Talibans do not have to open an office in Pakistan. They have the whole country. It is the government of Pakistan who needs to take care of that office and assert their authority. Let common sense prevail.

Khan Sahib !!!! what about putting certain conditions for talks on Taliban like cessation of Bombings and killing and butchering of innocent people ?

TTP does not need a spokesperson

How can you talk peace when terrorists are still killing people? Terrorists need to renounce violence and murder first!

Office for militants??? Why to recognize them??? A BIG NO to IK's proposal of Terrorists' Office. Are we going to legalize Terrorism?

The is wrong with him? :S I am sure people of Pakistan, especially KP would be regretting their decision of voting for IK!

I am shocked at the lack of intellect Khan is exhibiting. The Taliban is killing people why not ask his friends Taliban for a ceasefire!

I agree. Lets change the tactics. Lets go for the peace. I am sure Talibans are not bigger enemy than India. And India is now declared MFN. We need to admit that they are a force to recon and should have talks with them. Otherwise this is a never ending story.

if the pml[n] goverment can release the convicted taliban prisoners to oblige karzai ,then why does it shirk away from implementing the promises made in the apc summit?

Taliban office? They are killers of innocent people in Pakistan and you give them an office. Are they some sort of a separate country. They need to lay down their arms and show civility. Or full military action.

Imran khan has gone insane. He is treating these western funded militants as if they are the stake holders of Pakistan. Mr. Khan, why not allow other murderers and robbers to open their offices so that government can talk to them? This statement is silent admit of the shameful failure of law enforcement agencies.

This shows the mindset of IK - no ability for deep thinking and apparently no sympathy for the Christians who were recently slaughtered. I suspect that many of the people who voted for him are disappointed.

Dr. Q - I understand the general sentiment and agree with it in principal. The problem ofcourse is that we have been trying to eliminate them for the last decade and have made no headway. If the force route was working I don't think this proposal would get many takers. Unfortunately our security forces have been unable to tackle this problem effectively. The number of casualties has grown year over year so at some point one has to consider alternatives and think about cutting ones losses.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : exactly the same question i am asking how can Taliban hold peace talks while you are bombing them and droning them continuously. this isn't a solution, we should hold peace talks who wants truce and those who are not willing then they should be dealt with Iron hand and should be bombed and droned.

It seems Imran Khan is fooling noone but himself. If he is serious about peace in KP and the rest of Pakistan, he needs to first divorce PTI's marraige with Jamaat e Islami, condmen the barbaric acts committed by TTP and all other extremist groups. Instead what he is asking the spineless central govt. that "the government should take negotiations seriously, adding that it should declare a ceasefire" he should tell extremist to lay arms first and then talk.

Imran khan needs to explain why one sided efforts are necessary . what taliban behavior shows they are willing to negotiate too. they did not stop their activities one single day .even after the release of so many prisoners which should not have been released against the law. Imran khan needs to stop evaluating what the govt. and people of pakistan are NOT DOING to make taliban happy . instead he needs to explain both sides of the story.

Imran khan must stop evaluating what the govt. of Pakistan and people of Pakistan are NOT DOING to make taliban happy . instead he should see both sides of the story and compare what taliban behavior shows they are doing to facilitate the peace talk. their top leaders were in prison were not hanged by the govt. instead so many were released and are constantly being released on TALIBAN DEMAND against PAKISTAN LAW. Imran khan will loose credibility if he talks only one side of the story.

Complete waste of my vote for PTI. IK has lost it completely by given this proposal.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : Do you really think to place conditions before even starting the talks. Why cant we try to listen to aggrieved party first. It appears that you are using the same rote line that we have heard many times before.

Mr. Imran Khan needs to do a little home work. Let them(Taliban) have an office in Washington.

Khan has proven that sanity has long bid farewell to him.Will anyone ask him what comparison he sees with what's going on in Afghanistan, if that is where he got this dream idea overnight. Only thing I can see is he legalising the killings by terrorists,confusing nations mindset in their faith about army capabilities and by far acting as political face of terrorists.

Mr. Khan, These terrorists never was and never will interest in peace, they only have one agenda to kill anyone who doesn't agree with their ideology and very sadly they are using religion for this purpose. And, why they need a Political office in Pakistan, when there are dozens of political and religious parties are speaking on their behalf including PTI.

Did Imran mention what would the TTP office be called? Presidency, Governorate, or an Embassy?

attecks from both sides should stop first then dialogs will be impressive..

Expect more terrorist attack in Pakistan. & killing of innocent non Muslims.

While I agree with Imran Khan that there needs to be sustained dialogue and negotiations between the government and militants to give peace a chance, but that should not be at the cost of the numerous lives that were lost in the church bombings. The Taliban, or whoever is responsible for this heinous act, neet to surrender the real planners and perpetrators of this crime and then the governent should start the dialogue the process. The punishment of these barbarians must fit the crime. No religious or political ideology can be used to justify this despicable crime.

The good point to make the peace talk with Taliban.

