PESHAWAR:
The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Tribal Peace Jirga on Thursday called upon the
government, the Taliban and the military to extend the ceasefire and
remove all hurdles in the way of peace talks.
“The tribal elders fully support the ongoing peace process in the light of the unanimous resolutions passed by the All Parties Conference and land constitutionally and where the people had no fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution to each citizen of Pakistan.
It said due to the continuing drone strikes, artillery shelling and military operations, thousands of innocent tribal people, including children, women and elders, were killed or injured and many became mentally ill.
The declaration stated that peace in the country was linked to peace in Fata.Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq, who is the head of the Taliban designated talks committee, JI provincial chief Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah and tribal elders addressed the Jirga.
Sirajul Haq said dialogue was the only option for peace in the country as the tribal people were in favour of peace talks from the day one. He said the government should accept the demands of the tribal people, who were direct victims of the military operations and Taliban attacks.
“Success of the peace talks is a success of Pakistan and its failure is the failure of the country and the people as well,” Sirajul Haq said, adding it was strange that some people sitting in Dubai were talking about military operations.
“We are proud of the Pakistan Army. The world is praising our army for war, but it will be in the interest of the country that our army shows patience in the ongoing peace process,” the JI chief said. He stated that even if those sitting in Islamabad did not want to hear the Taliban peace committee, the committee members would go there for the sake of peace.
“We have brought the Taliban and the government to the negotiating table. Now it is up to the government to take advantage of it,” the JI chief added.All three members of the Taliban negotiation committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof Ibrahim and Maulana Yousaf Shah, told the tribal people that they were hopeful about the success of the peace talks and bringing durable peace in Fata.
The tribal elders from all the agencies and Frontier Regions, including Malik Misal Khan, Malik Toor Muhammad Bangash, Malik Salim Khan Mehsud, Maulana Abdul Haq Mohmand, Mufti Noor Muhammad Mehsud, Sheikh Janzada and senior lawyer from Fata Karim Mehsud announced full support to the peace talks and for the Taliban and government negotiation committees.
Akhtar Amin adds: Speaking on the occasion, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief and a key member of the Taliban negotiating committee Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan said the peace talks would not succeed unless the army became directly involved in the process.
“Let me make it clear that the war is between the Taliban and the Pakistan Army. Both the government and the people are suffering due to this fighting. The army is a direct party to this war with the Taliban,” Ibrahim said.
“A meeting of the chief of the army staff and DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the Taliban committee is a must to hear the army’s point of view on the peace talks,” Prof Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said those asking the Taliban to follow the Constitution should follow the Constitution first as a precedent.
In the presence of two other members of the Taliban committee, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Yousaf Shah, Prof Ibrahim said they wanted to ask the army chief General Raheel Sharif if he would like to see the peace talks succeed or not.
He said the army had already inked peace accords with the Taliban groups, including one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, and these agreements were still intact.
“If Islamic articles of the Constitution of Pakistan are implemented, we would give an assurance that the Taliban would accept the Constitution,” he stressed.
In his subsequent press talk, Prof Ibrahim said both the Taliban and security forces had reservations about certain incidents. He said the Taliban were complaining about the arrests and ‘extrajudicial killing’ of their men while the security forces were questioning why the Taliban continued attacks during the peace process.
However, he claimed that both the issues would be discussed in the next round of talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators, expected to take place within a few days.
Maulana Samiul Haq and Prof Ibrahim appealed to the Taliban and the Pakistan Army to observe the ceasefire in respect of the holy month of Rajab and to make the dialogue process successful.
In his speech to the Tribal Peace Jirga, Maulana Samiul Haq said the government committee was not in contact with the Taliban nominated committee. He warned that if they found the government committee was not interested in the talks, they would be compelled to withdraw from the peace process. He said the prime minister and other key government functionaries should cancel their foreign tours and focus on the peace process. The government functionaries should first put their own house in order and then go on foreign tours, he said.
Maulana Yousaf Shah said the second round of peace talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators was expected in two or three days.“I am in contact with the Taliban Shura members and there are no serious reservations about the process on both the sides,” he claimed.He added that he was hopeful of an extension in the ceasefire from the Taliban side in the next meeting and other positive outcomes regarding the peace process.
