Pakistan’s former Prime Minister is undergoing a trial for “treason” after admitting that Pakistani nationals carried out the 26/11 attacks

• On 8 October, Sharif appeared in the Lahore High Court to contest a petition filed against him for his remarks in an interview published in Dawn in May 2018.
  
• Sharif had admitted that Pakistani militants had been responsible for the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 and questioned how the government had allowed them to cross the border.
  
• It was an unprecedented admission of Pakistan’s guilt and the backlash was instantaneous, with several state and non-state actors referring to his actions as treasonous.

Few world leaders have had a worse year than the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. In April 2018, he was banned from holding a political office for life by the country’s Supreme Court for lying about his sources of wealth. In July 2018, he and his daughter were sentenced to 10 and 7 years in prison, respectively, by an anti-corruption court in Pakistan for their alleged purchase of several flats in London with state funds.

Even though he was released from prison last month following an appeal, Sharif found himself standing trial once again this week for admitting a fact that is adjudged to be universal knowledge. In an interview with Dawn, a Pakistani daily, in May 2018, Sharif admitted that the militants from the country had been responsible for planning and carrying out the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 and questioned how the government had allowed them to cross the border.

It was an unprecedented admission of Pakistan’s guilt and the backlash was instantaneous. It even resulted in a high-level meeting of Pakistani military officials, likely aimed at curtailing any damage from the “misleading statement” which supported “India’s narrative on the attacks”.

Even though the Pakistani government itself confirmed that the last surviving attacker was a Pakistani national in January 2009 and numerous countries, including the US, have recognised Hafiz Saeed, also a Pakistani national, as the head of the terrorist outfit that planned the attacks, it still seems a betrayal of the country to admit its fault. Even a former director of the CIA, Michael Hayden, who was in charge of the agency at the time, said in his memoir, “had no doubt that the attack was the work of Lashkar-e-Taiba”.

On 8 October, Sharif appeared in the Lahore High Court to contest a petition filed against him for this act of “treason”. He was joined by Cyril Almeida, the journalist who interviewed him, and another former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi - who had supported Sharif’s statement.

The petition against Sharif found fault with his disclosure of politically sensitive secrets and disrespect of the country’s national institutions. In short, it comprised a “violation” of his oath of office as the statement could be used by the country’s enemies.

Given that even admitting that the terrorists were Pakistani is tantamount to “treason”, it is no wonder that court proceedings against the people involved in the planning of the attacks have been poorly executed and inconclusive so far. None of the six accused have been convicted while Pakistani officials have been slow to act on evidence provided by India.

This is why the outcome of the current proceedings against Sharif, Almeida and Abbasi is so important. To convict people of a crime, the refusal to acknowledge the crime needs to be corrected first.