A spokesman for the Punjab government has strongly rebutted a news item published in the press with reference to a report appearing in The Wall Street Journal and the Long War Journal of USA, stating that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had sought a peace deal with al Qaeda and TTP.
The spokesman said that this assertion is completely false, baseless and concocted, adding that it is quite ridiculous to state that the Punjab government would make such an offer to any terrorist group.
The spokesman said that as a matter of fact Punjab had bore the brunt of Taliban brutality. Citing a few cases, he referred to the Moon Market blast in Lahore, Rescue 15/ ISI Headquarter attack at Lahore, suicide blast at Data Darbar, attack on Sri Lankan team at Liberty Chowk and GHQ attack at Rawalpindi, which resulted in massive casualties of civilian and law enforcement agencies personnel. Faced with such barbarous and brutal attacks, the people and the government of Punjab have resolved to wipe out terrorism from this province and the country, he said.
The spokesman said that as a matter of fact, this resolve has been strengthened after the attack on the Army Public School Peshawar, where innocent students and their teachers were massacred. The Punjab government has taken a lead role against terrorists under the National Action Plan, and security agencies are cracking down on miscreants, terrorists and their facilitators in coordination with federal agencies, he added.
The spokesman said that the Punjab government led by Shahbaz Sharif is fully committed to uprooting, eliminating and eradicating all forms of terrorism and extremism from the province.
“No offer, in any shape or form, was made at all by Shahbaz Sharif to al Qaeda or TTP or any other militant organisation,” the spokesman added.