What is wrong with Mr. Khan, does he live in some parallel universe?

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : I think if we say that terrorists need to take step first, it will either delay or stop the process. Let us take the first step. Our steps should be in controlled environment. How do we define control environment? how do we control it? I would like authorities to decide who are managing national interest.

Political office? Why not just have them move into the President and PM's office? Also hand over all the courts while we are at it. You're the only one smoking peace pipes Mr. Khan. Not the TTP.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : What if some one else is doing it under the cover of terrorists.Last time when negotiations were about to start they killed 2nd in command of Pakistan Taliban. This time again when negotiations are about to start they killed the Army General. Some one for sure does not want these negotiations to take place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally renounce this idea from Imran Khan. If they are allowed to open their office and succeed in acceptance of their demands then in next few years they will become a force, religious, political and as well as social force. The idea of peace process is to tame the beast without waving Hunter on its head not giving it a space to become Goliath.

Imran Khan has lost the plot again. He needs to decide which side he wants to stand on. He can either join the oppressed or the oppressors. There is no middle ground here.

Imran Khan is niave when it comes to politics and the he views world and Pakistan. He views the Pathan Taliban from his own traveling experiences 20 years ago as a tourist in that area. Wake up imran Khan!!! Read the book "Inside the Al-Qaeda and Taliban by the Slain Journalist Saleem Shahazad (shaheed). You will know what Taliban idealogy is and what they think of Pakistan and its people and government. Imran khan; a person with hedonistic lifestyle and then suddenly becoming a practicing muslim speaks volumes of the state of his mind. Quaid-e-Azam always remained a solid character throughout his life and a some what religious but a secular man. There is no comparision of Jinnah charisma and his leadership skills.

Imran Khan's hypocrisy is mind boggling. The Taliban have killed and accepted responsibility for the killings of tens of thousands of Pakistanis. They must have an office in Pakistan! Is the message to most Pakistanis to arm themselves and go around killing others that disagree with you and if you are successful in killing and scaring enough people, then you will be invited for discussions. Seems like morality is being driven more by tribal considerations for the great Khan than by strong moral underpinnings. As a fan of the cricketer and philanthropist Imran Khan, it is sad to see him take the tribal and religious route to power.Does Imran Khan want the rest of Pakistanis to arm themselves with grenade launchers and IEDs and take the law into their own hands as a path to legitimacy?

Khan it wont do any good; when people killing their own people in the name of religion, what do expect them to do. I say, have a full force operation, involve all your military personnel if you have to; eradicate these scum bags; and set an example to the people of Pakistan that the government and army are serious in doing something about this. Pakistan has never been in this plight before, you need drastic measures to overcome this. This cancer cannot be healed by blowing at your wounds, kill the germs! We have the lowest image globally; ask any Pakistani living abroad; now the extent of some Pakistani is so low that they refer to themselves as Indians! Get this right Khan, peace only is fruitful with humans, these are mere living blood thirsty creatures... Only you can solve this, coz you look like doing something about it. Whatever it takes, set a date for yourself that these morons will be finished in a certain agreed timeframe.

Why does government need to get serious about negotiation. It is the dam Taliban who is doing the killing. Pakistani government should not be on the receiving side. We need to man up....

Yes, lets open Taliban's office next to Imran's residence in Islamabad. That's what he desires and that's what he should get.

Mr. Khan has all the demands of the government and people of Pakistan, but doesn't demand anything from Taliban and other blood-thirsty terrorists. It looks very obvious that he is trying to save his skin (and life)

Oh, the great Khan is so na

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : How do we know who is killing who...atleast bring some of them to the table and then look for another one.

Violence should be renounced from both sides not just the TTP..we need to withdrawn our army and give peace a chance.

Why is Mr Khan always insisting on Govt and Army to implement ceasefire, bow down and start negotiation with Taliban. We have never heard him demanding the same from Taliban. Either is very naive and really stupid or have some different agenda,

Imran, your appeasement towards Taliban just amuses me, so let me cut through the fluff & try to understand what you are saying "we unilaterally declare ceasefire & let those fanatics continue to kill us like lame ducks".

no PTI was politicising drone attacks ever since, they had no time for Pakistani victims.

IK is absolutely unfit for politics. IK lives in a make-belief world. IK wants a peaceful dialog with a group that wants to bring sharia law in Pakistan. If he succeeds, he will drag Afghanistan, India, China and Iran into a massive war with each other. What a shame that educated Pakistanis still support a dangerous mind like IK.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : You are absolutely right Dr. Qureshi. What Imran is suggesting encourages any group of any religion or political affiliation to get government to the negotiation table by means of violence. It sends the wrong signal across the country. Any group that wants their way will blow up a bomb in a market, killing scores of innocent men, women and children, and expect to bring the government to it's knees that way. If the government doesn't respond, they will consider that they haven't been violent enough like the Pakistani Talibans and blow up some more. No matter which side of politics or religion you stand on, you must refuse to allow violence as an acceptable behavior in Pakistan. I can't believe that Imran is trying to put the Talibans and the Pakistani Govt. on the negotiating table as equal parties. What kind of message would a Tabiban office give to the families of so many innocent victims (most of them Muslims) who live in Peshawar and surrounding areas.

