| "D'oh!" |
| "Nope. Nope. Nope." |
“There were never any terrorist camps, there were camps of freedom fighters -- legitimate™ freedom fighters and some terrorist activity was attributed to them and those camps have been demolished.” There were two kinds of camps, Qayyum continues, “One was Pakistan based militant activity comprising of Pakistani people and the other was of indegenious Kashmiris. One must realise and know that a number of people were operating inside Kashmir -- they are still there and there is no mechanism to deal with them.”
Jehadis react stronglyMeanwhile, Pakistan based Jehadis have not taken the remarks kindly. United Jehad Council or the UJC -- the umbrella organisation of several militant outfits in J&K said, "It seems, he (Qayyum) apprehends that freedom of Kashmiris will bring an end to his family rule. Though Qayyum is terming armed resistance™ as an impediment in the so-called peace process, we need to remind him that he has the distinction of being the first mujahid and firing the first bullet, which enabled him to enjoy power for past 59 years.” He further pointed that in the beginning Qayyum had formed an outfit Al-Jehad force and had accumulated huge amounts on the name of the outfit from Europe and Islamic countries.
“India stands vindicated”
Qayyum's remark has triggered quick reactions in foreign policy circles and political parties. Former diplomats and politicians claim Qayyum’s remark vindicates India's stand. Former Indian Envoy to Pakistan G Parthasarthy pointed that Qayyum's statement exposed Pakistan's hypocrisy. “Indirectly, Pakistan has acknowledged that there were terror camps in the past. Moreover, it's clear that the infrastructure for Pakistan sponsored terrorism still exists, united Jehad council still exists, the LeT under the name of Jamaat-ul-Dawa still exists -- so, I think we should be prepared for certain level of terrorism.”
Terming it as a vindication of India’s stand, Former foreign secretary Shashank said, “The PoK leadership had been so far denying the existence of any training camps, but for the first time we are finding that the divide between Pakistan government and PoK leadership is becoming sharp and clear and the PoK leadership has decided to go public.”
Former foreign secretary Lalith Man Singh on the other hand stressed that Qayumm's statement only confirmed what the world already knew. “Pakistan has always been in a state of denial regarding this. I recall that in Washington we put it across to the Americans. We also indicated the number of camps, their locations and now that the peace process is on, there will be more and more confessions from the Pakistan.”
Defence Analyst Brahma Cheelany maintained that Pakistan had perfected the art of not telling the truth
The BJP too reacted to the story by claiming that the Indian government and the NDA has raised this issue time and again and Qayyum's revelations only go to substantiate the claims. “If the terrorism is continuing then peace talks have no meaning,” lashed out a visibly angry V K Malhotra, a senior BJP leader.