Talks: the way to go

PTI's offer for unconditional talks with the government signals a step toward political reconciliation in Pakistan.

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Talks are sine qua non for a pluralistic society. The culture of political interaction should be agreeing to disagree, with the explicit understanding of harnessing a consensus for collective good. But Pakistan these days is ripe with abject instability, coupled with severe polarisation. The reason is lack of space for a political dialogue and the paranoid belief that opposition should be pushed to the wall. The PTI's offer for unconditional talks with the government should be seen as a jiff of fresh air, and responded to in all seriousness. The fact that the ravaged opposition party, which has been on the receiving end since being shown the door in April 2022, has apparently climbed down the ladder and given up its contested stance of talking only to the powers-that-be is a welcome development. It's time to talk it out not only to extinguish the spewing hate and otherness but also to jot down a roadmap of congeniality for economic development.

PTI Chairman Barrister Ali Gohar Khan's speech on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday should be taken as the first step on the path to reconciliation. Many of the party's grievances are genuine, especially pertaining to denial of the February 8 mandate, imprisonment of political leaders including former PM Imran Khan and the right to exercise its writ as a political dispensation. The party's voice is now being seconded at the international forums too as human rights bodies, foreign governments and donor agencies are also worried at its plight. Last but not least, it's time to undo the convention of suppressing popular political parties by learning a lesson from the Dhaka debacle of 1971, and the parochialism that is on the rise in the restive provinces of K-P and Balochistan.

The onus is now on the coalition government to walk the talk for a dialogue among political forces and not with the 'third force'. A leap forward can be taken by assuring the PTI in word and deed to investigate highhandedness against party workers, and releasing them as per law. Let the PTI be part of the solution and not the problem.