Addressing workers: JI chief asks Nawaz not to stray from talks

Says premier should meet members of both negotiating committees.

PESHAWAR: Chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Syed Munawar Hassan asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to personally meet negotiating committees of both the government and the Taliban to pave way for lasting peace in the country.

Addressing a two-day workshop of JI members at the party’s provincial headquarters on Sunday, Hassan suggested the premier can also include a member of the military in the negotiation process.

He said Indian and US lobbies were working against the interest of Pakistan and wanted to push the country into anarchy.

He said America and its Nato allies had failed to conquer Afghanistan after 12 years despite their superior technology and that if use of force was a guarantee of success America would have managed to conquer the country by now.

The JI chief said peace in Pakistan was possible through dialogue and recalled that the use of force had led to the separation of East Pakistan. He alleged the Constitution was being violated in Balochistan and Sindh but the rulers do not care about it and said tribesmen who played a crucial role in liberating Kashmir are being punished for their loyalty.

Military operations have displaced thousands of people across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), said Hassan. He asked the prime minister to send a delegation to contact the Afghan Taliban and Mullah Omar to get their help to achieve peace in Pakistan.

He alleged Western lobbies were behind deteriorating law and order in the country. Speaking on local politics, Hassan asked party activists to start preparations for the local government elections and said the present government had been driven into office to achieve peace and economic stability and should work to get the country out of its current mess.

JI K-P chief and a member of the Taliban committee Professor Mohammad Ibrahim said on the occasion that both committees have not made direct contacts and are communicating through talk shows on television. He added they were being informed of each other’s positions through news channels. Ibrahim said despite several attempts they were yet to meet the government’s committee members. “Either the committee does not have permission of the army or the government to meet with us,” he said, adding those who want the use of force should show positive results of previous military operations.

The JI leader said they are now waiting for the deadlock to end so negotiations can resume as peace talks are the only way forward.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2014.