establishment is totally isolated, which is not true. Look at the timing of the interview when sub-nationalists like PTM, Achakzai, RAW, NDS and hostile intelligence agencies are conducting a very sophisticated and sustained assault on the State of Pakistan.
Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI is always blamed for interference in internal affairs, but what to do when the top political leadership becomes a pawn in the hands of hostile intelligence agencies and an enemy state. Question is why action was not taken after the Dawn Leaks, and why the real faces behind the leaks were not exposed and put in the dock? Had action been taken against them, Pakistan would not have faced the present situation. Secondly, why the case was not moved to the court to get a ban on his speeches and statements the way Altaf Hussain was given a shut up call. After all he was also a political figure and he was taken to task when national threat to national security warranted a response. Pakistani state will need a sustained campaign against Nawaz Sharif’s narrative through all available means intellectually, politically through academia and diplomatically.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and others are defending Nawaz Sharif taking the plea that his statement has been misinterpreted, whereas Nawaz Sharif is sticking to his words, and does not seem to wean off his tirade against Pakistan and its institutions. According to legal experts this is a perfect case for treason and sedition. In August 2017, hearing a writ petition on seeking contempt and treason proceedings again former PM Nawaz Sharif and others leaders of his party, the Lahore High Court (LHC) questioned the maintainability of the plea. Justice Mamoon Rasheed Sheikh asked the petitioner’s counsel as to how the former premier committed treason in his speeches when his own party was ruling the country. Another petition in Sindh High Court was also was also rejected, giving him free hand to continue with his diatribe and acerbic remarks.
Since the time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by five-member bench of the Supreme Court, he has been critical of the court’s verdict as well as the judges, and also insinuated that military establishment was behind that move to get him disqualified. In one of his speeches he drew parallelism with Mujiab-ur-Rehman and said that despite having majority in 1970 elections, Sh. Mujib-ur-Rehman was not allowed to take oath as prime minister. But now he has gone too far to admit that Pakistanis were involved in Mumbai attacks, and questions as to why they were allowed to cross the border to kill 150 people in Mumbai. Among other remarks, he had also stated: “We have isolated ourselves. Despite giving sacrifices, our narrative is not being accepted. Afghanistan’s narrative is being accepted, but ours is not. We must look into it.” The question is why Nawaz Sharif did not take measures to salvage the situation.
