PESHAWAR: Senior negotiator of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Prof Ibrahim on Sunday said that the prime minister would be held responsible if former president Pervez Musharraf left the country.
“He (Musharraf) never abided by the Constitution. He brought others’ war into Pakistan…. The law is (the same) for everyone, so it should be implemented indiscriminately,” Ibrahim told the concluding ceremony of the two-day training of JI workers at Al Markaz-e-Islami.
He said every Pakistani is equal before the law and Musharraf should not get special treatment as he was a known violator of the Constitution. About the treason case against Musharraf, the Taliban representative said that it was the responsibility of the federation to take the matter to its logical conclusion. No institution should back criminals, he added.
He reiterated that the federal government would be solely responsible if Musharraf was sent abroad.The JI leader said Musharraf brought the US war to Pakistan and if Gen Raheel Sharif wanted to restore the prestige of the army, he should not support a criminal and let the court decide his case.
He claimed Musharraf adopted a policy after 9/11 that created a civil war-like situation in the country.The JI leader said the talks between the committees and the Taliban leadership were to be held in a couple of days, during which the issue of the release of the sons of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer would be taken up. He added that they would ask the TTP to release the two if they were with them or to use their influence to secure their release if they were with other groups affiliated to them.
He urged the Taliban to extend the ceasefire and stop attacks on security forces to take the dialogue process forward.He called upon the government and security forces to take steps for the revival of the talks.
Ibrahim said that the government and the Taliban were yet to begin “real talks”, adding that “real talks” would begin after the TTP demands were received.He said that government, military and Taliban should move the dialogue process forward with sincerity.
He said in the talk process, there were problems from both sides. He said Taliban prisoners were yet to be released by the government.Ibrahim said both the government and the Taliban committees should have a meeting with the army chief, adding that the army should trust the government if they could not become part of the talks.
He said that the Taliban negotiators were trying to keep the dialogue process on track despite “some hurdles”.“The parliament in 2008 also endorsed talks but a US drone attack sabotaged the process,” he said.
He added: “Dialogue with the Taliban is the demand of all political forces. It was not a demand of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) only.”He said peace could be restored through dialogue as a military operation was no solution to the problem.
He said the Taliban would accept the Constitution in its original spirit. He alleged that the Constitution had not been followed by any leader of Pakistan since its independence.He said the dialogue process had not yet started officially as the council of the TTP and the federal government showed reluctance about meeting directly.
He made an appeal to the Taliban to stop attacking defence institutions. He said the army should also not resort to aerial strikes.He said intelligence agencies were supposed to keep a check on the activities of the enemies. He said people were not pointing the finger at the intelligence agencies without any reason. The JI leader said that it was said in the courts that missing people were in their custody.
“We have been faced with a civil war for the last over one decade. The JI has been saying since day one that the fighting between the army and the people is neither in favour of the army nor the nation,” the JI leader added.
Tahir Khan Azikhel adds from Batkhela: Meanwhile, Yousaf Shah, another TTP negotiation committee member, said a separate committee would be set up to probe the “conspiracies” to sabotage talks between the government and Taliban.
Speaking at a press conference here, he said a venue would be decided for holding the third round of talks shortly.He said the government handed over 13 prisoners to the committee as a goodwill gesture, adding that practical steps would be taken to implement decisions for reconciliation.
Yousaf Shah said the people of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa heaved a sigh of relief after the ceasefire between the armed forces and Taliban.He said, “We have been saying since the very first day that the use of force is not a solution to resolving the conflict.”
He alleged some elements had been active in creating hurdles to derail the dialogue between the government and TTP committees, but they would not succeed in it.He said the “agents of the US, India and Afghanistan” were out to sabotage the talks, adding the TTP and government were aware of these conspiracies.
He alleged leaders of some political parties who were insisting on winding up the negotiation process and launching operations were not sincere to the national cause.He maintained that countering terrorism was a national issue and politicians should help the committees succeed in achieving the objective.
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