ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has told India that Pakistan is neither involved in nor permits any group to carry out terrorist attacks inside or outside its territory.
“For decades, we have been a victim of terrorism. More than 92,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives in this war, including civilians and security forces”, he said, emphasising Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war on terror during an interview with Indian journalist Karan Thapar.
Bilawal said Pakistan had been fighting the largest inland war against terrorism.
“We’ve lost 92,000 lives altogether. Just last year, we lost more than 1,200 civilian lives in more than 200 different terrorist attacks. At the rate at which terrorist attacks are taking place just this year alone, if they continue at this pace, this year will be the bloodiest year in Pakistan’s history”.
Bilawal added: “I too am a victim of terrorism. I feel the pain of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. I understand the trauma that their families are experiencing in a way more than many others can ever imagine”.
Speaking about the roots of militancy, Bilawal noted that groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi emerged during the cold war, when they were not viewed as terrorist organisations. “Before 9/11, these factions were often viewed as freedom fighters, especially in the context of Afghan jihad”, he explained during a barrage of interruptions by the interviewer.
“These groups, whether Al-Qaeda, or the groups that you have mentioned, traced their past to the Afghan jihad. These groups were initially formed for the Afghan jihad and later split, with some joining Al-Qaeda and others entering Kashmir. Under the ideology of jihad, there was little political or societal resistance against them in Pakistan at the time”, Bilawal said.
He also explained to Thapar that Pakistan had taken action against such groups and implemented rehabilitation programmes in line with FATF guidelines.
Responding to a question about Hafiz Saeed, the PPP chairperson said the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder had been sentenced to 31 years in prison in April 2022 on charges of terror financing, but not for the Mumbai attacks.
“The case regarding the Mumbai attacks is still pending. The difficulty faced by the courts and the Pakistani government is that India is not cooperating in the case and is refusing to present witnesses”, he said.
To another question, Bilawal said, “When the defence minister says Lashkar-e-Taiba no longer exists, he says so because of the action we took against it — an action the FATF has also acknowledged. You may not accept the FATF, but it recognises the steps we have taken”.
Further on the FATF, he said: “In accordance with that programme, Pakistan has taken across-the-board action against the LET and JEM, filed more than 2,645 terrorist financing cases, and arrested 2,727 individuals. As many as 549 persons have been convicted, while over 2,000 individuals and more than 80 organisations have been proscribed under the anti-terrorism laws. Low and mid-tier members of LET and JEM, who are willing to surrender, would be deradicalised and rehabilitated”.
Commenting on allegations regarding the Pahalgam attack, Bilawal said the Indian government had accused Pakistan of involvement, but Islamabad immediately offered to be part of an impartial international inquiry into the incident. “We had that sort of confidence. It was the Indian government that rebuffed that offer”, he continued.
He pointed out that India had yet to provide evidence that any individuals from Pakistan were involved in the attack: “It is very uncomfortable for you that I point out the truth to the Indian public that they have been lied to that Pakistan was involved in this attack when we were not. To this day, the [Indian] government has been unable to provide the evidence… and that’s why during [the recent India-Pakistan] war, the Indian media and the government launched a campaign of disinformation to continue to bamboozle their people”.
Regarding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Bilawal said Pakistan continued to pursue the case, but India had refused to cooperate.
“Key witnesses have not been presented. India must come forward and cooperate if it seeks justice for the victims.”
“We’re asking India to come and participate in the case and present its witnesses. You understand that without presentation of witness testimony, it’ll be difficult to achieve a conviction. I share the desire to conclude this case with the victims of Mumbai to seek justice in the court of law as well. We need to work towards a place where Pakistan and India have that sort of relationship again, where we have that sort of cooperation that we can deliver justice to the people of Mumbai”, he said.
Drawing a comparison with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, Bilawal said 40 Pakistani citizens were killed on Indian soil.
“Not only was there no meaningful trial, but even the confessional statements were withdrawn. Pakistan is committed to prosecuting those responsible for terrorism, whether within our borders or beyond.”
Bilawal also accused India of supporting terrorism in Pakistan.
“There is a long list of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan with Indian fingerprints. You are aware of Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in Balochistan. The recent Jaffer Express bombing is directly linked to the Indian intelligence”, he said.
He recalled that India and Pakistan had agreed in 2012 to exchange information on terror groups.
