Nawaz Sharif Faces Backlash Over '26/11' Remark

Pakistan, May 15: Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has faced the backlash from the country's senators for his recent statement about the Mumbai attacks. Sharif in an interview with the Dawn newspaper had said last week, "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?"

It is being seen as an admission of Pakistan's involvement in the terrorist attacks in 2008. Branding Nawaz Sharif's remark as an "irresponsible", senators demanded that he apologise to the nation and retract his statement, Dawn reported. Some of the senators even demanded that Nawaz Sharif be tried for high treason; that his name be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), and a thorough investigation to determine the reasons behind the statement made by a thrice-elected prime minister.

According to report, several senators belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl - an ally of the ruling PML-N -also castigated Sharif's remark, underscoring he had endorsed the "enemy's" narrative. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri also tabled an investigation to figure out as to why the former PM had resorted to making such a statement. In a new twist, Sharif reportedly told Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that he did not make comments on Pakistan's role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and said he was "misquoted". "The statements attributed to Sharif are factually incorrect and are being presented in a wrong light by the Indian media. He told me that he has not made such comments and his words have been misrepresented and taken out of context," Abbasi was quoted by Pakistan's Daily Times, as saying.