July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

PESHAWAR, July 1: NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti has said that his coalition government is not dealing with a simple sort of lawlessness instead it is faced with a full-fledged insurgency in some parts of the province.

Concluding a debate on law and order here in the provincial assembly on Thursday, Mr Hoti said “it was 100 per cent insurgency”, which could not be described as lawlessness, because insurgents were running their parallel fiefdoms. He said that negotiations were the best option to solve a problem. “We have opted for talks and concluded a peace agreement with the militants in Swat. We will not violate the agreement, instead we will abide by it on all costs,” he added.

He said lawmakers would be briefed on the enormity of the situation in the province and in Fata. The devastating effects of bloodshed in Afghanistan, he said, had spilled over into Fata, while Fata anarchy had entered the province. He said the entire region was in the grip of violence, anarchy and uncertainty, but the only solution of the problem was negotiations. He said use of force was not the only solution, but his government had decided it would not talk to the killers, kidnappers, dacoits and criminals.Mr Hoti denied that Fata or any part of the province was being handed over to the army for an operation. He said that army chief would not act independently of his own, instead, if it happened, he would execute orders of the federal government. He said: “In the province, it is my duty to seek support of troops and in Fata governor is responsible to request for the military support.” He said neither America or establishment nor army had facilitated their electoral success. He said: “People of this province have sent us in this House and we are representatives of the people.” He thanked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for extending his full support to the peace efforts of the provincial government.

He said this House would be taken into confidence on all peace initiatives. He said he or his coalition partners would not take dictation from any quarter except from the people.

Earlier, speaking on law and order situation in the province and Fata, Mufti Kifaytullah of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal said that the bureaucracy had launched a psychological war against their own people. “It seems that we are living in a fear-bound society. An impression is being created that Peshawar is slipping out of government’s hand. Some hordes are heading towards the city to pillage it. Who wants military operation in Fata?” he questioned.He said whenever an American envoy landed in Islamabad; the rulers either bombed out a remote tribal village in Fata or gifted him with a so-called ‘high-valued’ target. Mufti said dacoits, murderers, car-snatchers and robbers were a general phenomenon and such criminals could be anywhere, including Mardan, Sakha Kot, Mansehra and Kohat, but it didn’t require launching military operation. He said that operation was not their requirement rather it was someone else agenda. He said they would not allow the government to turn the army into a band of mercenaries. He lashed out at Awami National Party and said it crowed about non-violence, but when it came into power it forgot the philosophy of Bacha Khan.

He asked the House to adopt a resolution against the current foreign policy, which according to him was incongruous to the national interests.

Javed Abbasi and Pir Sabir Shah of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz also spoke against the shift of the government policy after 9/11 and said President Pervez Musharraf had made the country a stooge of the United States. They said the present lawlessness was a natural outcome of the ill-conceived foreign policy.

Saqibullah Chamkani of the Awami National Party supported the operation cleanup in Bara and termed it a right move against the killers and kidnappers, who swooped at many parts of Peshawar in the past and killed innocent people in Sheikhan. Nighat Orakzai of PML-Q lashed out at Taliban and Al Qaeda members and termed them morons, wild and savage killers.