Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak Saturday expressed his optimism that the government’s reconciliation committee will have meaningful negotiations with Jamait Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The defence minister said the government has already constituted a reconciliation committee comprising senior politicians from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and allied parties to hold negotiations with the JUI-F for peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The government is in constant contact with the JUI-F and other opposition leaders to avert the march and is receiving positive response in this regard, he told a press conference.
Flanked by Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood, Khattak said the inclusion of senior politicians in the committee from PTI and other parties shows government’s seriousness towards holding talks with Maulana. To a query, he said they are also considering the addition of Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan in the committee.
Khattak said the government has unveiled all its cards for negotiation process and is expecting Maulana to join the talks to strengthen democratic process in the country. He said the PTI had held sit-in in the federal capital due to high inflation and corruption at that time.
The minister said the peaceful protest is constitutional right of every political party, and urged Maulana Fazlur Rehman to disclose his legal demands before the government for their amicable solutions. He said the JUI-F chief should refrain from launching so-called Azadi March and warned that strict action will be taken if the protestors damaged the public property.
Pervaiz urged all the political parties to develop unified stance on Kashmir cause instead of holding demonstration that will ruin the national economy. He said Fazlur Rehman should come to the table if he is a democratic person. Otherwise, his Azadi March will be considered a conspiracy against the country, he added.
Khattak said the Indian media is also giving coverage to Maulana’s addresses which indicates the involvement of foreign forces in the march. “If talks fail, the responsibility will lie upon the opposition parties,” he said, while expressing the resolve that the government will not let the marchers challenge the state’s writ.
Khattak said the country is faced with many issues, foremost of which is the Kashmir issue, “which seems to be constantly cast aside”. “It seems there is some other agenda (behind the protest); an agenda has been formed to bury the issue of Kashmir,” he noted.
He negated the impression that the government had been pushed into forming a committee ‘out of fear’. “These are norms of democracy. Things can only be resolved through dialogue,” he said, and stressed that the government only wishes to safeguard the nation from anarchy and destruction. “The government has to establish its writ. If someone challenges the government, it is not just Imran Khan that is the government, it is a state. And it is not just PTI that forms the state, we have a whole system and if someone wishes it harm, they will get the rightful response,” he warned.
Responding to opposition’s repeated demand for Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down, Khattak asserted that the prime minister’s resignation is out of question. He said the opposition was invited for talks but they did not come, which shows there agenda is something else, adding that they want to suppress the Kashmir issue.
Shafqat Mehmood on the occasion said students from madaris should not be there at the sit-in. He said children must not be dragged in the political issues.
