Peace dialogue: Atmosphere being created for Taliban talks, says minister

The issue figured during Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with JUI-F chief, says Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid .

ISLAMABAD:

The government has started creating a conducive environment to pave way for initiating peace talks with the Taliban which had come to a halt after the Taliban leadership withdrew their peace offer after the assassination of one of their top leaders in a drone attack last month.

This was stated by newly-appointed Minister of Information Senator Pervaiz Rashid while exclusively talking to The Express Tribune here on Sunday.



“The atmosphere has become tense with the Taliban leadership ever since a drone attack killed Taliban deputy chief Waliur Rehman last month. The new government is making efforts to create a favourable environment so that peace talks could be initiated,” the information minister added.

The minister also said that during a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman held on Saturday, the issue of formulating a middle ground with the Taliban leadership in Pakistan was a significant concern. Pervaiz Rashid also said that the government wants to bring peace in the country and all important steps would be taken, and available resources utilized, for the purpose.

Rashid added that the Taliban have withdrawn all dialogue offers which were made prior to the killing of their top leader Waliur Rehman in a drone attack, and now we (the government) have to again create the conducive environment to convince them start talking.

Sources said that PML-N leaders want to engage JUI-F chief and another influential cleric Maulana Samiul Haq to bring the Taliban on the negotiation table and to end violence in the country. In this regard, the government is also interested in taking the JUI-F on board.

Clarifying the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) apprehension regarding a ‘governor rule’ in Sindh, the information minister said that it is nothing but fear-mongering by PPP, which had failed to deliver during its five years rule.

“The PPP knows that it had imposed the governor rule in Punjab unconstitutionally and now it fears that a similar step can be taken by the PML-N”, said Rashid, adding that our government believes in democracy, constitution and rule of law and every step would be taken as per law.

Pervaiz Rashid maintained that if the provincial government is running the provincial affairs within the domain of the constitution then there is no reason to impose any governor rule. “The parties which fail to deliver believe in such gimmicks in politics,” Rashid maintained.

The information minister said that Mumtaz Bhutto is a senior leader of the party and he met the prime minister to felicitate him on his third time premiership. “No one should be fearful about such meetings as gone are the days when the president or governor used to dissolve the assemblies. Now, no one can take such unconstitutional steps without a reason,” Pervaiz Rashid added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2013.