PTI Chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: AFP
PTI Chairman Imran Khan will preside over the conference scheduled for October 5 in Islamabad. The PTI’s conference will focus on how to ensure peace in the volatile areas, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. More than 500 political and religious scholars will attend the conference, which will issue a white paper, highlighting Islamic teachings on peace.
Sharing the proposed agenda of the conference, the PTI Religious Affairs Wing President Mufti Abdul Qawi said participants of the meeting would take up the issue of drone strikes and conflicts within or across our borders.
“All political parties whose ideologies are compatible with the PTI’s manifesto will be invited,” Qawi said.
He, however, made it clear that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP) would not be invited to the moot, “as these parties have failed to deliver on their promises”.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Deputy Information Secretary Adnan Randhawa said his party had initiated efforts to evolve consensus at intellectual and religious level that Islam is a religion of peace and it does not allow inhuman acts.
He said PTI regarded drone strikes as a major cause of the rising insurgency in Pakistan. “Planned National Conference is an initiative to strengthen continued efforts to bring peace back to Pakistan,” he told The Express Tribune.
It will be PTI’s first ever attempt to convene a national conference. But analysts are not much optimistic about the possible outcome of the planned conference.
The two in-camera sessions of the parliament also took briefing from heads of top spy agencies and passed recommendations to prepare national security policy but no headway could be made towards peace.
“The PTI leadership has a serious cognition crisis when it comes to dealing with terrorism,” said Harris Khalique, poet and columnist.
“They want to hold dialogue with terrorists in K-P and do not criticise armed operation against terrorists in Karachi. The recent attack on Army personnel is a slap in the face of the last APC,” he observed.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2013.
COMMENTS (16)
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National conference on terrorism? Again? O come on! Stop wasting our time.
So "National Conference on Terrorism" is only open to IK sycophants and those political parties sympathetic to TTP types to prevent and sense of Reality from creeping in!!
The only leader who is really committed to eliminating the crises the country is going through. Go ahead IK! and don't pay heed to the secular mindset who wants to use the last resort(operation) as the first move. what will they be left with when even operation fails(which certainly has up till now).
Everyone talking to counter taliban. Do you know how deep this network is. It starts from whole middle east and end in Pakistan. Do everyone wants Pakistan to be a center of bombarments. I am telling you, we cant sustain even a year, Godforbid, if it happens
Imran Khan is the most delusional man in Pakistan. Even in 2018 he will be talking about negotiating with terrorists like TTP. It wasntveniugh that he let go off 250 terrorists from jail..
he has become master of white paper...Imran Khan is having crisis of condfidence
The only way forward is to hold talks. The other option is an all out war against TTP, which would do nothing but add more chaos to already instable country. Best way is to keep USA out from our borders and deal the situation on our own by holding talks. More than 90% conflicts in the world have ended through negotiations in the end. So, better soon, than late.
Lt Col Imtiaz Alam(retd)
Well said, Sir. As we can see right on this board itself, America-inspired voices are already discounting these talks...
The policy of appeasement and surrender will not work. PTI should better understand divisive conferences and APCs will bot bring peace. The state should stand tall and strong in facing its' internal enemies no matter how long and at what price.
Only leader in Pak with serious commitment, long vision and selfless dream! way to go SIR! let haters talk, its not easy to run a state which is full of corrupted people..
My perspective which I have tried to convey is that nothing will come out of the talks. It will be sabotaged time and again by the Americans as they just did now through Fazlullah. They keep on using one group against the other to keep the pressure on TTP for their covert activities. They need the TTP who are their mercenaries to carry on its ACTIVITIES TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON THE GOVT ON ISSUES WHICH SUITS THEM AND TO LAUNCH AN ON GROUND ACT ON OUR NUCLEAR ASSETS WHEN THE GROUND REALITY SUITS THEM. THEY ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS BUT FRIENDS OF INDIA.
National consensus?Without the major national parties?Makes lot of sense.
Consensus on what? Declaring TTP our brethren? I think Imran Khan is fast becoming a joke of a personality. I mean how much more can be one disillusioned? I am his big fan but the man has been a complete disappointment as far as dealing with terror is concerned.