Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 20

Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday took on Pakistani journalist Meher Tarar after she refuted his remarks that the Jaish-e-Mohammad had actively campaigned for Imran Khan and helped install him as Prime Minister.

“The lady from Pakistan says what I said is factually incorrect. Could you please educate her that Imran Khan is no angel she projects him to be,” Tewari said tagging Tarar’s post in which she challenged Tewari’s claims.

The Congress leader instantly posted the evidence on Twitter tagging the source of his remarks.

He went a step further saying, “Pakistan is the Somalia of South Asia and Imran Khan and the JeM chief are in bed together.”

Tewari, who is abroad for a conference, told the Tribune over phone on Wednesday that the JeM chief supported Imran’s campaign in south Pakistan and that is why Khan jumped to the JeM’s defence.

On the Pakistan take that India should provide evidence on the Pulwama attacks, Tewari wondered what Pakistan had done about the past evidence of terror attacks India had given it.

“Former DG of ISI Gen Ashraf Qazi admitted to Pakistan Parliament that JeM was behind the attack on Indian Parliament. India provided Pakistan the proof of the Mumbai attacks and later of Pathankot. They did nothing,” he said, adding that anyone who is engaged with Pakistan and knew the intrinsic perfidy of their deep state would approach any carrot (like the one Imran dangled on Tuesday) with circumspection.

“The Pakistanis mastered the art of running circles round even the great powers. They took billions of dollars of aid from the US and yet sheltered Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. They have consistently nurtured proxies like Hafiz Saeed and Maulana Masood Azhar because they believe that the use of non-state actors has paid them dividends in India and Afghanistan. Therefore, any attempt to engage with the deep state in Pakistan must be left to professionals who understand the complex nuances of the convoluted Indo-Pakistan dynamic,” Tewari told The Tribune.

Tewari trashed Imran’s remarks on Pulwama saying, “Maulana Masood Azhar helped Imran become Prime Minister. The Jaish-e-Mohammad extensively campaigned for Khan’s party in southern Punjab. No wonder the puppet of Pakistani deep state came out swinging in support of his friend Maulana Masood Azhar.”

Tewari lost his father in Punjab militancy.