Pulwama attack: JeM could’ve involved, they tried to kill me too: Musharraf

DUBAI: Former president General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday backed Prime Minister Imran Khan against New Delhi’s allegations that said Islamabad was providing safe havens to terrorists. He also accepted that Jaish-e-Mohammed could have been involved in the Pulwama terror attack that left 40 paramilitary personnel dead.

In an exclusive conversation with India Today TV, Musharraf said Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have any “real emotion” for the personnel killed in the Pulwama attack.

Musharraf said the Pulwama terror attack was a terrible event to have occurred, but there was no reason to believe that the Pakistan government was party to it.

“It [the Pulwama terror attack] was sad. Extremely terrible. There’s no doubt about it. And I have no sympathy for Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. He had tried to kill me too. But that doesn’t prove that Pakistan government was involved in it,” Musharraf told the Indian TV channel.

Musharraf added, “I don’t think Imran Khan should or will have any sympathy for Jaish. And I don’t believe Pakistan government was involved in it.”

‘India is wrongly accusing Pakistan’

When confronted with a snatch from Masood Azhar’s recently released audio tape where he confirmed Jaish did carry out the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, Musharraf said he did admit that the terror group was responsible for the attack, but the government wasn’t involved.

“India has been wrongly accusing Pakistan over everything. It’s time you stopped it,” he added.

‘Modi ke dil mein koi aag nahin hai’

The former president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have any “real emotion” for the personnel killed in the Pulwama attack or for the Kashmiris.

“Modi ke dil mein inn logon ke liye koi aag nahin hai. Agar hoti toh woh pehle woh Kashmir ka maslaa suljhaatey,” he said.

‘Stop meddling with Pakistan’

Musharraf alleged that India was meddling with Pakistan by ganging up on it — with help from France and the United States.

“Don’t say we meddle with India. Don’t you meddle with Pakistan? Why did you help break Pakistan into two? Didn’t you meddle with East Pakistan?” Musharraf said.

He added, “You are colluding with France and the US and are trying to blacklist Pakistan. Stop doing that.”

‘Koi surgical strike nahin ki thi apnay, sab galat hai’

The former president also refuted the whole idea of surgical strikes by India. He claimed they were not carried out at all.

“You keep telling us that. But let me tell you it is all but a farce. There was no surgical strike carried out. We don’t buy this idea at all,” he said.