President Zardari rejects military offensive in North Waziristan without consensus

In an extraordinary message by the head of the state, President Asif Ali Zardari has made it clear that there would be no military offensive without evolving a consensus, vowing that the government is committed to rooting out terrorism in the country.

He, however, said that the opposition was not in a mood for negotiations to forge a common stance on key national issues, including a military operation in North Waziristan.

Addressing the concluding session of a conference, the president said, “There is a need for consensus following the policy of reconciliation to achieve the desired results in the war against terror and ensure peace and security.”

He also cautioned against using force against a mindset which is widespread across segments of society, urging the need for evolving a national consensus, similar to the one created before undertaking operations in Swat in 2008, in order to confront the terrorists head on.

He noted, “We agree that we need to act against militants, but are we ready for a possible blowback? Any decision to use force would be taken with complete consensus, in the right context, and at an appropriate time.”

Stressing that as a nation we need to accommodate other nations, he claimed that in the present situation, it seemed futile to talk about consensus with the opposition parties.

He also lamented that if they failed to reconcile amongst themselves, they would not be able to reconcile with other countries.

He asked the country to pay close attention to the polarization of society, reminding them former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination.

The president observed, “The attack on Malala Yousafzai was an attack on our values and on the future of our new generation. It was wrong to justify the attack as a reaction against the war in Afghanistan or drone attacks.”

He further stated that the young girls represented a challenge to the terrorist assault on our values and Malala was targeted because of her defiance of the extremist mindset. He underscored that the fight against extremism was going to be a long one and on all fronts.

Commenting on drone attacks, he stated, “We have consistently opposed drone attacks and we will continue to oppose them. Drone attacks were a violation of our sovereignty and are counterproductive.”

President Zardari insisted that a blame game between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan would be counterproductive to the cause against militancy in the region.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 22 2012. Filed under Latest News, 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.