Imran seriously needs a health check. Period!

Khan Sahib your comments are shocking? we have released their prisoners and what we got in return? constant killing of soldiers and civilians so who is not serious in "talks?" we have already announced the withdrawal of our own army from our own territory.. we are still not serious? I really dont wish it but I wonder if you loose a loved one to these fiends then you will change your mind? we are all up for talks but why you blame us when they dont want to stop killing?

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : aren't innocent people murdered by drone strikes?

Great idea, I would suggest, to open not An office, but to open offices in every city of the country, so that people can go and beat the hell out of these so far face less scums when they blast bombs, and kill the innocents.

Recently Taliban killed our Major General. They killed tens of Army officials and innocent citizens. Why Imran Khan wants them to treat them special? On other hand he makes TOO MUCH NOICE when his party leader Zhura Shahid was murdered. He said no compromise on murder. This is a height of double Standard.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : You are right. But the reports coming are that out of many TTP groups, only one or two are against peace talks, backed by our enemies.

True they have renounce but do Pakistan Army has to renounce as well or will army carry on. If army carry on how will they renounce. If you keep continuing killing them and ask for renounce bcz Pak gvt has decided to start peace process. It will never happen. Mian Saab has gone to US, he is not a practical man. Why havent any body as yet gone to them. Just APC for media and shake hands with other political leaders is not enough. @Dr. A. R Qureshi : renounce

Really Imran, you and PTI being their mouth-piece, Taliban don

If taliban bomb both of Imran Khan's sons, will he still be asking for "muzakarat" and permission to operate offices?

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : Please do not negotiate with Terrorists, deal with them like the UK, US, French, Russian or Israelis deal with them, but since it is always an inside job where agencies, Political parties, establishments and foreign counter parts are involved, a nation that lives off of foreign donations have very little say in its destiny, we need to live with vicissitudes of our circumstances planned, masterminded, and executed by our leaders, we are treated as the subjects of a tyrant since 1947.

. Imran Khan must be out of his mind. Office for murderers on Pakistani soil.

Imran khan has totally lost it. Why does not he ask Taliban to stop killing innocent people? Why are you so obsessed with the talks when they respond with attacks?

The government of Pakistan should declare ceasefire first as a gesture of seriousness in this matter of national importance. Show of arrogance from government side will keep the status quo and innocent public will suffer as before. We are fighting our own people and should be grateful that they have not demanded a separate state so far and still call themselves TTP.

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : I fully agree with you. PTT had spared no opportunity to murder and why immature Imran Khan does not expect or ask these terrorists to declare ceasefire first? Imran Khan is hell bent on asking the government and the nation to surrender first. I don't understand his leadership. Thank, God, PTI's success was limited only to KP!!!

IK has proved himself an active supporter of TTP. He is putting salt on the wounds of all human beings who directly or indirectly suffered from TTP brutality.

Imran Khan Shahib, I have lots of respect for you but disagree with your approach. Have you seen there conditions?? They are openly challenging the existence of Pakistan, her traditions, dont recognize minorities and our way of life. They butcher people and are involved in serious crimes across the country. The are criminals and must be dealt with firm hands. You are showing weakness and they are getting encouraged. They are in cahoots with the enemy and are a danger to Pakistan. TTP must be wiped out....

what? Pakistani Taliban should be allowed to open a political office ?? now i am more than sure imran khan is out of his mind and he has lost it. he needs psychiatric help.

TTP is a bunch of criminals who wage war against the state; they are organized with lot of money and sophisticated weapons provided. This flow of finance and weaponry must be stopped! My religion is my personal business and has got nothing to do with state; no one can force me to follow a certain religious dispensation as Islam is following Quran and Sunnah and its between you and Allah Almighty! Mr. Khan if someone comes to my home and try to take up arms against me to force me into submission what do you think I should do stand up to fight or ask him to sit in my drawing room and get into submission? American Drones or no Drones TTP people are fighting people of Pakistan and they must be fought with tooth and nail- no compromise on that! You negotiate with equals and they are not equals against people of Pakistan. After 1977 I had voted for PTI gentlemen in May 11, 2013 and that was not for Imran Khan to let us down! You have to stand up against these people just for your honour.

I used to be a big fan of Imran once. He is no different than any other politician. Very easy to make these recommendations while he enjoys security. Common people are not as fortunate as Khan.

Recognizing a terrorists' organization of insane beasts as a political party? Never even thought that any sane person could suggest that.

This comment of IK is a last straw for me. I am done with him now. Nobody in right senses should allow terrorist to open office in the country.

if the nawaz government can release miltant taliban prisoners then why is it reluctant to implement the pledge made in the APC summit? furthermore the establishment of a taliban office in pakistan will create a forum where both the pakistani government and the taliban can negociate in a civilsed mode of affairs. like the old saying goes....the pen is mightier than the sword..about time it got implemented.INSHAALLAH

@Dr. A. R Qureshi : Who is killing and who is ready to talk? Its a mess so stop stereotyping.

