Our jirga or we won’t talk peace: Fazl

The JUI-F chief agreed to include his archrival Imran Khan in his jirga.

ISLAMABAD:

It is the jirga that he offered or Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s party would not become part of government’s peace talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) would not create hindrances either.

In his statement on Friday, the JUI-F chief even agreed to include his archrival in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in his jirga.

“JUI-F jirga is on the ground. Just needs green signal,” said the JUI-F spokesperson Jan Achakzai. Quoting the JUI-F chief, Achakzai said the jirga could be further strengthened and made inclusive by taking people from other parties, including the PTI.

Justifying his insistence on jirga as the only platform for peace talks, the JUI-F chief said involving ‘non-political’ people would be risky as they could be easily pressured.

“People of Fata will have no stakes in the process,” he added.  “If the local conflict resolution mechanism is bypassed like past agreements, no other way will work out,” Achakzai quoted the JUI-F chief as saying.

“Therefore, we need to involve jirga for meaningful dialogue,” he added.

The JUI-F spokesperson said the informal contact with Taliban had already been established. Achakzai, however, said that talks through any other platform would mean talking for the sake of exhausting the option of talks.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2013.