Imran backs action against groups reluctant to talk
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Monday invited the TTP for a round of the ‘gentlemen’s game’.
“Action should [only] be initiated against the groups involved in the killing of FC personnel,” says PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: QAZI USMAN
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan asked the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday to immediately declare an unconditional ceasefire.
“The government should pursue dialogue with the groups that want to talk and take action against those reluctant to engage in dialogue,” he said while talking to journalists outside the Parliament House.
Imran said his party believed that dialogue was the best way to resolve disputes. “Peace could not be restored after 13 years of operations in Afghanistan and 10 years of operations in Pakistan.”
He said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a member of the government’s negotiating team, had disclosed that all major militant groups were willing to pursue dialogue. “American officials have also admitted that military operations have failed to restore peace in Afghanistan,” he added.
“Action should [only] be initiated against the groups involved in the killing of FC personnel,” he said, adding people should be evacuated from the area, if the government planned to launch an operation.
Nisar’s ‘invitation
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Monday invited the TTP for a round of the ‘gentlemen’s game’.
He was speaking in Islamabad after a friendly cricket match, in which officials of Pakistan Cricket Board, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and other foreign missions actively participated.
Nisar said TTP members appeared to be interested in cricket and if a match did take place, the ‘outcome will be positive’.
The TTP rejected the offer, saying the sport was responsible for turning the youth away from ‘Jihad’.
Speaking to AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said his group would refuse to play ball.
“These secular people want to distance our youth from Jihad and Islamic teachings through cricket. We are strongly against cricket and dislike it,” he said. “We are ready to open the deadlock in peace talks created by the government. The government is not sincere in peace talks, but Taliban are ready for it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2014.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan asked the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday to immediately declare an unconditional ceasefire.
“The government should pursue dialogue with the groups that want to talk and take action against those reluctant to engage in dialogue,” he said while talking to journalists outside the Parliament House.
Imran said his party believed that dialogue was the best way to resolve disputes. “Peace could not be restored after 13 years of operations in Afghanistan and 10 years of operations in Pakistan.”
He said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a member of the government’s negotiating team, had disclosed that all major militant groups were willing to pursue dialogue. “American officials have also admitted that military operations have failed to restore peace in Afghanistan,” he added.
“Action should [only] be initiated against the groups involved in the killing of FC personnel,” he said, adding people should be evacuated from the area, if the government planned to launch an operation.
Nisar’s ‘invitation
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Monday invited the TTP for a round of the ‘gentlemen’s game’.
He was speaking in Islamabad after a friendly cricket match, in which officials of Pakistan Cricket Board, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and other foreign missions actively participated.
Nisar said TTP members appeared to be interested in cricket and if a match did take place, the ‘outcome will be positive’.
The TTP rejected the offer, saying the sport was responsible for turning the youth away from ‘Jihad’.
Speaking to AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said his group would refuse to play ball.
“These secular people want to distance our youth from Jihad and Islamic teachings through cricket. We are strongly against cricket and dislike it,” he said. “We are ready to open the deadlock in peace talks created by the government. The government is not sincere in peace talks, but Taliban are ready for it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2014.