Imran Khan you should built an office for them near your Lahore house. There is a big difference in Paki Taliban and Afghan Taliban. Looks like you have no clue.

bad move Imran

As a matter of fact ,imran khan is beating about the bush these heartless miscreants need to be uprooted like Tamil tiger in srilanka

Mr Imran Khan, If you are serious about Pakistan not becoming a bigger example of what happened in Swat a few years back, your government has to enter negotiations from a position of strength. Having a political office of an adversary whose only strength is in generating 'young suicide bombers, simply demonstrates that you are a weak individual. Mr Khan, I'll like you to help our cricket team and forget about being a transformational leader. Sadly, you are NOT

Mr Khan has lost all balance. Office for Pakistani Taliban? You must be kidding me! They are terrorists and you want to legitimise terrorists? Your next demand might be that we should cede FATA to these terrorists. I, for once, have failed to understand our politicians. The constitution is clear that no personal or private militia will be allowed in the country. Does he understand the legal and political implications of his this demand? I don't think so.

In presence of Imran Khan, TTP doesn't need any office.

great move Imran khan thats what common civility demands, lets give a peace chance.

Good one Mr. Khan! We thought all the humour had been drained from Pakistan with the passing of Moin Akhtar. But you have brought it back. All these funny statements of yours are making us laugh a lot. The best is that you sound serious when you say these things. You are becoming the best stand up comedian for years now.

Dialogue with terrorists? Politics is not cricket. It is too complex for this simple and naive person and PCB needs a good chief.

as usual not complete coverage of his statement. what he said , there should be an office so that in any case of terrorism. they can take the responsibility or simply can say they didn't carry out such attacks. now tell me how many of you know that Taliban are not accepting the responsibility of church attack. to see how many groups are for dialogue or against dialogue u need to bring them on one table. if you are serious about peace. now tell me please how many of you were in favor of swat operation after watching the video , later proved fake and also tell me how many of you were affected during and after the operation or still struggling we need peace

we do not need delayed peace , we need urgent peace

Which government would ever ceasefire against enemies of the state killing its innocent civilians? Imran Khan needs to be educated in who innocent Pakistani civilians are and who unregistered, non-citizen, non-law abiding tribal murderers waging a war on Pakistan are.

Negotiate with TTP who have killed fifty thousand Pakistanis but Hang those who have done corruption. What a strange philosophy mr Khan. Take some cold water.

mr.khan time to tell us are uou on the milltants side or on the innocent people side.open office for what to tell you we are going to attack more innocent people.one thing is for sure either you are brain less or the people are brain less so you can use them

IK the "Closet Taliban" coming out in the open now....I knew it from day one, now its obvious for all to see.

@Arsalan Sheikh: brother that was the foremost demand of PTI, that we will deal them peacefully not with violence. i think that was the main point of PTI manifesto. did you forget now?? IK from the very first day is saying that we should talk peace instead of war and violence.

This my 5th attemt in past 4months to get my views on dawn posted/shared,it never have, I hope this one does. I agree it is pretty crazy idea to allow Pakistan Taliban open their office in Pakistan but what is the alternate?!, keep fighting them, these are at core Pakistanis with very different mindset, negotiation is the only way, it will be na

Ceasefire has to be started from both sides, one side will not result in peace. @Dr. A. R Qureshi :

Please read this para below as: (Furthermore, he (Imran) also said that the government should allow militants to establish a political office in Pakistan to hold peace talks in the absence of which negotiations would not be possible and the decade-long war against terrorism would continue.) Furthermore, he (Imran) also said that the government should allow criminals, including rapists, dacoits, robbers, murderers, to establish more crime training centres in Pakistan because without this it will be impossible for these criminals to operate confidently.

I am confused because IK is confused, and am curiously waiting for the next step going to be. I dont know in which direction enthusiasm of such a national leader going to take us.

Oh Imran you can,t be serious! There is a suttle difference between the Afgahi Taliban and the TTP. The former is fighting to get rid of the occupying forces and their supporters. TTP is fighting is against it,s own people. There is a democratically elected Govt. of which Imran is a part and parcel. By opening a office do you want to give them a political legitmacy outside the Govt? Do you mean to say that guns dictate?

"Munawar Hasan" of PTI. He is intellectually corrupt person, worst than financially corrupts.

Imran khan is a silly old man who and others like him lives in their own imaginary world.

I don't think our military is capable of going in and take out all insurgents and even worse; deal with consequences viz a viz a protected insurgency. Its the proverbial elephant in the room. If american could not defeat Afghan taliban in 10 years, why do we expect our army to succeed. Imran khan and nawaz sharif know this and that is why they are not going in with the use of power option. If army fails it will turn around and blame them. Army wants to protect its reputation. This is bold move by Imran khan on the chess board. With perspective its easy to see who is behind the church blast and actually predict the next event. .

