Dissent within: Punjabi Taliban ready for talks

Punjabi Taliban commander Muavia says they will present clear stance on the proposed dialogue within next 3 days.


Zulfiqar Ali October 01, 2013
Punjabi Taliban commander Muavia said that they will present clear stance on the proposed dialogue within next 3 days. PHOTO: FILE

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:


Punjabi Taliban commander Asmatullah Muavia has said that his group is willing to hold unconditional talks with the government, adding that they would present a clear stance on the proposed dialogue within the next three days.


“We are not involved in the recent attacks on All Saints Church, Secretariat bus and Qissa Khwani Bazaar,” he said on Monday. “We’re serious about talks.”

He alleged that the Awami National Party and the United States of America were conspiring to derail the peace talks. He added that the second objective of these attacks was to discredit the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government.

The central leadership of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had expelled Asmatullah Muavia as the head of the Punjabi Taliban in August when he welcomed the government’s dialogue offer. He insisted, however, that he headed a separate faction altogether.

On September 9, the federal government had decided to hold talks with homegrown militants to end the decade-long conflict at the all parties’ conference in Islamabad.

However, this decision was questioned after Peshawar suffered three major terrorist attacks last week.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2013.

 

COMMENTS (20)

Bakhtiyar Ghazi Khan | 11 years ago | Reply

There are dozens of these groups who refer to themselves as Taliban, but in actually there is only one Taliban which is in Afghanistan. TTP is just a ragtag group which is funded by foreign powers, hence they have no problems bombing masjids, schools, and hospital. They are paid anti-state elements which have no desire for peace, who answer to bigger powers. Any militia which does not wish to fight against the Pakistani people and the Pakistani state should join our army and help us get rid of these TTP deviants. Afghan Taliban already supports the fight against TTP, since all they do is malign their movement and damage relationships with the people of Pakistan.

Ali | 11 years ago | Reply

How can we dialog with the very people who don't believe in the existence of our state or our constitution?

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