BANNU: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) central general secretary Laiquat Baloch has said that arrival of American forces into Afghanistan in the name of war against terrorism has plunged the whole region into turmoil.

Addressing a ceremony organised here on Monday to distribute relief goods among the displaced people of North Waziristan Agency, he said that people in nook and corner of the country wanted peace and tranquillity.

Mr Baloch expressed concern over the miserable condition of IDPs, living in camps. “We know that tribal women and girls are very respectable but we regret that presently they are facing difficult time in relief camps,” he added. The JI leader said that tribal people left their homes and household items. They were living in camps, rented houses and schools in miserable condition, he added.

Mr Baloch was accompanied by JI central deputy chief Asadullah Bhutto, JI Azad Kashmir chief Abdur Rashid Turabi, deputy general secretary Sajid Anwar, Al-Khidmat Foundation secretary general Abdul Shakoor, JI Punjab secretary general Bazir Junjua, JI Balochistan chief Akhundzada Abdul Mateen, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa general secretary Shabir Ahmed, Al-Khidmat foundation provincial president Noorul Haq, Ittehad Ulema general secretary Maulana Abdul Jalil and Matiullah Khan on the occasion.

The JI leader said that there was a political government in the country so all issues should be resolved politically through dialogue. He regretted that some elements wanted to ruin the peaceful atmosphere.

He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had tried to resolve the issue of militancy through negotiation and consulted political forces that fully backed him in his efforts but unfortunately the efforts didn’t bear fruits and army launched the operation.

Mr Baloch said that military operation forced about one million people to vacate their houses and migrate to safer places.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2014