Imran Khan's suggestion to allow Taliban an office to facilitate negotiations with them is an bad idea. Nothing should be given to Taliban in silver platter.

IK has a good point regarding giving Peace a chance but its obviously clear that the Taliban and these militant outfits are split up into numerous groups which don't take orders from each other, every group has their own motives and all of them are just as bad, What i don't understand is who IK wants to negotiate with ? even getting one group to sit on a table and renounce violence will not solve the problem as many other will still keeping attacking and killing us, IK is living in a fools paradise, the day he realizes that these animals can not be reasoned with is the day he has a chance of becoming our leader, After how they have butchered those innocent women and children in the Church its shameful to even contemplate discussing a truce or peace deal with them, my vote goes to bombing them off the face of the earth and anyone caught helping or working with them should be hanged !

Cry me a river I.K., cry me a river !

Unfortunately talbans are a group of people who dont beleive in earning an honest living,they beleive in an ideology of extorting money,live on khairat/zakat comes from some misguided people.This whole drama of shariya law etc is just a cover to fool and exploit uneducated and misguided people.They dont want peace. For them peace meaning being unemployed. Govt should not waste time and think of ways to eliminate them asap. Dawn :Pls Pls dont hold back my comment.

What next from "The great Taliban Khan's" mind? President Hakeem Ullah Mehsud?

I wish Pakistan had a NELSON MANDELA. These immature MISLEADERS have gone nuts.

I never thought he was so out of touch with reality .

There are several groups of fighters. Many agree on dialogue. Do you know which ones are conducting terror activities? It is highly intricate, and not as simple as it looks. What is the logic on not going for dialogues with groups who are willing to do so on the basis of terror activities from those who wish to spoil them?

@Naseema Perveen: Please don't be confused - IK may have good intentions but is simply disillusioned. We can NOT negotiate with terrorists. We have to educate all Pakistanis to support our army to drive these terrorists out of our country. That's the only way forward.

I find it funny that nothing is ever investigated in Pakistan, someone calls the media saying alqueda or Taliban or whom ever did it and that's the end of the investigation.

shameful,sharamnak

Mr. Khan, you have to take stand like Iran. Iran has openly declared that Al-Qaeda and other militant groups are being funded by USA, UK, other western nations and their allies in Arab countires namely Saudi Arabia. It is very open that on one side West ask us to put pressure on Al-Qaeda while on other side support, arms and financed these jihadist groups. This gives West argument to interfere in Pakistan. You can get rid of Al-Qaeda and terrorism by uncovering the truth so people know the truth that West is funding these terrorist.You then don't have to fight militants and US intervention. Public will rise against both these menace (militancy and American interference).

I thought IK was man of integrity but I have lost whatever respect I had for him. These beasts have killed with impunity, with women and children among their victims and Mr Khan has nothing to say to them. what is the matter with him - cowardice, appeasement of terrorists or plain politics?

@Hiba:The security forces have never taken on the Taliban, in fact the Taliban are being supported by these forces. The government has to get serious and take care of this menace once and for all.

Imran is not feeling well since his last accident before elections. I think, he does not remember that.......... He does not work for Taliban. My feeling is that Doctors while operating on his neck may have cut some important vein or blood supply to his only working part of brain at time. He should see a Neurologist asap. This may be serious not only for him for for whole country.

The audacity of appeasement expressed by PTI chairman in light of horrors faced by minorities is quite reprehensible. Instead of stern condemnation of the senseless violence committed against minorities, he expresses comfort for the perpetrators of this heinous crime. What precedence did he set forth for such barbaric actions? Was this his vision of

Imran Khan has neither integrity nor intelligence. His "solution" is to hand Pakistan over to the Taliban. Does he hope they will make him Prime Minister?

@shabqad: I agree with you, to want to talk peace with those who are not willing to put down their arms, for that matter, are dictating conditions such as free their prisoners yet continue to bomb as in Peshawer; now to ask to open TTP offices is utter madness. IK may as well hand KP to the taliban on a silver platter, begin carving Pakistan... with such views Pakistan needs no other enemies.

@Ali: What nonsense about the talk of ceasefire! These are criminals. They must be apprehended, stalked, fought and brought to justice under the existing laws of Pakistan under which all of us live. Since when does the police declare ceasefire to deal with murderers?

These guys want to and will control our Way of Life Freedom Eliminate minorities and their rigths Impose their brand of beleifs on 180 million Go ahead and negotiate with them if you agree with them The country will no longer be the same country and there will be no reason for people who disagree with them to live there or call it their homeland... They will never accept you, your ideas, your freedoms... Which one of these above is Imran Khan willing to negotiate or give up? You have to either create a complete blockade of FATA and stop everything and everyone from entering or leaving these areas where no one claims to be a Paksitani anyway, or else do as what Sri Lanka did They pay no taxes Do not even pay for the electricity consumption Produce nothing Bring smuggled goods into the country Bring drugs into the country Produce and bring arms into the country They have no natural resources Who needs them to be even a part of Paksitan when all they will do is bring guns and steal it all from the rest of the country....

