NEW DELHI – Speaking at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here, HamidKarzai the Afghan leader talked about his love for Bollywood films, music,and the Indian culture at large.
Karzai said that actor Naseeruddin Shah would be the right person to playhim if somebody plans to make a film about his life.
Responding to a question regarding being termed “anti-American”, Karzai,who was made the interim leader of Afghanistan in 2001 and became the firstpopularly elected president in 2004 following the fall of the Taliban, saidthat he was in fact opposed to the US way of dealing with insurgency thatleft the country hurt and destroyed.
Asked about Trump’s recent statements, he said, “It’s one of the fewsensible decisions that Trump has taken. We do support President Trump’sstatement on Pakistan’s use of extremism and we hope that they will takeaction, that they will walk the talk this time.”
In a scathing attack on Pakistan, Trump had accused it of “lies and deceit”and of fooling US leaders while sheltering terrorists. He also suspendedall security aid to the longtime US military ally.
While speaking strongly against Pakistan’s support to extremist forces,Karzai today stressed that he had nothing against the Pakistani people.
“Yes, the insurgents were getting support from Pakistan, but they not fromPakistani people. The Pakistani people treated us equally like themselves,like brothers and sisters when we were refugees. My complaint is not to thePakistani people. I love them just like I love Indian people. The complaintis with the military intelligence establishment there,” he said.
The former Afghanistan president was speaking at a session titled “TheGreat Survivor”.
He also spoke of factors that contributed to the rise of Al-Qaeda, sayingit was a “very deliberate radicalisation for political gains” and that”Al-Qaeda wouldn’t have happenedwithout the support of the CIA”.
“Sometimes I am termed an anti-American. No, I am not. I am verypro-American, pro-western person. I am an eastern man without easternattributes and qualities. My opposition to America was because they werehurting Afghanistan by bombing our country, by hitting our villagers, bytaking our people prisoners. We were getting hurt, we were gettingdestroyed, that made me against the American policy,” he said.
He said there had been in the past “very deep cooperation” among the US,some western allies and Pakistan “when they tried to use religion to defeatthe former Soviet Union”.
“And the Pakistanis and the Americans and some Gulf countries joined handsto use Islam. And the more they used it the more radicalised it became.
“Al Qaeda wouldn’t have happened without the support of the CIA. It wasthem who did it. It was a very deliberate radicalisation for politicalgains,” he alleged.
He hoped Pakistan “would agree to peace” so that a dialogue could beinitiated between the country and Taliban.
On Bollywood and Indian culture, Karzai said, “I can possibly talk moreabout Dev Anand, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Rafi, Mukesh than most peoplehere.
“I have read Kalidas, Rabindranath Tagore and bought books on MirzaGhalib’s work during my visit to Khan Market in Delhi,” he said.