Islamabad:
PML-N and PPP on Sunday refused to sign a statement adopted by an All Parties Conference (APC), which, among other things, required immediate stops for all military operations and described terrorism, extremism and lawlessness as a result of poor government policies.
APC convened in the federal capital of the ANP was attended by all major political parties.
When he spoke to the occasion, Anp chief Aimal Wali Khan said there are people in Waziristan – a district that has witnessed a number of military operations for the past two decades – who have not returned home for 12 years. He said such a situation could not be called development.
Khan said his party is not against Punjab and is a pro-Pakistan. “But Pakistan does not give us equal rights. Asking for our rights should not be seen as being against Pakistan,” he added.
Jui-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said there is a question of the political and parliamentary system in the country as the current government is not representative of the people but a government’s government. “Our peaceful protests and marches are marked as a rebellion – that’s what pushes movements against rebellion,” he said.
QWP chief Aftab Khan Sherpao said the government, not the establishment, should negotiate with the opposition. “If direct interviews are held, it will bypass parliament. PM must convene a meeting and include representatives of the establishment.”
PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui supported FAZL’s call for a national dialogue, adding that martial arts and dictators have eroded the state. However, he asked if the hands of politicians were also pure.
“This same army has defeated an enemy five times its size. If martial arts were really in place, such conferences would not even be possible.
“Pakistan will survive, the four provinces will endure, and no one will be allowed to undermine the Constitution. The army sees Pakistan from a Pakistani perspective,” he said.
However, a common communication presented at APC caused a divide among political parties. PML-N and PPP opposed the declaration, refused to sign it, and Boikotted the press conference.
Communique called the ongoing turmoil, terrorism and violation of the rights of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan as a result of failed state policies that emphasized that sustainable peace and progress in Pakistan could not be achieved without democracy, supremacy of the constitution and provincial rights.
It required immediate stops for all military operations in KP and Balochistan and the establishment of a Truth Commission under legal supervision to investigate human and financial losses.
The statement described terrorism, extremism and lawlessness as the results of poor government policies and called for extensive measures to eliminate them. It called on to dissolve all alleged “death teams” and illegal armed groups, ensuring the protection of citizens’ lives and property.
It called for recognition of provinces’ rights over minerals and resources in accordance with the 18th constitutional amendment and rejected the proposal to merge the charges of the Balochistan police and instead call for its modernization.
The statement also called for the transfer of all powers in the merged tribal districts to the civil administration and abolition of laws as “action in support of civil power”.
It described enforced the disappearance as obvious violations of the constitution and demanded the recovery and production of all missing persons for courts.
It also called for the release of all “political prisoners” and the delivery of a free environment for political activities. APC also required immediate resolution of constitutional bodies, “especially Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)”.
It also called for the abolition of unjust laws such as 3-MPO and the fourth schedule and condemned the government over its lack of arrest of the murderers of an AP leaders Maulana Khanzeb, Mufti Munir Shakir and other martyrs.
It required rehabilitation of terrorism and operational areas along with the return of internally displaced (IDPs) and the delivery of compensation, jobs and business opportunities.
PPPS Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, PML-N-Irfan Siddiqui and Federal Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry rejected everyone to sign. “These are your requirements, not ours, and we can’t approve them,” Siddiqui said. However, MQM, PML-Q and other parties supported the statement.
Participants also expressed grief over the natural disasters and devastating floods in KP. In light of the situation, Islamabad “Peace March”, which was scheduled for August 23 against terrorism and military operations in KP, was postponed.