He is not confused, he is doing right things. Our enemies doesn't want us to engage in dialogue thats why these all the things are happening. Someone else is doing and blaming Taliban. We need patience and gradually move up. @Naseema Perveen:

You people are not realizing the reality I think. The reality is that in spite of all the operations against Taliban we are unable to eradicate the menace. Wherever and whenever they want, they chose their targets and attack and got their desired results easily. I think these are the realities that we should accept. So we cannot stop this humiliation and bloodshed by force. Then what is the other option. . ?Obviously dialogue. Then why you people blaming Imran Khan if he is talking about realities and the solution of problem in a realistic way.

Who started war on Pakistan, they were Talibans hence they should declare cease fire not Pakiatan. yes it is good idea allowing Taliban to open office in Dubai or Qatar. Offer of peace talks with Taliban by Pakistan is more than enough. There is nothing which Pakistan can give to Taliban at the negotiating table ultimately Pakistan will have to use full force to defeat enemy within. PTI is at the cross road of history.

@Dhumper: How can you drive pakistanis out of their own country.? In fact Imran is trying to reward them with a office so that they can continue their henious acts.

Nation needs to be told in black and white. what is Taliban Agenda in Pakistan? and how they want to impliment it.War in Afghanistan will be over by next year and so Pakistan indirect implication in it. What is next?

You guys are thoroughly confused in calling Imran Khan a leader. He is out of touch, confused, and truly a misleader. You guys voted for him and now pay the price. For an ignorant nation an ignorant leader (I mean misleader).

@John Adams: What next! upgrading the office to a diplomatic mission. I think you are confusing the Afghani Taliban with the TTP. The writ of state has to pervail within the constitution. Imran,s confusing statements should not confuse us. His immaturity as a poltician is shining through.

Let them open an office and send in a few suicide bombers. Peace will restored in no time.

@Khan: There is a difference between human shields and humans. Guess who gets both killed?

Now I am pretty much sure that IK wants to govern Pakistan by hook or crook. Taliban office means, giving them political stature. So after few year these IK favourites will run through Pakistan and declare their rule with IK leading the Govt i.e. Ameer-ul-Momeneen. IK should stop talking about Quaid-e-Azam because he loves TTP and wants to reward their killing spree in Pakistan.

@shabqad: Love your comments. IK is going out of control. Doesn't he understand the meaning of Terrorist?? Killers are not a part of any religion. If pakistan allow TTP to open office(s), that means that we as Pakistani or Pakistani Govt. accepting them to be a part of our Democratic Politics. And funny part is that TTP don't like or want Democratic Pakistan, they want to rule the country with GUNS.

Are you out of your mind? Taliban is a terrorist group, nothing more than that.

@John Adams: "these are at core Pakistanis with very different mindset" - I don't think so. Do you know how many Uzbeks, Tajiks and Chechens have been 'exploded' themselves in Pakistan in the past 5 years? Musharraf was promoting this propaganda (and Imran was just following him) that 'All Talibans are Pashtuns' - How come a Tajik, Uzbek and Chechen be a Pashtun or a Pakistani? Wake up my friend and think - just think. I am sure Imran won't say 'All Talibans are Pashtuns' any more because of political reasons - but if you believe that 'All Talibans are Pakistanis' you should think again.

I fully concur with Imran Khan Views expressed in the daily DAWN. As the situation stands in Pakistan, all the parties which include the Pakistan Army, the civilian governments, political leaders and Pakistan Taliban each one in their respective way have taken the state of Pakistan for granted and through their actions have hurt the integrity of the country. No one can be absolved of their actions. Therefore first action of the civilian government is to declare a genuine ceasefire and let all parties sit on the table to resolve the problem in the best interest of the country. No foreign interference should be allowed or foreign powers be involved for consultation or other purposes.

Talking to terrorists is one thing ! Asking for an office to be set up for people who have attacked and bombed Schools, colleges, Mosques, Churches, Sufi shrines and even our own GHQ killed soldiers civilians women and childeren without remorse, by a major Political leader of a major Political party is shameful. Imran Khan has lost the plot. I regret now that I Supported for PTI.

@John Adams: I love ur comments, actually u told us what is right, Shame on u all dumb third class liberal Pakistanis, try to understand the situation. I still remember when Pakistan Army conducted the Swat operation hundred of thousands people were displaced with in the country, None of u criticizing Imran Khan today are considering the consequences of Military action, the collateral damage, internally displaced people and millions of rupees down the drain. I am sure None of u will help those displaced people instead when the tide turns u will shamelessly jump to other boat and start blaming the government.

