JUI-F chief shares peace plan with N Waziristan tribe

Fazlur Rehman says change of govt won’t affect grand jirga’s workings.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman shared details of a peace initiative for Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the Uthmanzai tribesmen of North Waziristan. The initiative, according to Maulana Fazl, is to be facilitated through a grand jirga.

Maulana Fazl gave details of the all parties conference (APC) hosted by the JUI-F on February 28 that had declared its trust in a more expansive grand tribal jirga and tasked its members with immediately engaging all ‘concerned parties,’ including the Taliban, for the sake of peace in the country.

The jirga meeting was held at Wazir Garden, Hakim Khan Kot, Dera Ismail Khan on Monday after the Uthmanzai tribe (Wazir and Dawar) had demanded the JUI-F chief to explain his peace initiatives for the region.

“...following their demands, I told them the details of the JUI-F jirga, the APC and the initiative for the peace process in Fata,” the JUI-F chief said after the meeting.

He told the influential tribe that national consensus had been reached to entrust a grand jirga through the APC, which was attended by as many as 30 political and religious groupings, with the responsibility of coming up with a mechanism to restore peace in the region.

“Therefore, this jirga is not only JUI-F but it has now become a national jirga backed by all national leaders with one voice. So, this is an historic achievement,” Maulana Fazl told the tribesmen.

Allaying concerns of the tribe regarding the support of a government which is about to end its tenure, he said that this grand jirga is not dependent on the change of government because constitutionally the chief executive of Fata was the president of Pakistan and not the prime minister.

“Even after the end of the tenure of the present government, the president will still remain in power. Therefore, there is no hurdle or blockage in the way of the jirga since the president will remain responsible.”

The JUI-F chief also condemned the Joseph Colony tragedy in Lahore and said that all such incidents were “condemnable”.

“There is a need to investigate who is behind such incidents. These forces are destabilising Pakistan and trying to give the impression that minorities are not safe in Pakistan and Pakistani Muslims do not know nor respect the rights of minorities,” he said.

Tribal elders including Malik Qadar Khan, Mamoor Khan, Malik Shaizal Khan, Malik Abdu Rehman and Maulana Abdul Malik participated in the jirga.