ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmad Shah, who had represented the PPP in the government-sponsored All Party Conference held on Monday, said it was easier to hold talks with the Afghan Taliban than their counterparts in Pakistan.
“If one goes by the history of dialogue with the Taliban in Pakistan, safely over one dozen times the state has engaged militants in talks but unfortunately it failed to achieve the desired result of bringing peace to the country,” Shah said yesterday.
Shah’s words and conversation with other participants of the APC and government officials appeared to give an impression that not much hope could be attached to the option of talks. It also appeared that this was the implied conclusion of the presentation given by the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the army chief’s remarks at the APC.
When asked if the PML-N government would be able to make a difference this time, Shah said the leadership of the ruling party had fully supported dialogue with militants and, therefore, it should be given a fair chance. He said the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which had been on the receiving end of militants sustained attacks, was also in favour of dialogue. But he quickly referred to the famous Nizam-i-Adl regulation which was passed by parliament during the PPP government in April 2009 and said despite that it had to send the army to Swat after Sufi Mohammad failed to abide by the agreement under which the militants were to renounce.
As an opposition leader as well as representative of the PPP, “I fully support the government’s move to go ahead with talks and will always be there at the government’s beck and call”, Shah added.
Internews