@Naveed Chaudhry: Exactly..... see the masses don't understand the situation.. its not just one group.. they are many... fighting for different causes. Talk to the ones willing to end this madness. And then isolate those who are not. Then go after them. Ppl start saying its wrong that IK wants to negotiate with these barbarians should be dealt with force. Well thats wat we were doing for the past freaking 10+ years... wat hve we achieve from that?? And one more thing, why all of sudden the TTP activity gone up since these negotiation thing started... they are those who dont want peace.. those who are funded my external players in this mess. we must understand this!

Surely,no the anger against TTP can be understood.But does anyone has any other option,please tell us.For years,the whole country is going down the drain,economy totally destroyed,people dying.TTP killing people with bombs,and our politicians are killing with greed,corruption.One is cancer outside,other is inside.Inside cancer is also killing in thousands,millions.Let these terrorist open their office,even let them have some seats in some office,then send kill them softly.There are so many tribes,who are iching to take revenge against them.Use brains.Conventionally,we can't win them.They have support of arms from our enemies.Let them sit on table.They are not that smart.We have no option except what Imran saying.It is very hard to swollow this reality,but to sit with someone and talk requires tremendous courage.These TTP leaders are hungry for power.I bet when they sit together with government and come to some decision,their own group will split apart,and they would start killing each other.Use brains

@Sohail: rightly said

imran is the best

imran is the best

I supported IK, donated money for his projects and elections but now hugely disappointed and angry over his ridiculous stand in favor of Taliban. They just killed 80 or so innocent civilians, an army general and he is talking about letting them open an office. What is next giving Taliban the ministry of education. Why he is doing it, is he scared of Taliban and doing for his own life ? Talibans are a cancer and needs to be removed surgically. I'm with army in this regard.

Yeah, Mr. Khan can lease his estate to Talibans as Jamima is no longer a resident.

Pak army, security forces, and politicians have been failing the country for a long long time. Finally someone with a common sense in the form of Imran Khan. And most paki folks who never been out of pakistan live in this weird world in their head that they are sitting on strong security infrastructure.. hmmm let me begin: 1- karachi on fire for decades 2- lost wars to india 3- can not counter indian shelling at all times 4- killing our own people in the north 5- getting payments from the USA for drone attacks and torture activities (alive nations do not sell their moms and children, sorry!) 6- bombing NWFP for a while now.. when imran khan says to engage in peaceful activities, he is someone with the sense. Those who are brainless Juzbati" people, they are the ones who has thrown our country into this dark pit where its probably extremely hard to crawl out of. I still maintain that Imran khan should leave pako. its not a country any longer.. its a tyrants' bay! i left this place 15 yrs ago, i have NO desire to ever go back to live there. just visit the old friends etc but nothing more than that. i wish that pakistani people get some sort of relief from all the political and military and security forces thugs and jazbati idiots sometime soon. i have always left comments on the dawn, if they don't put this comment this time, i will NEVER read this newspaper anymore. Grow some balls and speak the truth "Dawn" and encourage those who speak their mind or fall in the darkness of tyranny.

This guy has just lost it

Sounds like a looney tune but worth trying. after all over 9 years army has not been able to eradicate this menace of terrorism .

@muzammil ullah khan: you dont understand.. one day you can catch up to understand his point. for now drink lassee and relax

@Arsalan Sheikh: one day you will understand.. for now relax.

You guys miss a point here. He does not think he is fully Pakistani. He thinks he is half Afghan.

@Gulbaz Mushtaq: because he knows what you didnt

I often listen sympathizers asking to negotiate with Taliban. Can somebody tell me "what will be discussed/negotiated with Taliban?" I think Pakistani Taliban would just scratch their heads and stare at the negotiators with flat face because they never thought about the purpose.

Firstly I am waiting for the retraction statement from Imran khan. Secondly Imran khan is such a fool idealist, amateur after almost two decades in politics and maybe he is finding it hard to bear the burden of government in a war torn province. I wasn't expecting such an idiotic statement from a leader who is propagating for change. I guess Imran should invite Hakimullah to h his office in Peshawer, have a cup of Qehwa and all what's the problem Mr Hakim had with Pakistan

IK's statement is incomplete. I think he forgot to complete his statement!!! What he really wanted to say was that "I urge both the Taliban and the government to declare a ceasefire if they were serious about holding peace talks with each other". Or it could be that the "Dawn" forgot to mention the other half of what IK actually said. I am just guessing (and hoping).

Mr. Imran Khan seems to suffer from a complete loss of logical thinking. Sometimes he says that the Peshawar Church blast took place to sabotage the expected talks with the Taliban. He fails to explain what peace talks were about to take place when the previous 200 blasts killing innocent civilians took place. He asks the government to declare a ceasefire forgetting that it is the TTP that is trying to impose its will on the people by force of arms and that the government is the state not the insurgent. However one would tend to agree with his views that the TTP should be allowed to open offices in Pakistan. At least that would give the people a target to retaliate against as soon as another blast takes place.

