JI Jirga says army, TTP ‘real parties’ in conflict

• Jirga demarcates tribesmen from militants, urges govt for due provision of rights for both
• Taliban interlocutors say they brought govt, Taliban back on table, onus of talks success on govt now

In a bid to ask Taliban for an extension in ceasefire, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa arranged a Tribal Amn Jirga which declared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Pakistan armed forces as real parties in the conflict, urging the latter to come up with a positive response.

A declaration in this regard was adopted during the jirga organised in Peshawar. The jirga was attended by elders and clerics from all over Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). JI chief Sirajul Haq and its provincial ameer Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Jamiat-e- Ulema-e-Islam – Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq and his aide Maulana Yousaf Shah among others addressed the occasion.

Sirajul Haq said that attendance of tribesmen in the jirga confirmed that tribesmen were not terrorists but were rather peace-loving patriots. He said that JI and JUI-S had brought the government and Taliban back to the table and now the responsibility rested with both the parties to make the process fruitful.

Both Prof Ibrahim Khan and Maulana Yousaf Shah focused their remarks on dialogue between government and Taliban.

Prof Ibrahim Khan said, “Army and Taliban are real parties in the case and their meeting could help in conflict resolution.” He made it clear that the issue could not resolve through military operations.

Referring to existing crises and uncertainty in tribal areas, Prof Ibrahim Khan said, “If tribesmen were given due constitutional rights then Taliban would definitely recognise the Constitution. It is time for the government to go for early implementation of the Constitution.”

Addressing on the occasion, Maulana Sami said that the government needed to demonstrate seriousness and determination in dialogues. He said that tribesmen played a key role in defence of geographical and ideological borders of the country. On such grounds, they deserved rights and opportunities such as the rest of the countrymen, he added.

Elders and representatives from different tribal agencies and regions also backed the negotiation process between the government and militants and appealed for “protection of their [tribesmen] genuine rights, especially right of survival.”

The elders said that in the ongoing clashes between the government and Taliban, tribesmen were being killed. Millions of tribesmen had abandoned their homes and were living as refugees in their own country, they said. They urged the government and politico-religious forces to take early notice of the situation.