Fighting militancy: President takes hard line on the front line

K-P opposition left disappointed as no packages were announced.

PESHAWAR:

Asif Ali Zardari on Monday became the country’s first president to address the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, where he called for strengthening democracy and combating extremism.

While the president received a rousing welcome by the house on Monday, the opposition termed his address too little, too late.



In his short but historic speech, the president congratulated parliamentarians on renaming their province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and said that he had come to celebrate the joy of the people of K-P for regaining their identity.

He also paid tribute to the people of the province for braving militancy, and said that while K-P was endowed with all kinds of wealth, it was losing out due to the law and order situation.

President Zardari said that the prevailing extremist mindset had set the region back to the Stone Age, and was replacing Pakhtun traditions. “We have to combat and overcome this mindset,” he said.

He said that the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were the frontline defenders of the country, adding that he had come to the province to declare, yet again, that “we will continue our fight against militancy and extremism to the finish and we will not falter, we will not give up.”

“This is the fight for our survival, for our values. Failure or retreat is not an option and we will fight till final victory,” the president said.

President Zardari said that militants had not even spared graves, mosques, churches and holy shrines, including the Mazar of Rahman Baba.

Regarding the church which was attacked in Mardan, he said, “We condemn it. The government will rebuild the church and this is a message to the militants.”

The president added that while Pakistan’s ‘enemies’ would have aimed to separate federating units, the government made sure to provide all units a stake in Islamabad. “We have to strengthen our provinces for strengthening the federation,” he said.

He said that his policy of reconciliation was not a mere idea; rather, it was developed from experiences. “We talked about reconciliation from jails, and it is still our path,” he said.

President Zardari also called for bridging internal differences. “A fort falls only from within, not outside and if we are united, our enemies will not weaken us,” he said, adding that there was a need to understand the upcoming geo-political situation of the region.

The president also condemned an attack on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) former amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed in Mohmand Agency on Monday.

He further directed the K-P government to pay attention to the police department, since, he added, the army could not be at the government’s disposal at all times.



Earlier in the day, K-P Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti welcomed the president on behalf of the house as well as the people of the province.

In his welcoming speech, the chief minister refrained from making any demands for the province, saying President Zardari was their guest and they only need his guidance.

K-P Assembly Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chagarmati hailed the president’s role in renaming the province and for strengthening democracy.

The opposition, on the other hand, was less than impressed.

Opposition leader in the K-P Assembly Akram Khan Durrani termed the president’s address ‘hopeless’, saying it contained nothing substantial.

Durrani, who previously served as the province’s chief minister in the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government, told reporters that while he appreciated the president’s address to the assembly, it was too little, too late.

He also expressed his disappointment at the president for not announcing any packages for the war-torn province.

In his address during the Assembly session, Durrani had asked the president to extend a package, announced by the government, for the business community by two more years and also requested the allocation of land to the families of police personnel who were killed during the war against militancy.

He also requested the president to reach a political settlement of militancy in light of the joint parliamentary resolution, which, he said, could lead to the end of terrorism.

Durrani said that although the president was a guest in their province, he was also the head of the state and compared to his stature, his speech was too short and too little.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2012.