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But they began to haunt the country in the post-9/11 era, Zardari said in a candid admission during an interactive meeting with former senior civil servants at the presidency on Tuesday night.
Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralised, but because they "were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives," he said.
"Let us be truthful to ourselves and make a candid admission of the realities," Zardari said.
"The terrorists of today were the heroes of yesteryears until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well," he added.
Labelling Pakistan as a frontline state in the war against terrorism, Zardari pledged to eliminate this scourge from society. "I have taken charge at a difficult time and will come up to the challenges the country is facing."
His remarks came days after his comments in an interview that the Pakistan Army would even target militants it had backed in the past for use as a proxy force against India.
The army is currently engaged in a campaign against the Taliban in the northwestern Swat valley and is gearing up for a push against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud and his network in South Waziristan tribal region.
Zardari also stressed the need for greater national reconciliation, saying he intended to keep all political forces together because Pakistan cannot afford confrontation at this juncture.
"Dialogue is our most powerful weapon...we defeated a dictator through the power of dialogue and we intend to continue holding dialogue to resolve various issues confronting Pakistan," he said.
"We are on the brink and we must realise that personal political games can no longer be played," he added. Responding to various suggestions by the former civil servants, Zardari said the government is taking several steps to improve governance, tackle militancy and extremism, improve law and order, agricultural output and power generation, strengthen institutions and devolve power.
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Zardari is a consummate actor. He should be in films and not in politics. This is another ruse of his to get more money from USA
Hats off to Zardari for highlighting Musharaff complicities. His current support to Allied offensive against the Taliban desrves commendations, even in Heavens.Therefore a true Mujahideen willing to die for the good of others. So let us send our good wishes and blessings in his mission to huntdown Taliban to oblivion.
There is no honesty in the statement of zardari.First he will accept that terrorists were nurtured in Pak. Next he will askthem.Once granted aid , it will be used against India.Its whole cycle which has been happening from decades.This coward Cong govt will indulge in dialouge again to appease minority
I appreciate the honesty of Zardari. OR Has he a private axe to grind for this startling revelation which had been an open secret all along. When is Mr. 10% going to say that Pakistan created what he says on the advice of Americans? Who created the Taliban fighters when the former USSR was occupying Afghanistan? Was it not President Reagan? This has been openly admitted by the American Political Administration. Who created and gave bases and support to the LTTE in the 1980s? Were they not terrorists of 1st degree? Who created the Contras as a counter insurgency force to fight the truly patriotic Sandinista in Nicaragua?Who have been trying to covertly destabilise the Cuban Govt for the past four decades?What is the role of India’s Research Wing? How many so called contractors that India has in Afghanistan to help American forces?
Must admit Pakis have atleast admitted, and Zardari has shown he has matured himself into great leader. My only advice to Pakis and especially Zardari is to cool down for their summer is yet to come
friends zardari is talking about the taliabn and not about the kashmiri millitant.i think taliban and kashmiri both are the millitant but different groups. taliban has no interest in kshmir and the same kashmiri millitant are not involved in afganestan. so if we think that zardari is talking including kashmiri millitant groups so it is worng. on the other hand till this date pakistani establishmant is supporting kashmir groups. zardari is asking about the taliban who also become great danger for pakistan and we know that these taliban made by ISI with the help of CIA.
The admission by Jardhari is a known fact to most world leaders in general and India in particular. Now all out effortscare to be made for India to get justice by protecting India. Kashmir question should not arise as Kashmir is a part and parcel of India and Indian eminent patriot politicians have to decide.B S GANESH, BANGALORE
People of Indian subcontinent are inherently 'more' intelligent and less violent. History and our survival despite all odds (and poverty) is a testimony, or else we could have ended up worse than Africa after our independence. Despite suspicion, hatered, confrontation etc. etc. people of India and Pakistan can not separate themselves completely. Each one's identity is defined in terms that one uses to measure the other one. Mr. Zardari's speech is a testimony to 'our' inherent wisdom, despite times of intellectual darkness and mistakes. His emphasis on productivity is all the more important, as it has been a long time that anyone from Pakistan has ever uttered such challenging words at times of conflict, which define right direction even at the 'oddest' of times, when the state appears in a state of ideological stalemate and apparently directionless.
Zardari’s admission of Pakistan begetting terror from her own soil is introspection. Then terror and terrorist she has created came home to roost. The karma has boomeranged on Pakistan.
The most unhappy people are the Kashmiris. Their women andchildrens have suffered most.There is not a single day when bomb or granade is not thorown in Srinagar or Kashmir.Kahimiris are innocent people POK should held elections and let the Kashmiris unite and rule themselves
friend, he has mentioned talibans here not kashmiri terrorists, so don't get overjoyed. They have to learn another lesson yet before they admit the mistake of feeding Kashmiri terrorists.
friend, he has mentioned talibans here not kashmiri terrorists, so don't get overjoyed. They have to learn another lesson yet before they admit the mistake of feeding Kashmiri terrorists.
how does the headline conclude based on your article that pakistan "created and nurtered" terrorist, it was the motive of americans possibly......grow up please, don't just type for the heck of it, know your pemise, justification and conclusion...and india times control such biaseness... I am so anti terrosism but thE HEADLINE of this article is not supported by its content...shame!!
