The party says terrorism is a national matter, not a political one, calling for dialogue and political continuity
Press Conference in Islamabad by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senior Leader Salman Akram Raja and Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Source: X
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday strongly rejected allegations that it facilitated terrorism, saying the party has consistently maintained that terrorism is a national threat and must not be politicized.
The statements were made at a press conference in Islamabad by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senior Leader Salman Akram Raja and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. The briefing came in response to comments by the military spokesman, who earlier accused a political party in power in 2021 – widely seen as a reference to the PTI – of “internally facilitating terrorists”.
Barrister Gohar said PTI’s stance on terrorism has always been clear. “Terrorism is a menace and it is a national responsibility to remove it from its roots,” he said. “Our position has always been that there should be no policy on terrorism. We need a single position and a unified national narrative.”
Read: DG ISPR blames KP’s political milieu for rise in terrorism
He said it was wrong to label the PTI or its government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as non-cooperative. “This is far from the truth,” he said, pointing to a grand jirga held in the province in which several political parties participated. He said the jirga had emphasized that decisions should be taken in confidence with the provincial assembly.
“Terrorists have no religion, nationality or borders. They do not discriminate between men and women. They attack our mosques and Eidgahs and we condemn every attack,” Gohar said. He added that it was “inappropriate and dangerous to question why PTI was not targeted by terrorists”.
“We believe that when there is a terrorist attack anywhere, the entire country is targeted,” he said.
Gohar said the PTI government in KP had increased the capacity of the provincial police and spent Rs40 billion for this purpose. “The top priority of PTI and its government has always been protection of life and property and there can be no compromise on this,” he said.
He warned that blaming PTI through press conferences and allegations widened the divide between institutions and political forces. “This is harmful to the nation at this time and should be avoided,” he said, adding that he hoped such press conferences would not be necessary in the future.
The PTI leaders were reacting to remarks two days earlier by Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Lt. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who questioned the PTI’s anti-terror narrative and linked rising militant violence in KP to what he described as a “politically permissive environment”. The military spokesman said about 80 percent of terror incidents had taken place in KP and alleged a political-terror nexus behind the rise in attacks.
Read more: ‘Facilitating environment’ behind KP terror wave, says DG ISPR
At this briefing, DG ISPR played video clips of senior PTI leaders and showed screenshots of statements attributed to PTI founder Imran Khan questioning their opposition to military operations. He said the party opposed counter-terrorism and was “seeking help from Afghanistan”.
Salman Akram Raja said it was completely wrong to describe the PTI founder as sympathetic to terrorists. “We do not support terrorists. We are only against the killing of innocent people,” he said. He questioned who was supplying weapons to Daesh and said the issue had been raised with DG ISPR but not answered clearly.
He said wars are jointly fought by the armed forces and the people and PTI could help bridge the gap between the public and state institutions. “Drone attacks on weddings and attacks on mosques are unacceptable to us. That’s why we say such operations are not acceptable,” he said, adding that Pakistan will eventually have to engage with the Afghan government.
Raja said PTI wanted continuity of policies and a comprehensive national policy on terrorism. He said economic deprivation was a major problem in the affected areas where employment opportunities had not been created. “PTI has been falsely accused. We have come with a message of unity,” he said, adding that the party stood against displacement and wanted to protect citizens whether threats came from terrorists or the state.
Asad Qaiser said that no dialogue could succeed without Imran Khan’s involvement. “This press conference is not against anyone,” he said. “We want strong institutions and a strong army, but institutions must also function within their constitutional limits.”
He said that military operations had been going on in KP for the last 17 to 18 years, yet terrorism had not ended and instead increased. “If a policy does not succeed, it must be changed,” he said, adding that decades of conflict fought in the name of jihad had damaged local culture and spread the Kalashnikov culture because of the Afghan war.
Qaiser also raised financial issues, saying the federation owed KP billions of rupees, adding that the province was not getting its due share and its development budget was being released intermittently.
“PTI is the largest political party in Pakistan, yet there is a campaign against us and attempts to crush us,” he said. “Pakistan is our life and we oppose efforts to create hatred between people and institutions.”
Barrister Gohar said that no political party in KP had been spared from terrorism and PTI did not want interference from any country in Pakistan’s internal affairs. He said PTI is not holding talks with anyone at present, adding that the mandate for any talks had been given by Imran Khan to Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mahmood Khan Achakzai.
He said PTI had earlier participated in talks but nothing came out of them. “If nothing changes, why should we sit again?” he asked.
Gohar also said that the KP Chief Minister had called for people’s voice to be heard. “Institutions, their heads and politicians are not the fathers of the nation; they are the servants of the people,” he said.
He added that PTI did not send any representative to the National Dialogue Committee formed a day earlier despite being invited to attend.
