LONDON, June 4: Imran Khan has defended the new government’s policy of pacification through peace pacts in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, claiming that the incidents of suicide bombings in Pakistan have come down considerably as a result.

Speaking at a reception arranged for him in the House of Lords by Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, the leader of the Tehrik-i-Insaaf said that with Pushtoon tribes straddling the Durand Line which had “no physical existence” and which was supposed to be running through 1,500 kilometres of the most difficult terrain in the world without checkposts it was impossible to stop people from crossing over from one country to the other at will.

“They would continue to do so and some would even be fighting in aid of their Pushtoon brethren in Afghanistan against the ‘occupying troops’, so unless these troops leave Afghanistan, the so-called infiltration would continue,” he added.

He said there were no Taliban in Pakistan before 9/11 and there was no sympathy for Taliban in the tribal region before the Pakistan army went into the area and killed people indiscriminately and there were no suicide bombings in Pakistan before the Lal Masjid bloodbath.

When asked what would happen in Afghanistan if Nato troops were to pull out suddenly, he said Afghans were democratic people and their Jirga system would overcome any problems that would surface as a consequence, “but as long as the occupying troops are there it would be impossible to achieve peace in that country and history is witness to that”.

He quoted extensively from Olaf Caroe’s book ‘The Pathan’ to argue that you cannot subjugate the Pathans with force; “you have to win their hearts and minds”.

Imran said he first became aware of the term justice when he arrived in the UK at the age of 18 to play cricket for his country.

“For the first time I heard people talking about their rights, even students were talking about their rights. And they could do it because of their justice system. And I was also impressed by the social welfare system of Britain,” he said.

He said he had launched his party about 12 years ago specifically to struggle for the establishment of independent judiciary in his country.

He said nothing could be achieved by any society without a true justice system, “and you cannot tackle poverty with a justice system which is titled towards the rich and the powerful”.

He talked with great passion about the ongoing movement in Pakistan led by the bar and the bench for the restoration of the judges deposed by Musharraf on November 3, last year.

He said both Musharraf and Zardari were afraid of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry because one feared his election would be struck down if the CJ was restored and the other thought if this happened the NRO would be thrown out.

Without naming any names he accused the British government of harbouring a Pakistani terrorist, leaving, however, no doubt in any body’s mind about whom he was talking about.