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Peace jirga for meaningful talks with Taliban
From the Newspaper | Bureau Report |
PESHAWAR, May 29: Speakers at a two-day Qaumi Aman Jirga (peace jirga) have called for meaningful dialogue with disgruntled elements in Pakistan and Afghanistan to end the decades-long conflict and save the region from further devastation.
They said that withdrawal of foreign forces and non-interference were essential measures to establish lasting peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They blamed ordeal of Pakhtuns on lack of unity among them.
“We should talk to Taliban for the sake of peace,” they suggested, adding if America could talk to Taliban, Pakistan government could also negotiate with insurgents in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Veteran politician Afzal Khan Lala organised the jirga that was attended by delegates from Afghanistan, Pakhtun intellectuals from European countries, representatives of Awami National Party, Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Mazdoor Kisan Party, tribal elders and civil society groups.
Haji Din Mohammad, adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, represented Afghanistan in the jirga. Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and Pakistan People’s Party-Sherpao boycotted the event.
The event turned out to be a seminar by end of the day quite contrary to the Pakhtuns’ definition of jirga, which is convened to discuss certain problem or issue.
Speakers delivered speeches and narrated their ordeals instead of presenting viable and solid suggestions. After having lunch, majority of the participants disappeared from Nishtar Hall, the venue of the event.
Speakers from Fata complained that tribal people had been deliberately kept ignorant and isolated. They said that Pakhtuns from the settled areas had ignored their fellows and that they had been deprived of fundamental rights.
“Schools constructed in Fata are being blown up,” they said and added that their young generation was growing up without getting education.
Addressing at the inaugural session, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said that collective efforts through mutual trust among countries of the region were essential for restoration of peace.
He said that people of Afghanistan should be given right of self-determination and solution to the problem should be sought through dialogue and jirgas. Military operation did not provide solution to crises, he added.
Mr Hoti termed holding the jirga important on critical juncture of history that provided an opportunity to national leaders for mutual consultation. He said that recommendations of the peace jirga would help deciding future line of action after valuable sacrifices of Pakhtun nation.
Mr Hoti termed peace and stability in Afghanistan, Fata and Pakistan inter-linked and said that there was lack of mutual trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that both the countries could not get rid of the current problems without mutual trust. He said that intruders were not well-wishers of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said that political and administrative reforms had been introduced in Fata as per aspirations of the people of the area. He maintained that military operation could not be a permanent solution to any problem.
The chief minister said that the only solution to problems lied in political dialogues, struggle and holding of jirgas.
He appealed to the participants of the jirga to get united for peace and brighter future setting politics aside. “Solution to the problem is not impossible,” he said. He added that in times of lawlessness and devastation in the country, politics turned meaningless.
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/164090/
Pakhtun Grand Jirga begins How to stop shedding of Pakhtun blood main question, says Hoti
Posted on May 30, 2012
Afzal Khan thanks participants for coming under one roof
Fazalullah Mohmand
PESHAWAR: Asking or hoping for peace in Pakistan without demanding peace in Afghanistan, would be wrong, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti said in his speech on the opening day (Tuesday) of two-day National Jarga arranged by renowned ANP leader Afzal Khan Lala at Nishtar Hall.
CM Hoti said the Pakhtun had been attacked continuously by different world powers during the course of history. He said US lured USSR into attacking Afghanistan to avenge its defeat in Vietnam. Aggression on Pakhtun areas were continued to date, he added.
Hoti said that US should leave a peaceful Afghanistan and make sure that no reasons are left which could antagonize that country against Pakistan. Haider Khan Hoti asked the Jirga to debate the question as to Pakhtuns were involved and manipulated in the wars of world powers. This issue should be the priority of the jirga, he added.
Chief Minister said more than three million Pakhtuns lost their lives as result and the slaughter still continued but unfortunately they are the ones who are called terrorists in spite of loss of so many of their lives and destruction of their land. He added that people of this region should decide their own future and not outsiders do it for them and further added that reforms should be introduced to improve the lives of Pakhtuns on both side of border, especially in Fata. But the changes should be in accordance with the will of the local people. Reforms forced from remote areas like Peshawar and Islamabad would create a gulf between the people and administration that would directly benefit the militants.
Haider Hoti said, "While talking about militancy, I should think about poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and the lack facilities of easy access to justice of the people of this area".
Not much can be expected from the people to improve their lives when poverty was forcing them to commit suicide. Chief Minister thanked Afzal Khan Lala for organizing a grand Jirga with the cause to discuss the problems of the Pakhtuns. He said the Jirga was the beauty of Pakhtun culture and Pakhtuns do not need to be told about its importance, the CM added.
While inaugurating the Jirga the organizer Afzal Khan Lala thanked the leaders for participating in the Jirga and gathering under one single roof. He advised the participants with different political backgrounds that they should forget their mutual misunderstanding and should fights with unity the problems faced by the region..
The Jirga was attend by different national and provincial leaders belonging to different political parties. Others leaders belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas addressed on first day while the leaders from Afghanistan and other Pakhtun regions were expected to participate in the Jirga tomorrow. Those who addressed the jirga today included Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan of JUI-F, Senator Sardar Ali PPP provincial President, Rehmat Salam Khattak provincial secretary PML-N, Afzal Khamosh of Mazdoor Kissan and MNA Jamila Ghilani.
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