PESHAWAR, Nov 19: An All Parties’ Conference held by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal here on Sunday demanded that the troops stationed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas should be sent back to barracks and a grand tribal jirga should be formed for restoration of peace in the region.
Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami national Party, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, parliamentarians from Fata and tribal elders attended the conference presided over by MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmad.
A declaration issued after the conference criticised the military operations in the tribal areas and bombing on civilians and suggested signing of peace agreements in all agencies on the pattern of the North Waziristan accord.
It said the country's major political forces should be given representation in the proposed grand jirga to initiate efforts to restore lasting peace in Fata.
It said that after the retreat on the Kashmir issue, Islamabad and Washington had planned to create a war-like situation on the country's western borders, which could pose serious threat to regional security.
The declaration said the government was promoting a culture of extremism by conducting army operations in the tribal area and alleged that the suicide attack on the Punjab Regiment Centre in Dargai was continuation of the plan.
The speakers said that United States could increase the number of troops in Afghanistan after changing its military strategy in Iraq in the aftermath of the Republican Party's defeat in the mid-term election. They expressed the fear that the Bush administration's new strategy for Afghanistan would plunge the entire region into a major security crisis.
The MMA president said the imperialist forces had launched a ‘great game’ to divide the Ummah. He said the victory of the Democrats in the election would not bring any change in the United States policy towards Muslims, adding that both the parties had the same agenda with only differences in their strategies.
He said the US had captured Afghanistan not only to crush the Pukhtuns but it wanted to create crises in Central Asia and establish its global hegemony.
He said the Americans would suffer defeat in the tribal area if their forces committed aggression.
He said the MMA would launch a countrywide movement against the government and the generals, but not the army. The nation should get rid of corrupt generals, he said.
He said the MMA members had resigned from the National Assembly not to sit idle but to bring the masses to the streets.
He appealed to people to fully participate in the protest movement.
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan criticised the opposition parties for not launching a joint movement against the military regime. He said the genuine political forces should come forward to rid the country of the puppet regime, adding that the opposition parties could never dislodge President Pervez Musharraf by holding seminars and conferences.
He called upon the tribesmen to unite and launch a struggle for their basic rights.
ANP leader Afrasiab Khattak criticised the western countries for backing dictators in Pakistan.
He said terrorism could not be eradicated in the region unless the army was removed from the power corridors.
He said that after the end of the `great game’ the Pukhtuns were left divided in four units and the nation had badly suffered during the Cold War.
He said the Pukhtuns were being targeted once again in the name of the war on terrorism.
He demanded an independent inquiry into the Bajaur incident and other military operations conducted in North and South Waziristan agencies.
He said a trial of the generals involved should be held for killing innocent people in the tribal area.
PESHAWAR, Nov 19: An All Parties’ Conference held by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal here on Sunday demanded that the troops stationed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas should be sent back to barracks and a grand tribal jirga should be formed for restoration of peace in the region.
