File photo of PTI leader Pervez Khattak. Photo: NNI
“War is not the answer, and we have requested the federal government to include all stakeholders in finding a resolution to this conflict,” said Khattak according to a statement issued by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) media cell. The CM also expressed condolences with the victims’ families and assured them financial compensation.
Provincial Information and Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai also condemned the incident and said it was a result of the previous government’s flawed policies. He said negotiations were the only way forward to find a peaceful solution to on-going militancy in the region. “This issue would have been solved if a military operation was the solution.”
Meanwhile, PTI’s Central Deputy Information Secretary Shah Farman levelled accusations against the US and criticised Pakistan for continuing to assist the superpower in the war on terror.
Talking to journalists at the site of the blast in Badhaber, which killed 17 people including several minors, Farman said the US’ military involvement in the region and Pakistan’s on-going support for the war had led to a fast-deteriorating law and order problem.
“Leaders, for the sake of American dollars, jumped into the US’ war which resulted in the killing of armed forces personnel and scores of Pakistani citizens,” Farman asserted while explaining what he believed were driving motives behind the prevailing lawlessness in the region.
“It is not Pakistan’s war. Once we distance ourselves from it, peace will prevail,” he exclaimed, adding a single drone attack created hundreds of suicide bombers. Farman added it was not possible for cruelty and peace to co-exist. “For sustainable peace, there must be a governance system based on justice and equality.”
Recently, the PTI has come under fierce criticism for not openly condemning terrorists and sectarian elements, whose violent activities have led to the deaths of approximately 100 people since the party came into power.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2013.
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TTP policy: if USA kills one of our citizens, we will kill 100 of OUR citizens
@Tanzeel: It is not our war right now...but to get rid of this violence we need to make it OUR war. Jeez! don't grab on to half of the words and then take it out of context. That's the our problem as a nation...we get so emotional and don't think clearly. We all want peace in the country...how will you get peace with more violence? The US has been doing this for 12 years, shouldn't we learn from their mistakes instead? like @CommonSense said There is a different root cause of each kind of violence in the country and they all have to be dealt accordingly.
Such poor out-of-context reporting. This is shocking. Surely ET's Peshawar bureau has better reporters than this. It also reflects poorly on the editorial staff who fail to give a broader picture. Imran Khan quite clearly condemned terrorism in the country and stated that all forms of violence in the country have multiple reasons. FATA-KP terrorism has one cause, Baluchistan one is a different issue. Target killing in Karachi has its own causes. And sectarian killings another. Criminal gangs some other. And all have to be dealt differently. Hence, this is the PTI policy and to choose words from a PTI's spokesperson's mouth at a blast site and to string them into words of your reporters choice is an example of poor journalism I am sorry to say
Well said sir. We should talk to them, so what if they don't even accept you as the Chief Minister of KPK. Ofcourse it is not our war, its not Pakistan's War, its the war of Minority - the Shias, the Ahmedis, the soldiers, the pakhtuns, the balochs, the mohajirs. Let them fight it and get their faces erased off the face of Pakistan. We'll have the land of pure once all these minorities are removed. It's not our war until its me - myself.