Blocking NATO supply routes

In K-P, majority of people are in favour of this move while in other parts of country, opinion is divided.

The PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government announced the blockade of Nato supply routes in the province recently. In K-P, majority of the people are in favour of this move while in other parts of the country, the opinion is divided. JUI-F chief Fazlur Rahman, while delivering a speech in the National Assembly recently about peace talks and drone strikes, said that we, the people of K-P, are the main victims of drone attacks, which is why we are pressing for peace.

Like Rahman, other leaders in K-P, like the ANP’s Asfandyar Wali Khan, have also stressed on the importance of peace talks. The ANP has lost hundreds of its workers in this war, while the PTI has lost two of its MPAs and one minister in the last six months alone. Similarly, thousands of Pakistani soldiers and citizens have lost their lives during the last six years. In Fata alone, thousands of tribal elders have been killed, while many more citizens, including women and children, have lost their lives in years of militancy, military operations and drone strikes.

It is the desire of every Pakistani living in the region that this war is stopped and peace is established. There are other sources of insurgency in Pakistan, but drone strikes appear to be its major source. The US president has been defending drone strikes on the plea that the US is securing itself through their use. But one cannot help but question whether it is justified to kill innocent people in the name of securing one’s own nation?

Most Pakistanis are of the opinion that in the present time, drone strikes are the major hurdle in holding peace talks. When Sartaj Aziz recently said that there will be no drone attacks during peace talks, a drone struck Hangu in K-P the very next day.

Therefore, one thing is clear: blocking Nato supply lines is the only way to stop drone strikes, which will enable Pakistan to hold peace talks.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.