PESHAWAR, Oct 23: Civil society members belonging to various districts of the NWFP have held the military-led government responsible for lawlessness in the province and the tribal areas and underlined the need to mobilise the masses for peace.

“People should join hands against the elements responsible for destroying peace in our villages,” said a member of the provincial advisory group formed by the South Asia Partnership (SAP) last year to suggest remedial measures for various problems.

The group members who spoke at length about the law and order problems of the province hailed from Swat, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar and other districts.

Tariq Khan, the regional head of the SAP, cited incidents of attacks on the staff and offices of some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on women and health issues.

Jehanzeb Khan, a participant from Kohat district, said peace could be established only if the military-led government was thrown out of power. He added that corrupt politicians had also disappointed the people which was why some people had developed an association with the Taliban.

Other participants underlined the need for a political process for holding free and fair elections. Some participants were of the view that people should come out on the streets to urge the government to restore peace in the region.

Abu Muazzam Turabi from Dera Ismail Khan said the youth were often inspired by elements who promoted jihad as an instrument of change. He said the youth were only taught the literal meaning of “jihad” even though there was a need to explain the true concept of the term.

The speakers stressed the need to mobilise the masses for peace as no development work was possible without establishing peace and security first.

Nusrat Naeem, programme coordinator for the SAP, said pamphlets on peace would soon be distributed among the people and rallies and conventions would be organised in an effort to mobilise the masses for peace. The world should know that Pakhtuns stood for peace, he said.

The participants also urged the religious leaders and heads of seminaries to create awareness about the true concept of jihad in order to combat the Taliban.

Qaiser Khan, another participant, said the US funds donated to Pakistan for the ‘war on terror’ should be utilised for the development of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). He held the Musharraf government responsible for destroying peace in the NWFP and Fata.