Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani dispelled on Tuesday the impression created by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique that the army would hold talks with political leaders in Balochistan.
“Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has always acknowledged the role of political government and its mandate to hold talks with Baloch leaders,” Gilani said in a statement.
The prime minister clarified that General Kayani never made such remarks and said the army chief categorically stated that the democratic government needed to talk to the Baloch leaders as it was not the task of the army to hold a dialogue. He refuted claims that the government wanted to create differences in Karachi and said that his government desired peace in the city on ethno-linguistic basis. He said the statement of a Pakistan People’s Party leader with an aim to defame the word ‘mohajir’ should not be taken as the view of senior leadership. Gilani said he himself was a ‘mohajir’ as his forefathers had come from Baghdad.
Separately, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Khalid Shamim Wynne called on Gilani at PM’s House and discussed the security situation of the country.
He spoke to the prime minister about the professional matters relating to the armed forces and their commitment to root out the scourge of extremism from the country.
