PTM chief rejects peace talks with militants

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): The return of insurgents to Pakistan’s northwestern Swat valley has triggered a fresh protest from residents, civil society members and political activists.

Concerned at the resurgence of Pakistani Taliban, a large number of people gathered in the Barikot sub-district of Swat, seeking an immediate end to terrorist activities.

Participants of the demonstration, including youth and tribal elders, asked the state to do all it could to eliminate militants and their supporters from the picturesque district.

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen warned insurgents of a befitting response from all people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province if they sabotaged peace in Swat.

“Sabotaging peace in Swat means disturbing peace across the entire province. Such activities will not be tolerated,” he told the rally.

On case of continued insurgency, Pashteen said, people would not leave Swat. Instead they would take up aems against the militants, he added.

Pakhtuns could no longer be scapegoated to promote yje the interests of certain circles, remarked the outspoken PTM head.

Pashteen vehemently opposed the state’s policy of appeasing insurgents. “We don’t accept so-called peace negotiations with militants and their infiltration into the Pakhtun-inhabited belt,” he said.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Mukhtiar Yousafzai, Awami National Party’s Ayub Asharey and others also addressed the rally.

Speakers told the protest gathering, organised by the Swat Ulusi Pasoon and Swat Qaumi Jirga, they were ready to resist terrorists.

They wondered how miscreants managed to enter villages and patrol remote areas despite the presence of law-enforcement personnel.

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