Asserting that former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan was a political reality whether one liked it or not, former foreign minister and the party stalwart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday stressed the need for acknowledging his political stature and talking to him, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In an informal chat with reporters at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, he said it was only through talks that the country could be pulled out of crises and its economy resurrected.

“For God’s sake, stop labeling each other as ‘traitors’,” the PTI leader implored, adding that history bore testimony to the fact that the ban on political parties had failed to produce the desired results.

Calling the statement given by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari against the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision in the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) reserved seats’ case an ‘irresponsible’ one, Qureshi said such an ‘assault’ on the apex court was not expected of him.

Commenting on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement in which he had talked of eliminating the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, the former foreign minister said what was required was an ‘Ijtehad’ on the issue. “And the only time, we had an ‘Ijtehad’ on it was in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on the Army Public School, Peshawar.”

He said that negotiations were the only way through which Balochistan could attain peace and progress.  

However, he was of the view that some forces were fanning rebellion in the province.

Qureshi said there was a need to heal the wounds of the people of Balochistan. “We should hug them rather than detest them.”

The PTI leader said it was wrong to say that the late Akbar Bugti was against the federation. “My family has ties with the deceased’s family and I was fully acquainted with his viewpoint,” he said, and added, “Similarly, Sardar Ataullah Mengal was not hostile towards Pakistan either. What he asked for was the rights of the people of Balochistan, and demanding rights is not against the country.”

Qureshi said he prayed for the implementation on the deal struck by the Jamaat-e-Islami with the government.