“India acted on several of Pakistan’s alerts. We don’t allow any group to use our soil for attacks. Our hands are clean — that’s why we offered an international inquiry into the Pahalgam attack but India rejected it”.
On Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar, Bilawal clarified he was not in Pakistan but in Afghanistan.
“If found on Pakistani soil, he will be arrested immediately. As far as my information is concerned, as of today, he’s not in Pakistan’s custody”. He also referred to operations carried out in South and North Waziristan under the National Action Plan (NAP), saying the FATF had endorsed Pakistan’s actions.
Bilawal said that during the last comprehensive dialogue in 2012, Pakistan had shared intelligence with India. “In fact, we came to an agreement where we were to share the information with India as far as LeT and LeJ were concerned, and they were to share information with us as far as BLA and the Majid Brigade is concerned. Pakistan did share information with India about the individuals who were attempting to cross over and conduct terrorist attacks in India. India was able to act on that intelligence and take action against them. Unfortunately, that information was then leaked to the press, resulting in a backlash in Pakistan”.
Criticising the Indian media, Bilawal said, “India is drifting away from Gandhi’s philosophy. Disinformation is being used to stir hatred. I don’t want the future generations of India and Pakistan to keep fighting over Kashmir, terrorism or water.”
He said India had even threatened to cut off water to Pakistan’s 250 million people — a move he called “inhumane and dangerous”. Bilawal concluded, “I want to tell the people of India to beware of those who spread misinformation. Not every Pakistani is a terrorist — we are not enemies. We want peace, not war.” Throughout the more than 35-minute-long interview, the host continued to repeatedly interrupt Bilawal Bhutto Zardari with allegations regarding Pakistan and terror, prompting him to say, “If you don’t want to hear the answer, I may as well leave the programme”.
In a related development, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has once again accused India of using terrorism to suppress Pakistan’s rise.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Gen Chaudhry said India was acting as a “bully” by operating terror cells and conducting transnational killings inside Pakistan.
“Indian terrorism in Pakistan has multiple faces”, he said, noting the involvement of RAW operatives.
He stated that Pakistan had provided evidence of Indian terror financing and the use of criminal enterprises to carry out targeted killings.
He also referred to an extensive investigation in Indian involvement, which revealed that a terror cell was being operated by an individual named Major Sandeep, a serving Indian military intelligence officer, and was responsible for carrying out IED attacks and planting them all over Pakistan.
“You can see their record, the transactions that are going on between these people. These are the faces of the other accomplices”, the military spokesperson said while referring to a non-commissioned officer of the Indian military intelligence and other soldiers involved in such activities.
“…These are the audios that’ve all been made public already — where the instructions are being passed, where the money is being exchanged… they are telling that we are operating in Pakistan from Lahore to Quetta and we’ve been doing it for years”, he said.
General Chaudhry said India had historically used terrorism to destabilise Pakistan, referencing the 1971 Mukti Bahini movement. “If you go way back in 1971, what was Mukti Bahini? It was also state-sponsored terrorism by India. And historically, if you see, the Indians [themselves] have acknowledged it. Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi went on record, he not only acknowledged it but boasted about it that we used terrorism, we used Mukti Bahini”.
He dismissed Indian allegations of terrorism against Pakistan, calling them an attempt to deflect from its internal issues.
“We must understand that terrorism is an internal problem of India as a result of continuous oppression which India imposes on its minorities…against Muslims, especially Kashmiris, Sikhs, Christians, other minorities and against [even their own] backwards castes”.
He warned that India’s approach risked dragging the region into conflict.
“This externalisation… is bringing the thresholds between India and Pakistan to a dangerously low level, where one incident… can be turned into an act of war”. he said.
He accused India of holding 1.6 billion people hostage to its aggressive policies and warned of third parties exploiting this tension. “This foolhardy, this hubristic political mindset of India is putting the destiny of 1.6 billion people of this region at risk. Not only that, it is also putting the lives of these 1.6 billion people hostage in the hands of non-state actors […] third parties who might be interested — because of their very own reasons — in a military conflict between Pakistan and India”. “The only light is the responsible and mature manner in which Pakistan is acting”, Gen Chaudhry said. He affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fighting terrorism and said its nuclear assets were well-protected. “No one can dare target Pakistan’s nuclear assets,” he stated. He concluded by accusing India of trying to keep Pakistan embroiled in terrorism to prevent it from realising its full potential. “India wants to act as a regional hegemon and a bully”, he said.
