LeT an enemy of Pakistan: Ghaffar Khan’s grandson
April 21st, 2011 - 8:50 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Asfandyar Wali Khan, grandson of legendary Pashtun leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and part of Pakistan’s ruling coalition, said Thursday his country should not be blamed for terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s acts because “they are our enemies”.
“We have to differentiate between state and non-state actors. You cannot hold the state responsible for the acts committed by non-state actors,” Khan, who is on a week-long visit to India, told reporters here.
The president of Pakistan’s Awami National Party (ANP) said the LeT “is killing Pakistanis and they are fighting the Pakistan Army” in various parts of the country, including in restive Waziristan.
“They are our enemies,” Khan said, adding the outfit doesn’t even spare worshippers in mosques.
“I am not commenting on if your (Indian) complaints are justified or not but it would be too much to say what the Lashkar has been doing is being done at the behest of the Pakistani government,” he said.
Asked about Pakistan’s slow-paced prosecution of seven arrested LeT terrorists blamed for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, Khan said the judicial process was like that “both in India and Pakistan”.
The ANP leader earlier delivered a lecture on “A Vision for Pakistan in the 21st Century” in Jamia Millia Islamia.
Khan is a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly and his party is a key ally of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party-led federal coalition. The ANP also rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, previously known as the North West Frontier Province.
His grandfather, also known as Frontier Gandhi, was one of Mahatma Gandhi’s closest associates. The senior Khan was known for his non-violent opposition to British rule in India. The veteran Gandhian, respected in India and Afghanistan, was given Bharat Ratna in 1987, becoming the first non-Indian to be honoured with India’s highest civilian honour.
Speaking about India-Pakistan ties, the politician said information sharing was a key to better the relationship and curb the menace of terrorism.
“They need to sit, listen to each other and talk. You got to give and you to got take,” he said.
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Tags: awami national party, closest associates, federal coalition, frontier gandhi, frontier province, india and pakistan, india pakistan, jamia millia islamia, lashkar e taiba, mahatma gandhi, north west frontier, pakistan army, pakistan peoples party, pakistani government, president of pakistan, state actors, terror attack, violent opposition, wali khan, waziristan