PPP’s Sherry Rehman admits to Pakistan’s 'terror record', gets grilled over Brigade 313 by Sky News anchor

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman (AFP Photo)

Pakistani politicians may revel in ignorant rhetoric and jingoism at home when it comes to India but often struggle to escape tough questions about their own terror-laden past during media interviews abroad.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Sherry Rehman is the latest politician who faced uncomfortable questions about her country's historic support to terror and at one point, even admitted that Islamabad indeed had a "terrorist record" which it is trying "very hard" to clean.

In an interview to Sky News anchor Yalda Hakim, Rehman said that her country has been fighting very hard to clean its "terrorist record" and wondered why its dirty past is often being called into question.

The statement comes just weeks after Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif admitted that his country supported, funded and aided terror groups for 30 years, adding that it did this "dirty work" at the behest of US.

Throughout the interview, Rehman was visibly defensive as Hakim grilled her about Pakistan's links to terror groups.

Hakim confronted Rehman with pointed questions about Pakistan’s terror ecosystem, repeatedly bringing up the role of Al-Qaeda-linked groups such as Brigade 313, which operates within Pakistan.

Hakim, citing a senior intelligence analyst, said that Brigade 313 is al-Qaeda in Pakistan, an umbrella organisation of several groups like the Taliban, Harkat-ul Jihad, etc.

Rehman responded defensively: “I don't know who told you this. I can produce any number of pages saying all this. We should also produce a digital dossier — am I going to war every time there is an attack in India... are we responsible for what goes on there?”

Hakim pressed further, countering: “But you are responsible for what is happening inside Pakistan. A statement issued on May 7 following Indian air strikes, Jaish-e-Mohammed said that at least family members of its chief Masood Azhar were killed in Bahawalpur.”

Rehman shot back: “Your point being?”

Hakim replied: “My point being that these are the leaders of a massive terror organisation that focuses on attacks on Kashmir.” She went on to underscore that Bahawalpur is widely known as a hub of terrorism — a point that Rehman did not directly address.

As the interview grew more tense, Hakim again quizzed Rehman about the activities of Brigade 313. The PPP senator attempted to dismiss the line of questioning, saying: “Most of the international analysts you are quoting are aligned with India’s narrative.”

Brigade 313, founded by former Pakistani commando-turned-jihadi Ilyas Kashmiri, has long been recognised by intelligence agencies as a key part of Pakistan’s extremist network. Operating under the al-Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) umbrella, the group has conducted attacks on both Indian and Western interests, with its deep ties to Pakistan’s military-intelligence establishment raising repeated concerns.

Earlier, Asif had admitted to Pakistan's complicitity in supporting terror groups. In an interview to the same Sky News anchor, he said: “We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, and West, including Britain.”

He candidly added: “If we had not joined the war against Soviet Union, and later on, the war after 9/11... Pakistan's track record was unimpeachable."

Calling out the West’s hypocrisy, Asif noted: “It was convenient for the big powers to blame Pakistan, which 'fought' the wars on their side in the 80s against the Soviet Union. All these terrorists of today were whining and dining in Washington.”

Later, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto had also said that Pakistan's past is not a "secret".

"I don't think it is a secret that Pakistan has a past... As a result, we have suffered, Pakistan has suffered. We have gone through wave after wave of extremism. But as a result of what we suffered, we also learned our lessons. We have gone through internal reforms to address this problem not only for us but... also the international community,” he said.