New DelhiCalling himself the “biggest supporter” of the LeT and its founder Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan’s former dictator Parvez Musharraf, who was the brain behind the 1999 Kargil conflict, has said he backs the terror groups’ role in “suppressing” the Indian Army in Kashmir.
“The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) are fond of me,” said Musharraf, the 74-year-old retired general who plotted the Kargil conflict, then toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ruled over Pakistan for nine years.
Musharraf, who is on self-exile in Dubai, said the Mumbai attack mastermind Saeed “is involved in Kashmir” and he supports his involvement.
When asked if he “liked” JuD chief Saeed too, Musharraf said, “Yes and I have met with him.” “Because I have always been in favour of an action in Kashmir and I have always been favouring for pressuring the Indian Army in Kashmir. This (LeT) is the biggest force and they have been declared terrorists by India along with the US,” Musharraf stressed while explaining his stance.
“India got them declared as terrorists after partnering with the US. Yes, they (LeT) are involved in Kashmir but in Kashmir it is between us and India,” he told the ARY News during an interview related to his 23-party grand alliance.
The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the banned LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 that left 166 people dead.
Musharraf categorically denied that LeT was involved in the Mumbai terror attack for which India blamed Pakistan.
The LeT was banned in Pakistan months after the 9/11 attacks on the US and the decision to ban the outfit was taken by the Musharraf government only.
When asked about it, Musharraf said he had banned the LeT under “different circumstances”. He did not elaborate.
Musharraf’s comments came days after Saeed walked free following Pakistan government’s decision against detaining him further. He was under house arrest since January this year.
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