Former Pakistan despot Gen Pervez Musharraf

Islamabad: Former Pakistan president retired General Pervez Musharraf has made shocking admissions that India’s troublesome neighbour had trained Kashmiris in Pakistan to fight against the Indian Army and were hailed as ‘heroes’.

In an undated footage that emerged on social media, Musharraf also claimed that terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Jalaluddin Haqqani were seen as “Pakistani heroes”.

The video interview clip, which was shared by Pakistan politician Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday, shows Musharraf saying, “... In 1979, we had introduced religious militancy in Afghanistan to benefit Pakistan and to push the Soviet out of the country. We brought Mujahideens from all over the world, trained them, supplied weapons. They were our heroes. Haqqani was our hero. Osama bin Laden was our hero. Then the environment was different but now it is different. Heroes have turned to villains.”

“Kashmiris who came to Pakistan received a hero’s reception here. We used to train them and support them. We considered them as Mujahideens who will fight with the Indian Army...then various terrorist organisations like Lashkar e Tayyiba rose in this period. They were our heroes,” the former Pakistan dictator claimed while commenting on Kashmir, news agency ANI reported.

The video surfaced at a time India-Pakistan relations are probably at its worst since the Kargil War of 1999. Pakistan has time and again denied allegations and proofs that it is a haven for terrorists that carry out dastardly attacks on Indian soil, the latest being the gruesome Pulwama attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force Jawans.

The latest submission by Musharraf sets the fact in stone that Pakistan has been aiding terror attacks to fuel tensions in Kashmir.

Islamabad has also been shunned by the international community, even at the United Nations, for its failure to combat terrorism and take actions against terror groups operating on its soil.