LAHORE: Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah has underscored the need for talks for resolving the issues of terrorism and sectarianism.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn here on Thursday, he reiterated that the PML-N government was according first priority to talks with the Taliban as it was a national consensus and mandate given by the All-Party Conference. The APC did not propose military operation as a first step, he said.

“Whether they (the Taliban) accept or say no to the talks’ offer, we’ve to employ dialogue as the first option,” he said.

He said targeting of the PTI leaders by the Taliban showed that the extremists had no interest in talks.

He said suicide bombers, their handlers, sectarian killers, kidnappers and those involved in other heinous crimes enjoyed safe havens in the tribal area. “These elements get the Taliban backing either by offering a share in the booty amounting to billions of rupees in high-profile kidnap cases or by including the condition for release of the arrested terrorists in the charter of demand,” he said.

Answering a question, he said intelligence reports about terror hits were usually vague. Referring to the killings of Khwaja Khalid and Col Imam, the minister hinted at the problems the agencies face in penetrating the extremists. “The Taliban simply slaughter instead of shooting a person whom they suspect as being a sleuth. They use code words even during their telephonic conversations and sometimes purposely pass on wrong information,” he said.

Expressing the government’s helplessness amid dearth of resources required to nab the terrorists, he said the bombers and their handlers could be checked and eliminated only at their source of origin (in tribal area) as identifying them from among the millions who daily enter and exit the cities was next to impossible.

“We simply cannot frisk 1.1 million people who daily enter Lahore,” was what he argued.

Responding to another question, he said installing scanners at the entry points could be a good option but the job could not be done in one go as it required huge funds.

About the possible scenario in Rawalpindi on the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain, Rana Sana admitted that religious scholars of both sides were creating some trouble. “One side is insisting on using the route for the Chehlum procession, which was used on Youm-i-Ashur and the other is determined not to let the procession pass by the mosque torched by the miscreants,” he said.

He said the Rawalpindi commissioner had been asked to make both the sides sit together and resolve the issue amicably instead of forcing the government to take drastic measures to avert any untoward situation.

Asked what action the government was taking against the police officers found guilty of dereliction of duty in the Rawalpindi tragedy, he said a committee had been formed to prepare a charge sheet against them and forward it to the Establishment Division (federal government) for further action.

JUDICIARY: To a question whether the PML-N government would feel relieved after the retirement of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the law minister said he did not believe that the higher judiciary would give a smooth sailing to the government. “We’ve to co-exist with a proactive media and an unforgiving judiciary that takes pride in suspending executive orders of the authorities,” he said.

PSP: Responding to a question about the resentment the Police Service of Pakistan was showing at the Punjab government’s move to hand over administrative control of the counter-terrorism department to the Home Department, he said the PSP stance was now unjustified as it was very clear from the day the CTD was created under a 2010 notification that it would be an independent department.

He said the government could consider the police demand, if sent through proper channel, for pays equal to those proposed to be given to the CTD officials but it could not accept absorbing the CTD into the PSP which was a 46-year-old institution.