Asserting that the PTI as a political party had always opposed terrorism, the party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Thursday that it was wrong to say that the party government in KP had taken no action against terrorists, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing a press conference with other PTI stalwarts Asad Qaiser and Salman Akram Raja sitting alongside him, he said that the PTI leaders had always raised their voice against terrorism.
He further said that the PTI strongly condemned the targeting of Pakistan Army personnel and civilians by the terrorists.
Gohar underscored the need for developing a same narrative against terrorism, emphasizing that it's not time to play politics on the serious issue of terrorism.
Speaking on the occasion, Salman Akram Raja said that the defence of the country’s frontiers was not PTI’s, but security forces’ job. “If terrorists are infiltrating into the country, then the PTI should not be held accountable for that,” he said and added that it was former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s stance that talks should be held with the Afghan government. “And you will also have to hold dialogue with the Taliban,” he emphasized.
Referring to a press conference addressed by the DG ISPR a couple of days ago, he said that the DG had said that terrorists had hunger for money. “If that is the case then the government should take steps for the creation of job opportunities in the restive areas so that none could turn to militancy.”
Raja said that the PTI stood by the people of the country since it could not see them becoming homeless.
At the same time, he made it clear that no one should expect PTI to hold talks as long as its founder, who is also the country’s most popular leader, was in Adiala Jail’s death cell.
Raja also made it clear that Imran Khan’s role was important in any kind of talks. “Any dialogue be it related to the issue of terrorism or the country’s political situation is meaningless until and unless the PTI founder becomes part of it,” he asserted.
Asad Qaiser said that the operation had been underway against terrorists in the country’s tribal areas for the last 18 years, but it had failed to produce the desired results.
He stressed the need for taking the KP government into confidence before taking any decision concerning the fate of the province. “We want peace in KP. Every political party wants peace in the province.”
He further said that who introduced the culture of violence in the country was in everybody’s knowledge. “People who had been displaced during the operation carried out during the reign of Pervez Musharraf are still to be rehabilitated.”
He said that the federal government was still to pay Rs106 billion to the KP government.