LAHORE  - The PPP has taken strong exception to one of the points agreed upon between the TTP and the government, according to which, the two sides have agreed to limit the scope of dialogue to the troubled areas.
“It tantamount to surrendering FATA to the Taliban militants”, Bilawal’s spokesperson Fawad Ch said while commenting on the development.
He was of the view that the point in question contains a clear hint that government had almost made up its mind to accept sovereignty of the TTP over areas controlled by them.
“It is not acceptable to the PPP. The people of FATA could not be left at the mercy of the TTP to do whatever they liked in that territory”, Fawad affirmed while talking to The Nation.
He suspected that government was going to sign a Swat-like agreement with the militants who, according to him, would continue to remain a constant source of trouble for the government if they are given such a big concession.
Bilawal’s spokesperson also opposed the possible acceptance of another demand of the TTP regarding lifting of ban on their organisation. “This would mean that the government has accepted the TTP as a parallel power”, he remarked.
Chaudhry pleaded that Shias and Brailvis should also be given representation in the peace committees since the issue of enforcement of Sharia would also be a subject of negotiations in the coming rounds of talks.
Giving his perspective on the Government-TTP talks, Senator Mohsin Leghari opined that for the talks to succeed it was highly important that these should be held through back channels and should not be discussed in the TV talk shows. On the points agreed by the two sides, Leghari said these should not have been made public till the final agreement.
He believed that sharing of details with the media might derail the negotiation process as the two sides might start playing with the gallery to appease their respective constituencies.
Senator Dr Babar Awan held the view that in order to make the talks successful ,Prime Minister should join the dialogue process without any hesitation. He thought it would encourage other political leaders and party heads to become part of the peace process.
Even otherwise, he added, the APC had given mandate to the government to hold dialogue with the militants itself and not the authority to delegate this power to some other body and that too outside the Parliament.
The government must not ignore the supremacy of the Parliament while running affairs of the State, he concluded.