Speaking at the launching ceremony of a think tank the Centre for Policy Research and Dialogue, the minister said a meeting would be held soon to review the dialogue process with the Taliban. He said Pakistan will become peaceful because of the efforts made by the government.
Ch Nisar said the former rulers imposed a war on Pakistan for 12 years to serve the foreign interests. “This war continued for over a decade and nobody held talks to resolve the conflict,” the minister said.
He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government started talks and in a few months, a headway was made in the process. “Now those people who did not take any step to initiate the talks are raising objections and resorting to criticism,” he added.
Chaudhry Nisar said facts should not be distorted, as there were no acts of terrorism from 2001 to 2004 in the tribal areas. “No Pakistani or tribesman was involved in the incident of 9/11 but the rulers of the time got the war stuck in their throat,” he said, adding that millions of people in Fata were displaced from their homes in the previous years. He said Islam is not a religion of violence but it is all about peace and forgiveness and Allah dislikes chaos.
Chaudhry Nisar, talking about removing the name of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf from the Exit Control List (ECL), said the government had clarified its position on the issue. He said Musharraf shifted to his farmhouse from the AFIC without informing the government.
The minister said the people had stopped making a difference between right and wrong and truth and falsehood. He said the rulers should adopt the strictest standards of accountability as it was necessary for stopping degeneration in the society.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Nisar had an unscheduled meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday evening and it is understood that the minister briefed the premier about the reported release of 19 detainees in the tribal areas.
Sources in the Prime Minister’s House told The News that an international wire service wrongly involved the Prime Minister’s Office in the release of such detainees. The detainees who were released are non-combatants and the impression that the prime minister asked for their release or it was part of any deal with the Taliban was false.
No authorisation has been given by the prime minister in this regard. The Prime Minister’s House officially clarified that the release of some prisoners involved in petty crimes by the local political administration had been wrongly termed as release of the Taliban prisoners.
