Imran slams ministers for rash remarks against Taliban

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has come down hard on the “imported government’s” ministers for issuing irresponsible statements against the Taliban-led Afghan administration in the backdrop of rising terrorism, warning that if the Afghan government decides to stop cooperating with Pakistan, it can lead to a “never-ending” war against terrorism.

Addressing a seminar on the resurgence of terrorism in Pakistan via video link on Tuesday, the PTI chairman said that the “government of crooks” was not serious in dealing with the issue of terrorism, as they were more interested in ending their corruption cases due to which terrorism was rearing its ugly head again.

According to a statement issued by the PTI, Imran said that the “imported government’s non-serious attitude” clearly reflected from the ministers’ irresponsible statements that they were planning to attack Afghanistan.

The seminar was also addressed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, senior PTI leader Murad Saeed as well as security analysts Dr Amir Raza and Imtiaz Gull.

He said that the coalition government was not focusing on talks with its Afghan counterpart as Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was roaming around the world but had no time to visit the neighbouring country to find out amicable solution to stop the reoccurrence of unfortunate incidents at the Pak-Afghan border.

The PTI chairman warned that another war against terrorism would become a curse for the country if relations with Afghanistan deteriorated.

He went on to say that the “imported government stopped development funds for the war-ravaged merged tribal areas” and even the provinces did not give the promised shares of the NFC award to the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which was once considered the most peaceful region. He noted that creation of opportunities could keep the tribal people at bay from falling into the hands of terrorists.

He said that the rise in terrorism would hit K-P the hardest, noting that the country’s tribal belt suffered the most during the last wave of terrorism.

Read Top military brass vows to fight terror amid TTP resurgence

“I pay tribute to the people of K-P who came to the streets against terrorism,” he added.

He pointed out that the federal government did not invite the K-P chief minister in the recent meetings of the National Security Committee (NSC).

Imran urged the government to brainstorm on the evolving situation, because Pakistan “cannot sustain another wave of terrorism”.

Talking about the peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan by the PTI government, Imran said that his opponents should not lie to the people, as all stakeholders had sat down and were informed about the need for talks with the TTP and the plan to resettle their members. “Military operations can be part of the overall peace settlement but they ‘never’ bear fruit,” he said, urging the government to engage with the Taliban to avoid terror activities on Pakistani soil.

"We had a golden opportunity after the US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan; we tried to better our ties with the Ashraf Ghani government as best as we could and decided not to intervene in Afghan affairs," he added.

Imran stated that when Taliban seized power, Pakistan also kept engaging with them, and “we helped evacuate foreigners from Afghanistan”.

He said that the TTP issue could have been solved at that time as the new Afghan government was pro-Pakistan and could have exerted influence on the TTP. He said that after the Taliban came to power, they asked the TTP to return to Pakistan.

This was the time, he said, when peaceful settlement was required the most. However, he said that the “imported government” mismanaged the issue altogether.

About the Centre’s criticism of the K-P government, the PTI chairman made it clear that controlling the borders was the federal government's responsibility and not the provincial government’s.

"I had already said that when you can't control your economy, you cannot control terrorism," he added.

Imran stated that the ill-equipped police could not confront the rising wave of terrorism, as the terrorists were well-equipped with modern weapons that the US left behind.

Read more Are you with us or with TTP, Pakistan to ask from Afghan Taliban

He said that the federal government would need to tread carefully and seek K-P’s input on the overall terror situation.

Imran lashed out at Bilawal for seeking US help against terrorism, warning that Pakistan should not seek help from the US as it would lead to internal discord among locals if drone attacks were carried out.

“Pakistan has already suffered the most due to support to the USA and I was criticised for my statements against the support,” he added. “Not a single Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pervez Musharraf plunged the country into a war for which the country suffered immensely,” he added.

The PTI chief demanded a national consensus policy against terrorism, warning that if the government did not show seriousness, chaos would spread in the country.

He said that Pakistan had suffered a lot already due to its participation in the USA’s war against terrorism for 20 years.

Imran stated that he was of the opinion that the country should have remained neutral, adding that by doing so, enemies of Pakistan would not have gotten the chance to use the situation to their advantages.

Imran said that the most destructing were the suicide bombings and even the US suffered the most as they didn’t have any solution to such attacks.

On the PTI government’s ouster, Imran stated that it was toppled through a foreign-backed conspiracy.

Imran came down hard on the “imported government for begging in front of the world”, adding that Pakistan’s economy never suffered this much in history.

“If terrorism is not dealt with seriously, it could have dangerous consequences for the country and that too at a time when our economic conditions cannot bear it at all,” he warned.

On the occasion, the K-P CM said, “The PTI has been in power in K-P since 2013.” Mahmood said that all-out efforts were made to ensure lasting peace in the volatile province.

He said all institutions were destroyed in erstwhile Fata and the PTI government was leaving no stone unturned to uplift the tribal districts.

Murad Saeed said that the US and West were making secret documents public after every 20 years, however, “we never brought the fact before the masses ever”.

He said that when the US was leaving Afghanistan, there was apprehension of eruption of civil war over there. Murad raised questioned that what happened all of a sudden that the friendly neighbouring country turned into a foe.

Murad reminded that during Imran-led government, neither there was any military operation nor a single drone strike in any part of the country.

He said that the US started blaming others when it suffered defeat, adding that it was being said that Imran should have not have said absolutely not because it had upset the US.

Murad stated that the US and its facilitators ousted Imran’s government, adding that after the regime change operation, the neighbour was upset and terrorism started.