Allow Taliban political office in Pakistan, PTI asks govt
PESHAWAR - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Wednesday called on the government to declare a ceasefire and allow Taliban to open a political office in the country to facilitate the dialogue process.
After visiting the injured of Sunday’s twin bomb attacks on a church in Peshawar, Khan, while talking to newsmen at Lady Reading Hospital, said the tragedy was being politicised. On the one hand there were talks about negotiations, but on the other hand the war was still going on, he said as he questioned how it would be possible to move ahead with the decisions made by the fourth all-party conference.
He opined the government should announce a ceasefire and discuss the points of peace talks likely to be held with Taliban. Khan argued that around 210 blasts had taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the past nine years under successive governments, but his party never politicised those tragedies. He said the people voted for his party because they wanted peace and not a war.
Khan said the war on terror had claimed nearly 50,000 lives and the government should take negotiations seriously and declare a ceasefire. He asked the government to allow the militants to establish a political office in any part of the country for peace talks, saying without an office, proper negotiations would not be possible and there would be no end to the decade-long war.
Discussing the Peshawar church bombing which killed 81 people, Khan alleged the tragedy had been politicised. He reiterated that politics should not be played on the blood of innocent people. The PTI chief condemned the propaganda of rival parties regarding the lack of medical facilities at Lady Reading Hospital, saying the paramedics, nurses and doctors provided best medical cover to the injured despite limited resources.
He also mentioned that workers or MPA of the previous government had never donated blood but each member of his party in Khyber Pakhtunkwha Assembly donated blood for survivors of the Kohati gat suicide bombings.