JUI-F jirga opposes new offensive

A tribal jirga (committee) held under the auspices of JUI-F has rejected the government’s decision to launch Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, and expressed lack of confidence in it, saying the initiative would destabilize the country.

In a media briefing in Peshawar on Thursday, chief of his own faction of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman explained that the jirga was convened before the Azm-e-Istehkam operation decision was made by the government and that it was not on the agenda. He said the jirga deemed the operation destabilising and expressed a lack of confidence in it.

Fazl maintained that the government was making “decisions hastily and emotionally”, and “responding quickly”, which would lead to chaos, suggesting that the state should act responsibly.

Expressing his concerns over the law and order situation in the tribal districts, the JUI-F chief pointed out that armed groups had spread to several areas, controlling traffic and setting up checkpoints, with police in the southern districts avoiding leaving their stations at night.

He highlighted the sacrifices made by the people of Swat, who were displaced from their homes. “Youth have become unemployed, and women are begging. Educational future of youth was destroyed. Those whose homes were completely damaged were given token compensation of Rs400,000, but they have not received the money yet,” he said.

“Dignity, respect and sanctity of four walls of the tribal people was violated and they were subjected to economic murder. Twenty to 30,000 people left Pakistan for Afghanistan and returned more powerful,” he added.

Fazl said that when questioned about the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, the establishment replied that the issue was caused by people coming from Afghanistan. “Pro-Indian governments from Zahir to Ashraf Ghani ruled Afghanistan except the Islamic Emirate which was a pro-Pakistani government.”

He lamented that Afghanistan had been “drenched in blood” since the 1980s and wondered why stability was not being allowed there, suggesting an external agenda at play.

The JUI-F chief questioned why interference from Iran was resolved within a week while a different approach was taken with Afghanistan.

He mentioned that a decision was made to provide armed groups with a peaceful route, adding that a mechanism was developed for the purpose, but acknowledged the efforts were in vain.