• Qaiser says dialogue not yet started
• Opposition threatens to give call for ‘civil disobedience’ if demands not met
• Senator says PTI’s readiness for negotiation must not be misconstrued as its weakness

ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser on Friday stated that the party had not yet initiated dialogue with the government and talks could be held only after the acceptance of three demands, including release of former prime minister Imran Khan and other party activists and constitution of a judicial commission comprising senior Supreme Court judges to probe violent May 9 and Nov 26 incidents.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly after registering strong protest over the continued absence of the ministers from the proceedings for a third consecutive day, Mr Qaiser refuted reports in media and political circles that the PTI had begun talks with the government following his meeting with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

“I want to make a clarification. The media has been reporting since yesterday that [govt-PTI] dialogue is taking place and my meeting with the speaker is being referred to in this connection,” he said, clarifying that he had gone there only to condole with the speaker over the demise of his sister and not to hold any dialogue.

Mr Qaiser, who had served as the NA speaker under the previous PTI government, said they had formed a committee for dialogue, but the committee would proceed under the guidance of Imran Khan only when the government would show seriousness.

The clarification from Mr Qaiser came a day after incarcerated founding chairman of the PTI Imran Khan expressed his displeasure over the party leadership for adopting a ‘positive’ posture in parliament and showing readiness to hold talks with the government.

He was also reportedly angry over the party leadership for not lodging a protest inside the National Assembly and the Senate when the two houses met for the first time after the alleged killing of the party workers due to firing of the personnel of the law enforcement agencies during the D-Chowk protest on Nov 26.

Talking to reporters at Adiala Jail during the hearing of Toshakhana case, Mr Khan had stated that the PTI leaders should not have given an impression of a friendly opposition.

On the opening day of the National Assembly’s winter session on Tuesday, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan while asking the government to hold those accountable who had allegedly opened fire on the PTI protesters had asked the government to forget the past and move forward to rectify mistakes.

Despite announcing that it would lodge a strong protest inside the parliament house over, what it called, the Islamabad massacre, the PTI had preferred to participate in the assembly proceedings in an orderly manner without creating any trouble for the ruling coalition.

Mr Qaiser said that their demands were very simple, adding that a judicial commission led by SC judges should be formed to investigate the incidents of May 9 and Nov 26 to fix responsibility.

The PTI leader said the constitution granted the right to protest to every political party, but his party was being denied this right on the pretext of a new law barring protests in Islamabad. He said this law was against fundamental rights and thus “illegal”.

“Why bullets were fired?” he asked while alleging that 12 PTI workers were ‘martyred’ on Nov 26 allegedly due to firing by security forces. He asked the government to produce evidence that the PTI protesters were violent.

Highlighting the alleged victimisation of the party, the former speaker said there was no respect for human rights in Punjab, which was “virtually under a martial law”.

He alleged that those arrested on Nov 26 were being implicated by the Punjab police in cases related to May 9 incidents. He said they did not support provincialism, but whosoever was doing it were conspiring against the country. He alleged that Pakhtun ‘community was being targeted’. Amid slogans of “shame, shame”, he said Islamabad had been made a “no-go area” for Pakhtuns.

Mr Qaiser also lashed out at the federal government for “lack of interest in addressing the deteriorating situation in Kurram and Parachinar”, saying the residents near the border had lost their livelihoods.

“Stop sowing seeds of hatred. Such behaviour is emboldening anti-state elements and causing irreparable harm to our nation” besides increasing sense of deprivation among the people of KP.

While addressing a presser at the residence of PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai after a meeting of the joint opposition, Mr Qaiser resented the Supreme Court’s decision to allow military courts to continue trial of civilians in the May 9 cases and said the party was consulting lawyers to challenge the verdict.

Press conference

Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan said Imran Khan had expanded the dialogue committee by adding two more members and threatened that the party would give the call for civil disobedience if its demands were not met.

Earlier, the lawmakers protested over the absence of the ministers from the NA during the question hour for a third consecutive day forcing Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah to once again defer the questions.

Mr Shah deplored the situation and informed the members that they had already sent a letter to the prime minister to seek his intervention to ensure ministers’ presence. Previously, Mr Shah had given the ruling that the assembly proceedings would not be held if ministers would not be present in the house.

The NA will now meet on Monday evening.

No compromise on dignity: PTI

Meanwhile, PTI Senator Aon Abbas Bappi regretted the comments from the treasury benches that the ground realities had forced PTI to agree for talks.

He said PTI’s readiness for dialogue must not be misconstrued as its weakness.

He said PTI’s incarcerated founder had expressed readiness to hold dialogue in the greater national interest and it must be seen positively. He said talks will only be held on the basis of respect. “We will never compromise on our dignity,” he remarked.

Aon Abbas also warned that the ‘racial profiling’ would only weaken the federation. He regretted that holding a CNIC from KP and cities such as Mianwali and Attock had become a crime, as such people were being arrested for no reason.

The parliamentary leader of BAP in Senate, Manzoor Kakar, in his speech, chided PTI for seeking a dialogue with the military establishment. There was a time the PTI leadership used to frequently praise the then army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, he said, adding that same would be the case if the incumbent army chief starts behaving with them.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024