Focus on targeted killings: JI to convene all parties conference
The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has decided to hold an All Parties National Conference (APNC) to work out a strategy to end target killings in Karachi and Balochistan.
All parties from across the political spectrum will be invited to attend the APNC which will be organised on the pattern of a multi-party conference summoned by Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif in London in 2007, according to JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch.
“Karachi and Quetta are burning while the rulers are busy in number games,” Baloch told The Express Tribune. “The JI aims to exert pressure on the government to find a political solution for the ongoing violence.”
The decision to hold the conference has come at a time when the opposition is struggling to form a ‘grand alliance’ to topple the government due to its inability to grapple with the country’s problems.
The national conference will focus on COAS Gen Parvez Kayani’s recent statement in which he said that the political leadership alone can bring peace to Balochistan. Representatives of the PML-N, PPP, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, JUI-F, ANP and other political parties which form the All Pakistan Democratic Alliance (APDM) will give recommendations for peace. MQM and PML-Q, however, will not be invited since they did not attend the London Conference.
The JI is among six political parties which boycotted the last general election.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2011.
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everyone in pakistan is afraid of the godfather.
everyone in karachi is afraid of speaking about the party behind the majority of the violence in karachi and till we remain in fear and don't speak we'll continue to suffer this violence.