Imran Khan still wants political solution of terrorism

Terming the ongoing war in Afghanistan as a Jihad, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that there was no other way to resolve the issue of militancy except political solutions.

He, however, avoided commenting whether the war in Pakistan’s tribal belt could be labeled as terrorism or not.

Reiterating his stance on finding a political solution to the rising terrorism in the country, he said that he had stood against the ongoing military operations in tribal areas as well as the US drone strikes.

He maintained that these tactics only help in producing more terrorists rather than eliminating them.  “Real success would have been achieved if the areas returned to normalcy immediately after the operations ended”, he added

The PTI chief stressed that the military operations being carried out for the past eight years have failed, but maintained that a military option should be retained as part of a bigger political process.

“Even in Swat, such a huge military operation was carried out, but people are still being killed over there. The military operation was termed successful but the military is still sitting there instead of a civilian government,” Khan stated.

Addressing a press conference in Peshawar after paying a visit to inquire after the health of Malala Yousafzai, the cricketer-turned-politician condemned the incident.

In his view, attacks on children were against the teachings of Islam and Pashtun traditions, offering every possible help to Malala and her family.

He noted, “There was a need to investigate the motivations of various Taliban factions operating in the country and the decision to carry out a military operation in Waziristan in 2004 and the Lal Masjid episode were the main reason behind the violence across the country.”

He further said, “In the guise of the Taliban, there are several criminal gangs who didn’t even spare PTI workers by demanding extortion money.”

Commenting on rulers, the former captain said that drone attacks were carried out with the consent of the government, and in reaction, Taliban attack civilians.

He insisted that an army operation could be a small part of a larger solution but a conflict cannot be resolved through military operations alone.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 11 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.