Former pakistan Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto has admitted that his country has a past of supporting terrorist organizations. Just a few days before Bhutto's comment, the country's Defense minister Khawaja Asif had said that Islamabad has been doing the 'dirty work' of helping terrorism for decades.
What did Bilawal Bhutto say?
According to media reports, Bhutto said in a conversation with Sky news on May 1, "As far as the Defense minister (Asif) said, I don't think it's a secret that pakistan has a past." Bhutto also pointed to Pakistan's active role in financially helping and supporting the Mujahideen during the first Afghan war. He said, "We did this in coordination and cooperation with Western powers. pakistan went through one wave of extremism after another... we suffered."
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the chairman of the pakistan Peoples party (PPP), which is part of Pakistan's ruling party. However, Bhutto insisted that the situation had changed in recent years. "It is true that it (terrorism) is an unfortunate part of our history... but we have also learnt lessons from it," he said. He attributed the "change in circumstances" to internal reforms and military operations, especially after the assassination of his mother Benazir Bhutto, which reversed the state's policy towards extremist elements.
We saw terrorist attacks every other day: Bhutto
"We saw terrorist attacks every other day... pakistan has taken serious and successful action against these groups," Bhutto said. In an interview with Sky news last week, Asif was asked if pakistan had a long history of "supporting, training and funding" terrorist organisations. He candidly admitted that it was so. But he tried to put the blame on the West.
"We have been doing this 'dirty work' for the Western countries, including the US and Britain, for nearly three decades...It was a mistake and we paid the price for it, that's why you are telling me this. Had we not been involved in the war against the Soviet Union and the wars after 9/11, Pakistan's track record would have been spotless," Asif told the interviewer.
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