The Awami National Party’s call to unite against terrorism seems to be bearing fruit at last. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
The Awami National Party’s call to unite against terrorism seems to be bearing fruit at last.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Friday that four mainstream political parties have agreed to back ANP’s stance on terrorism.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will evolve a joint strategy to eliminate the scourge of terrorism and restore lasting peace in the region, Hussain told participants of a news conference.
“The ANP is also contacting the rest of the parties. An all-parties conference (APC) to evolve a joint strategy after consensus from all political forces on the sole agenda of peace would be convened within a month,” said the provincial government’s spokesperson, who has himself lost a son in a targeted bomb attack by militants.
“A joint anti-terrorism strategy to restore sustainable peace and get rid of the prevailing situation in the country is imminent. We strongly believe in restoring peace and stability by using peaceful means and holding talks with the Taliban.”
Hussain said all stakeholders will be taken on board. “We have planned a comprehensive strategy for attaining peace and would take the president and army into confidence as well.”
Referring to the blast at a Tableeghi Markaz in Swat which claimed 22 lives on Thursday, Hussain contested the police’s claim of it being a gas cylinder explosion and maintained it was an act of terrorism.
In the past, ANP has repeatedly said other political parties are not doing enough to address the problem of militancy. Being a secular entity, the party has been especially prone to attacks on its leaders with the last one claiming the life of senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour.
Hussain said even though ANP was trying its best to tackle the situation by consulting all political parties, there were forces wanting to sabotage its initiatives as they do not want peace and stability on Pukhtun soil.
However, despite calls for negotiating with militants, Hussain did not completely rule out the possibility of a military operation. “If peace efforts do not yield positive results, there are definitely other ways of establishing peace.”
To a query about ANP changing its mind about not wanting to negotiate with militants, Hussain replied saying the party is not asking Taliban militants to give up their arms, but only to shun violence.
Hussain also highlighted the achievements of the Communication and Works (C&W) and Public Health Engineering departments, informing participants of the conference about projects undertaken and completed during the provincial government’s tenure.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2013.
COMMENTS (2)
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The ANP is a prominent ally of this PPP government and calling conference after conference with zero results is a sign of impotence and failure.
It is the test of all political parties whether they like the terrorists more or their country? One only wishes that they would have done this sooner and saved many civilian lives. Better late than never.