Punjabi Taliban commander Muavia said that they will present clear stance on the proposed dialogue within next 3 days. PHOTO: FILE
Punjabi Taliban commander Asmatullah Muavia has said that his group is willing to hold unconditional talks with the government, adding that they would present a clear stance on the proposed dialogue within the next three days.
“We are not involved in the recent attacks on All Saints Church, Secretariat bus and Qissa Khwani Bazaar,” he said on Monday. “We’re serious about talks.”
He alleged that the Awami National Party and the United States of America were conspiring to derail the peace talks. He added that the second objective of these attacks was to discredit the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government.
The central leadership of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had expelled Asmatullah Muavia as the head of the Punjabi Taliban in August when he welcomed the government’s dialogue offer. He insisted, however, that he headed a separate faction altogether.
On September 9, the federal government had decided to hold talks with homegrown militants to end the decade-long conflict at the all parties’ conference in Islamabad.
However, this decision was questioned after Peshawar suffered three major terrorist attacks last week.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2013.
COMMENTS (20)
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There are dozens of these groups who refer to themselves as Taliban, but in actually there is only one Taliban which is in Afghanistan. TTP is just a ragtag group which is funded by foreign powers, hence they have no problems bombing masjids, schools, and hospital. They are paid anti-state elements which have no desire for peace, who answer to bigger powers. Any militia which does not wish to fight against the Pakistani people and the Pakistani state should join our army and help us get rid of these TTP deviants. Afghan Taliban already supports the fight against TTP, since all they do is malign their movement and damage relationships with the people of Pakistan.
How can we dialog with the very people who don't believe in the existence of our state or our constitution?
@Zubaida: @pakistani: Zubaida is correct. Actually 84% of Pakistanis want sharia in Pakistan according the April 2013 report of Pew Research Centre. Here is the link: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/04/daily-chart-20
They are the PMLN faction, the Sanaullah brigade; interesting!!
@Zubaida: And where did you get this 80% from. Please try not to say things which you are not sure of.
These Punjabi Taliban are another name for ASWJ/ Lashkar e Jhangvi.
@Someone, seems like PTI has a new spokesperson now!
PTI was right because there are groups willing to dialogue
Go Imran go, talk to the Punjabi Taliban and let these good Taliban fight the bad Taliban in KPK.
It is very unfortunate that our Government is trying to negotiate a peace deal with the people ; those are not organised as a party in any ways. Anyhow , the terror war in pakistan is so complexed in a way ; that even you succeed in collecting all the groups of TTP on a table but one can not call it a complete set of resisting people in the country.Government must give a chance to the adversaries in the state and out side the state to be organised first at a level of the negotiators;to whom , the people of our country recognize and believe.
Dialogues between Pakistani government and Punjabi Taliban prove that Taliban have many groups and can these talks give guarantee that Punjabi Taliban's peace talks shall be acceptable for the other Taliban's groups of FATA and tribal areas most especially importantly of Waziristan????? In my opinion Punjabi Taliban may present these three preconditions: 1-Rewriting the present 1973's constitution, 2-Withdrawal of Pakistan army's troops from FATA and Waziristan and 3-Implementation of Sharia in the whole Pakistan.
And how do we know that these punjabi talibans are not double crossing as in saying willing to talk and at the same time attacking and not claiming. Recent example in karachi police shootout in Gulshan, some of the bandits were providing drinks to the police officers while the fight was going on in order to escape. Moral is that these people cannot be trusted and justice should be served for the murders they have comitted and the anarchy they have spread.
@Zubaida:
But which version of Shariah, there are 73 Sects in Islam and so 73 version of Shariah, which one would be acceptable to 100%. Impossible, right that will lead back to fundamental problem i.e. secretarian violence. In this society of 73 sects of Islam plus other minority religions christian, sikhs, hindus etc. no one tolerates other, Shias declare Sunnis kafir and vice versa, Wahabi's declare deobandi's kafir and vice versa, those who say thier namaz with hands knotted declare those who leave hands down as kafirs and vice versa so imagine the situation!
Dialogue must be with those who accept Pakistan's sovereignty and constitution and those who lay down their arms and must not be with the criminals and groups where foreign elements have infiltrated just to sabotage the peace process
Shariat is the alternative. Just impose Sharia in Pakistan and declare the constitution null and void. Since this is what 80% of Pakistanis and 100% of Taliban want, why not have it?
PTI was right because there are groups willing to talk
Talks must be with those who accepts Pakistan's sovereignty and constitution and lay down arms, Taliban are deeply divided and criminals and foreign elements have penetrated inside them, they need to be identified and flushed out.
Dialogue must go on!!