S u r correct AKT. But why paks are controlling this freedom fighters now. What happened to their old prophecies of freedom movement which they were advocating to India. So not only the headline the whole article is wrong as the pak president was not able to distinguish between terrorists and freedom fighters. It is heartening to see that people like you still holds the flag of freedom, carry on guys till you get freedom from pak first.
Dear Sir: Falsehood not only disgraces the truth but usually leads to quarrel among ourselves. Pakistan wascreated based on falsehood and that is why people are quarreling among themselves in Indain Subcontinent without recognizing this truth and accepting this truth that Pakistan represents falsehood and is a geopolitical joke created by British Empire. There is no shark like hatred and there is no snare like folley and there is no torrent like greed. Accordingly, Pakistan is a product of hatred and falsehood. Hatred behaves like a shark, hatred begets hatred and produced another bigger shark called Taleban to kill this shark called as Pakistan. Eventually Pakistan will drop like a rotten apple from the brances it was created, erected and manintained by the British, Americns and Europeans with their wealth and military power and would disappear completely because it was based on falsehood.
Dear Editor: We Indians whould act wise not otherwise. We should ignore and refuse to recognize Pakistan as a different country. Purushttam (Poru) would not have fought Alexander on the banks of Jelum in 315 B.C had he left that some leunatics in their geriatric age with cortical atrophy projected as leaders of India by British would in future agree to create Pakistan out of land that actually belongs to Indaia for centuries before 321 B.c. Pakistan is part of India and will continue to be part of India for ever. Pakistan is a geopolitical joke created by the British, United States and Europe together to safe guard the oil fields in Purssia and middle east and thinks belongs to them. Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah said that muslims never belonged to Indian subcontinent just as europeans dont belong to the land they occupied in American continet and Australia. I am sure all Pakistanis would one day admit soon that creation of Pakistan was as big a mistake as creation of Taleban by Pakistan.
Before the militants and extremists emerged on Pakistan's national scene, they were created and nurtured and employed in the territory of the neighboring nation to the East with a view to bleeding the neighbor. It was a matter of time before they challenged the sponsoring state itself. The Pak President has been rudely awakened to this ground reality.Assuming it is genuine, the world in general and India in particular should look forward to some stern measures against the terrorists. That can happen only if the Pak army and the ISI also buy into Zardari's realization and his urge to change in order to join the community of responsible nations. Let us hope he is able to convince the army and the ISI that continuing to spend the nation's resources and energy in surreptitious terrorist activities against India has to be forsaken. India should do its share to strengthen Zardari's hands.That will be a South Asia reborn!
No shit Sherlock ! - this is an apt American expression for this confession for he is stating what is a known and obvious fact of common knowledge.. No, it is not a concession, it is a confession. You don't need a Sherlock Holmes to 'solve' this 'mystery
Any new monitory promises from the USA? only on those occations PAK politicians have often talked about the danger it possess and the minute they get BIKH, they are out of it.However, having said that, I do feel that Zardari is a bit genuine person. he is not one of those person or from a background where hating India is everything. They fought for Kasmir for 60 plus years. Do they have life after Kashmir? It is a true example of how one can destroy himself for being so hateful and intolerant to something.
We have the capability to save you from alqueda we are a master in these acts
It cant get better than this. It wont be surprising if there is a clarification from Zardari denying any such statements. These guys are in a state of hallucination. Its as simple as that.
finally an admission of the fact!!! but is the pakistani army on the same wavelength as their president.
So finally, stateless actors are no longer stateless, at least not until Mr Zardari is forced to deny the truth again - by the stateless actors.
After this statement Zardari will be in prolem, quite possible he may get killed at the hands of the millitant.
Interesting that mr shafiuddin is angry at Zardari as he frankly accepted the truth and said it loud.... why are you angry mr.shafiuddin?
It is strange that Pakistan's head of state is deriding what, he alleges, its earlier rulers,Musharraf and the Pakistan Army, had probably done to land Pakistan in its present state. The very large number of casualties in the Taliban operation, mostly Pakistanis, no doubt, and rising every day,understandably are creating unrest in the country. Before the situation escalates to a largescale civil disobedience or even a civil war, the Army may have to be asked to take over the reins. To ensure that this does not appear to be a military coup, Zardari himself may ask the Army to take over , and make it look proper to the outside world.Their nuclear stockpile, hopefully will remain secure.
Indira Gandhi and the Congress created and nurtured the LTTE and the other Tamil terrorist groups. It is great that Pakistan had admitted its role. It is time India also admits its role in spreading terrorism. Pakistan's terrorists killed Benazir Bhutto and LTTE killed Rajiv. Chicken is coming home to roost.