LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday again called for initiating peace talks with the Taliban and said that military operation cannot bring peace in the country.
Talking to media persons in Lahore, the PTI chairman said that in the All Parties Conference (APC), all political parties had agreed to initiate peace talks with Taliban. He said that talks with the Taliban can be initiated with the help of Tribal elders.
Khan said that he has been saying for last nine years that the country needs peace and for that purpose talks with Taliban are necessary.
On the other hand, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called Imran Khan’s suggestion to allow Taliban for opening office as ‘childish’.
On Wednesday, Khan urged the government to allow Taliban to open an office for the peace dialogue to be held in accordance of a decision of the recently held APC.
“If the government is serious about pursuing the dialogue process with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan it should allow them to have their own office like the one opened by the Afghan Taliban in Qatar,” Imran Khan told reporters outside the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
However, speaking to media in Islamabad on Thursday, the JUI-F chief said Imran Khan’s suggestion for allowing the Taliban to open office is lack of knowledge about the ground realities.
The JUI-F chief said that the PTI seems to have started working on its real agenda over the issue of blasphemy law. He said no one should think about amendments in it, however, debate on how to stop its wrong utilization must be held.
