Peace with Taliban: Talks best, yet difficult option to defeat terror says PTI
Party leader Saad Khursheed urges restraint in using force against militant groups.
File photo of Imran Khan. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will stick to its stance over talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as it believes that it is the best, yet a difficult option to defeat terror in the country.
“Military operations have never been a solution to any problem, especially involving one’s own people,” observed PTI President of Religious Affairs Saad Khursheed Khan.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Saad Khan said that PTI leaders will convince religious scholars over his party’s stance to end drone strikes and initiating talks with Taliban which was endorsed by the All Parties Conference (APC) last month.
“We will prepare a solid strategy to curb terrorism and extremism in our national conference,” he said while briefing the media about the proposed national conference PTI is to hold on Saturday, October 5.
Earlier, Imran Khan in his article for an English newspaper on Wednesday cited the ‘debacle’ of East Pakistan to back his view that military operations are never a solution to any problem. “The debacle of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), which led to the breakup of our country, left me with a strong conviction that military operations are never a solution to any problem, least of all involving one’s own people.”
The PTI chief further said that starting with a structured dialogue, APC provided legitimacy for a holistic approach. He added that military action and war are always the last resort.
Concerning good and bad Taliban, PTI Central Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari said that her party’s point of view on talks with the Taliban is that we need to identify and separate those groups willing to initiate a dialogue with the government and those not prepared to move beyond their agenda of violence, so that the latter can be isolated and dealt with.
Dr Mazari further said that “we need to have a structured approach towards dialogue, and therefore, those groups which are willing to negotiate should be identified and brought together on a common platform.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2013.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will stick to its stance over talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as it believes that it is the best, yet a difficult option to defeat terror in the country.
“Military operations have never been a solution to any problem, especially involving one’s own people,” observed PTI President of Religious Affairs Saad Khursheed Khan.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Saad Khan said that PTI leaders will convince religious scholars over his party’s stance to end drone strikes and initiating talks with Taliban which was endorsed by the All Parties Conference (APC) last month.
“We will prepare a solid strategy to curb terrorism and extremism in our national conference,” he said while briefing the media about the proposed national conference PTI is to hold on Saturday, October 5.
Earlier, Imran Khan in his article for an English newspaper on Wednesday cited the ‘debacle’ of East Pakistan to back his view that military operations are never a solution to any problem. “The debacle of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), which led to the breakup of our country, left me with a strong conviction that military operations are never a solution to any problem, least of all involving one’s own people.”
The PTI chief further said that starting with a structured dialogue, APC provided legitimacy for a holistic approach. He added that military action and war are always the last resort.
Concerning good and bad Taliban, PTI Central Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari said that her party’s point of view on talks with the Taliban is that we need to identify and separate those groups willing to initiate a dialogue with the government and those not prepared to move beyond their agenda of violence, so that the latter can be isolated and dealt with.
Dr Mazari further said that “we need to have a structured approach towards dialogue, and therefore, those groups which are willing to negotiate should be identified and brought together on a common platform.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2013.