PESHAWAR, March 28: Leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami from Fata have demanded an end to the operation in Wana, warning that the military action may turn into a national fiasco.
In a joint statement, Abdul Wahab, Faizullah and Jajeeb Khan, the JI leaders from South Waziristan, alleged that the operation in Wana was part of George Bush's electioneering drive in the US. Pakistani rulers were conducting the operation against their own people to ensure a victory for George Bush in the forthcoming elections in America, they added.
They rejected reports of the presence of terrorists in South Waziristan. They said tribesmen from South Waziristan would attend the JI grand jirga convened on April 2 and 4 in Peshawar.
They said that tribesmen were wise enough to decide about the tribal affairs. The government should not force them to take up arms in their (tribesmen's) own defence, they added.
In a separate statement, Salim Khan, Malik Saeed Khan, Mustafa Bangash and Malik Hikmat Pir Qayyum, all JI leaders from Kurrum agency, said the tribesmen were politically more conscious than their compatriots living in other parts of the country.
They said tribesmen would attend the JI-arranged grand jirga on April 2 in Peshawar. The JI Kurrum agency had distributed a large number of pamphlets in the tribal area about the JI jirga, they added.
They said the rulers were implementing US agenda in this part of the world by abandoning nuclear programme and killing tribesmen in the name of (a hunt against) Al Qaeda fugitives.
They said the rulers were leading the security forces against their own people that was dangerous for the very existence of the country. The JI tribal jirga would decide about the military operation in Fata and express solidarity with tribesmen.
In another statement, JI Dara Adamkhel chief Haji Mohammad Khan said that the JI would continue its struggle against the US and its Pakistani lackeys. The JI would replace the oppressive Frontier Crimes Regulations with a just legal system in Fata.
He said the JI jirga would force the rulers to end the military operation against tribal people. He said the tribesmen would prove to be the last nail in the coffin of US invaders, who had challenged them.