“The tribal elders fully support the ongoing peace process in the light of the unanimous resolutions passed by the All Parties Conference and land constitutionally and where the people had no fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution to each citizen of Pakistan.
It said due to the continuing drone strikes, artillery shelling and military operations, thousands of innocent tribal people, including children, women and elders, were killed or injured and many became mentally ill.
The declaration stated that peace in the country was linked to peace in Fata.Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq, who is the head of the Taliban designated talks committee, JI provincial chief Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah and tribal elders addressed the Jirga.
Sirajul Haq said dialogue was the only option for peace in the country as the tribal people were in favour of peace talks from the day one. He said the government should accept the demands of the tribal people, who were direct victims of the military operations and Taliban attacks.
“Success of the peace talks is a success of Pakistan and its failure is the failure of the country and the people as well,” Sirajul Haq said, adding it was strange that some people sitting in Dubai were talking about military operations.
“We are proud of the Pakistan Army. The world is praising our army for war, but it will be in the interest of the country that our army shows patience in the ongoing peace process,” the JI chief said. He stated that even if those sitting in Islamabad did not want to hear the Taliban peace committee, the committee members would go there for the sake of peace.
“We have brought the Taliban and the government to the negotiating table. Now it is up to the government to take advantage of it,” the JI chief added.All three members of the Taliban negotiation committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof Ibrahim and Maulana Yousaf Shah, told the tribal people that they were hopeful about the success of the peace talks and bringing durable peace in Fata.
The tribal elders from all the agencies and Frontier Regions, including Malik Misal Khan, Malik Toor Muhammad Bangash, Malik Salim Khan Mehsud, Maulana Abdul Haq Mohmand, Mufti Noor Muhammad Mehsud, Sheikh Janzada and senior lawyer from Fata Karim Mehsud announced full support to the peace talks and for the Taliban and government negotiation committees.
Akhtar Amin adds: Speaking on the occasion, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief and a key member of the Taliban negotiating committee Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan said the peace talks would not succeed unless the army became directly involved in the process.
“Let me make it clear that the war is between the Taliban and the Pakistan Army. Both the government and the people are suffering due to this fighting. The army is a direct party to this war with the Taliban,” Ibrahim said.
“A meeting of the chief of the army staff and DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the Taliban committee is a must to hear the army’s point of view on the peace talks,” Prof Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said those asking the Taliban to follow the Constitution should follow the Constitution first as a precedent.
In the presence of two other members of the Taliban committee, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Yousaf Shah, Prof Ibrahim said they wanted to ask the army chief General Raheel Sharif if he would like to see the peace talks succeed or not.
He said the army had already inked peace accords with the Taliban groups, including one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, and these agreements were still intact.
“If Islamic articles of the Constitution of Pakistan are implemented, we would give an assurance that the Taliban would accept the Constitution,” he stressed.
In his subsequent press talk, Prof Ibrahim said both the Taliban and security forces had reservations about certain incidents. He said the Taliban were complaining about the arrests and ‘extrajudicial killing’ of their men while the security forces were questioning why the Taliban continued attacks during the peace process.
However, he claimed that both the issues would be discussed in the next round of talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators, expected to take place within a few days.
Maulana Samiul Haq and Prof Ibrahim appealed to the Taliban and the Pakistan Army to observe the ceasefire in respect of the holy month of Rajab and to make the dialogue process successful.
In his speech to the Tribal Peace Jirga, Maulana Samiul Haq said the government committee was not in contact with the Taliban nominated committee. He warned that if they found the government committee was not interested in the talks, they would be compelled to withdraw from the peace process. He said the prime minister and other key government functionaries should cancel their foreign tours and focus on the peace process. The government functionaries should first put their own house in order and then go on foreign tours, he said.
Maulana Yousaf Shah said the second round of peace talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators was expected in two or three days.“I am in contact with the Taliban Shura members and there are no serious reservations about the process on both the sides,” he claimed.He added that he was hopeful of an extension in the ceasefire from the Taliban side in the next meeting and other positive outcomes regarding the peace process.
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