ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed on Sunday that the Taliban had agreed to accept the writ of the state, but the government did not pursue the dialogue process seriously which paved the way for the military operation in North Waziristan.

Talking to journalists at an Iftar-dinner at his Ministers Enclave residence here on Sunday, the maulana said he kept on suggesting that the

local tribal jirga be given a role in the dialogue process, but the government paid no heed to it despite the fact that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had kept on assuring him in this regard.

JUI-F chief accuses government of not pursuing the dialogue process seriously

He claimed that at one stage the Taliban had agreed to bow before the writ of the state in the presence of ulema and jirga with conditions that they should not be arrested and tried and that their submission to the state should not be labelled as “surrender” but an act of “reconciliation”, he added.

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The JUI-F chief was of the view that the military operation would not result in any permanent solution to the issue of terrorism as militants would continue to fight against the state and create problems for people.

“If the purpose is to push them from existing places then the operation will of course achieve its objective. But if you want to resolve issues with militants, you have to make them submit to ulema and mashrans [elders] and to the state authority,” he added. He warned that militants had already organised themselves in urban areas of the country.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2014