Expressing concern over the All Parties’ Conference (APC) being convened by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on February 28 to evolve consensus on holding formal talks with the Taliban, the elders of Mehsud tribe said on Wednesday that JUI-F chief Fazlur Rahman had neither invited them nor the elders of other tribes for the conference.
Talking to INP, Malik Haji Mohammad Mehsud welcomed the decision to convene the APC to restore peace in the country and pave way for peace talks with the Taliban, but questioned how the traditional tribal jirga could be asked to hold talks with the militants when elders of the tribal region were not invited to attend the APC.
Mehsud said the tribal jirga held under the auspices of the JUI-F in December last year in Peshawar was not convened to evolve consensus for holding peace talks with the Taliban.
“Fazl claimed that the declaration of the tribal jirga would be put before the participants of the APC,” he said, adding that the jirga was actually convened to discuss the current status of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
“Only a few favourite tribesmen of the JUI-F chief have been invited to attend the APC,” he said, adding that few tribesmen could not represent the whole tribal region.
Former federal minister Malik Abdul Qayyum Mehsud said that when the JUI-F chief had neither invited him nor other prominent elders of the Mehsud tribe, including Malik Inayat, Malik Sadram, Malik Mehsud, Malik Karam Ali Khan and others, how the traditional tribal jirga could be constituted to hold talks with the Taliban.
Abdul Qayyum said that the convening of the APC was good for political point-scoring and getting space in the media, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the first to hold a rally for the restoration of peace in the tribal belt. He said that afterwards, Fazl convened a tribal Jirga in Peshawar. Watching the development, the Awami National Party (ANP) at the end of their tenure convened an APC in Islamabad, he said, adding that in a tit-for-tat move, the JUI-F chief also convened an APC to evolve consensus for holding talks with the Taliban. He said the JUI-F was only trying to improve its political stature through the APC.