ISLAMABAD: Ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dismissed today the National Security Committee’s (NSC) statement on the remarks he made on the 2008 Mumbai Attacks.
Speaking to the media outside the accountability court that is hearing corruption cases against him, the former Premier expressed his disappointment over the NSC’s statement, and said that it was essential the people question who brought the menace of terrorism to Pakistan’s shores.
The PML-N leader also lamented the fact that Pakistan used to be a beautiful and peaceful country before terrorism ruptured the country’s social fabric, and said that we must take to task those who brought Pakistan to its present predicament.
Nawaz also challenged his audience to name one country that was currently standing in solidarity with Pakistan. He also said that foreign nations held him in high esteem.
The ousted and beleaguered leader also touched upon the so-called ‘Dawn leaks’, claiming that similar charges were made in the NSC meeting back then, but these remarks were instead dismissed as a conspiracy and labelled as ‘Dawn Leaks’.
The army had on Sunday ‘suggested’ to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to call a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC). The NSC met on Monday and categorically denied the remarks Nawaz Sharif made in an interview with Dawn newspaper.
The NSC labelled Nawaz’s remarks ‘contrary to reality’ and instead claimed that the Indian government had hindered investigation into the 2008 attacks that killed 170 people in India’s financial capital.
Nawaz Sharif had, in an earlier interview, insinuated that state elements within Pakistan were responsible for the 2008 attacks.
Speaking to Dawn, the former PM 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?”
