PESHAWAR: Government is losing its writ in the province and the militants could force the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly someday to stop holding its sessions, feared a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker on Wednesday.
Mufti Said Janan’s worry was sparked by media reports that militants had asked residents of a Peshawar village to leave the area within days. “I read a report in a newspaper today (Wednesday) that militants have asked residents of a village in Peshawar to vacate the area within days,” he said during the provincial assembly session that debated law and order, the ongoing peace talks between the government and Taliban and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s role in it.
“Where is the government? Where is its writ?” asked the MPA from Hangu district. “They (militants) would stop us, tomorrow, from holding sessions of this assembly,” he added. He worried there would be no assembly and no opposition if peace was not restored.
JUI-F parliamentary leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman, who spoke before Mufti Janan, also warned of militants advances in southern parts of the province. “Let me warn you that Kulachi area is going to become a ‘no-go area’ where police will not be able to enter,” he said, drawing government’s attention to the “worrying situation” in that area.
He raised the issue of extortion and kidnapping and said people had silently been paying “bhatta” to save their honour. “Those refusing to pay ‘bhatta’ are killed and injured and the government is unmoved,” he lamented.
Lutfur Rahman said situation in the region could go worse in coming months after US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the province needed to make strategy in advance to deal with it. He lent JUI-F support to the peace talks and said his party was looking to positive outcome. “Whatever the mechanism be, we desire peace,” he said, and warned Fata and the province would have to bear the brunt of breakdown in talks.
He said questions were being raised about army’s support for talks but the latter had been allaying such concerns with contradictions. “I hope this is true [that army is supporting talks],” he added.
The JUI-F leader suggested any militant group that was still not “onboard” should be taken on board to make the talks successful. He also opposed Protection of Pakistan Ordinance on the basis that it violated human rights. “We have an unpleasant history in using such laws in a fair manner,” he said, indicating it would be abused by the security establishment.
Qaumi Watan Party parliamentary leader Sikandar Sherpao said peace was imperative for economic prosperity and development. He said absence of peace took people’s lives and liberty. “No person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law,” he read out Article 9 of the Constitution to remind the government it was its responsibility to protect citizens.
He said political leadership should be in control of talks and warned of failure otherwise. “There is ambiguity about talks that has led a circle of people to predict its breakdown,” he said. The QWP leader suggested making attacks on polio workers part of the negotiation. He said the government had been invisible in the province that had caused frustration among the people.
Pakistan People’s Party’s Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha said it appeared all stakeholders in talks were unhappy and unsatisfied. “Non-combatants were released by the government but the Taliban say they were not the ones they wanted, army says it did not know about their release and the government has also been expressing the same complaints,” he explained his point. He wondered who was carrying out attacks when government and Taliban were holding talks. “We are often told they are the third force. Nobody ever told us who this third force is,” he said.
