Talks with: Taliban Army operation will remain fruitless, says Sami

JUI-S chief says the government should hold direct talks with militants.

GUJRANWALA:

The head of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) Maulana Samiul Haq said on Friday that a military operation against militants would not yield any results even if it continued for a decade.

“If military operations were a guarantee for peace then the US would have succeeded in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that the forces which opposed dialogue were enemies of the country. The JUI-S chief was talking at a press conference after the funeral prayers of an office bearer of his party.

Calling the recent statement of the Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif ‘irresponsible’, he said the minister lacked discipline and advise him not to create hurdles in the way of peace.

Khawaja Asif told Reuters that Pakistan could launch a full-scale military operation against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the tribal area within the month.

Sami said those who advocated military operation would later flee to London and the United States.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been continuously compelled to initiate a military operation but he does not want loss of human lives and displacement of millions of people,” Sami said.

He said he would send the members of the old committee to meet Taliban in a day or two so that militants might present their demands.

He said these demands – including the return of armed forces from tribal areas and payment of reparation – would then be deliberated upon by concerned authorities including the army and ISI.

He said the government should hold direct talks with militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2014.