Musharraf blames Nawaz Sharif for bloodbath in Karachi

LONDON - Former president Pervez Musharraf has blamed Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif for the current violent situation in Karachi, saying that he had ignored the military’s advice and tried to corner the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Altaf faction).

Speaking at the launch of the APML’s London chapter, Musharraf said he had advised Nawaz against his policy of cornering the Altaf-led MQM, but the PML-N leader did not pay heed to his words of caution and pushed the party against the wall, thinking that the original MQM’s breakaway faction, MQM-Haqiqi, would prevail.

Lashing out at the Sharif brothers, the APML leader called them ‘closet supporters’ of extremism and sectarian groups, and said both could not be differentiated, as none of them was taking any stand against extremism and hard-line forces.

Musharraf alleged that Nawaz and Shahbaz retained links with dubious people and groups in Jhang, and challenged both of them to come clean on their stand on extremism.

He also said he knew from the beginning that Nawaz and his party were just scoring political points when they put the government on ultimatum.

“They (PML-N) have stakes in this system, and they will never destabilise this setup because it suits them. They bluff, huff and puff when they issue ultimatums and statements, it doesn’t mean anything, other than political grandstanding,” he said in a reference to the PML-N policies at the national level. (ANI)