Khan sahab gone crazy

Is he talking about Pakistani Taliban or Afghan Taliban? If both Taliban are on the same page to reshape Pakistan according to their own Ideology then this means that Gen. (retd) Pervaiz Musharaf was right when he ended his speech by these last words '' Ab Pakistan ka Allah hi Hafiz Hy ''. I think our politicians and others who matter most in our country should stop behaving like Hypnotized Rabbits.

Imran Khan you are a mulla without a beard. Shame on you for not condemning the murderers and their backers. You yourself are a supporter of Taliban and other such outfits. Shame on you.

By the way if mulla Imran can say that the words shame on u even to the supreme court are not objectionable then I can certainly say these words to him .

@shabqad: Well at least now u know he is not a man of integrity. Good that u now know his real face.

@Dhumper: Yes Imran has good intentions but its for the Taliban .... As for the military , it has been playing dirty game with the nation of pakistan . u can't trust them.

Withdraw Imran Khan's security and lets see which song the canary sings!!! Heck Taliban does not want us to listen to music either....

@Naseema Perveen: Wake up please , he is showing his real face to us

@MAJID KHAN: We've already been there many times. They are being bombed and droned with an iron fist BECAUSE they repeatedly broke truce and kept attacking Pakistan.

Lets slash army budget who eats up our 70%and work only at the time of floods or earth quakes. If army can not fight then give annual budget to taliban and request them "DADDY" plz don't beat us now.

The government and all political parties and all the security agencies should appoint Imran Khan the chief negotiator and give him full authority and a completely free hand to negotiate with the TTP. Imran could then set up a fully equipped air conditioned office for the Taliban within the premises of the office of the Chief Minister KPK in order to facilitate instant negotiations as and when felt necessary. The Taliban should also be provided the same protocol, facilities and security as the Chief Minister all paid for by the tax payers. Let's see what Imran can deliver. His na

WITH these kind of statements I am sure Imran will be history in the next election and he will go back to his old job of cricket analyst or maybe he will open a Naaswar store to serve Tailban. The only person who can lead PTI and have a clear stance on this issue is Asad Omer but he is not allowed to speak Truth.

Call for ceasefire at this time is simply slap in the face of dead children of Peshawar Church Blasts. Let's see if IK has courage to ask these extremists to declare ceasefire!

Shame on you, IK. Now people should realize why you are called Taliban Khan, huh!! You are scared of speaking against Taliban, otherwise you too will be targeted. You are supporting barbarians....

the New Island can be a good place to open Taliban office

What are we missing here? Government was/is preparing for talks with the PTT and they continue to kill innocent people in churches and mosques. In their twisted interpretation of Islam, they are going to heaven by killing innocent people. What alternate the government or the PTI can offer that will be acceptable to them in lieu of heaven? What the government is expecting to achieve by negotiations? Again, what are we missing here?

How many other political leaders and party heads really went to hospitals to enquire about the victims of these blasts? Dont u guys understand the difference?

Imran continues to be a babe in the woods groping in the darkness. Whoever advised him to get into politics. Even at this stage he should return to cricket. He never stops in either shifting the buck or criticising his political foes. What a disappointment! Some of the old timers like Hashmi and Qureshi must be wondering that they took themselves for a ride !!

Mr.Khan you are genious.Build a court house with a courtyard & have funds available,for their own police force . They will take care of the law & order in the country.Have stones & rope handy in the court yard.Anyway they are running the country.Please take a long vacation.

Honestly speaking this person doesn't have any vision. He don't think before he speak... by favouring killers with an office and recognittion of ther killing services by PTI government..... great thought those who have voted imran khan must review their decision. Killer must be hanged "full stop"!

@Adnan: Why these talibans havent been hanged then up until now, its been 10 years now. Be realistic and control your emotions as everyone in the country has same emotions. Answer to your thought is you cant hang them, its just not possible with the corrupt leaders and Army you have, otherwise we wouldnt be here discussing this again. Either you kill them which Pakistan can't, as you dont have the courage and will to do, and secondly its not that simple. As these are not just taliban anymore, almost all the countries have vested their interest in these talibans to dismentle Pakistan. So you need to reach to a conclusion to tackle them all and thats only possible by stopping their arms supplies which they get from many countries but we never cared to stop those. So if there is a will i dont see this cant be resolved. Stop blaming IK, he is just saying what he thinks best, doesnt mean that it is correct. Atleast he says and does something. unlike our army and rest of politicians who are sitting and watching this film since last 10 years.

One and two people pollute overall board. Dumd head, there are 1400 likes on, scroll up

Why dont You-Imran-give them a place to open their office in PTI office.

now whoever given his vote to PTI should think again that IMRAN is working on whose polilcy. A big conspiracy is going on.....

Haroon Rashid is distraught he thinks Imran is stubborn and does not understand politics. "Usko siasat nahi ati hai". But lets see what are his options. If Kayani thinks he can bend the TTP to his will be would have done it long ago. So he too is stalling for time. Waiting for Americans to leave. Because then some of the motivation for Jihad will diminish. Right now War in the tribal belt is will be disasterous. This crises may just be a trailer to a more gruesome story. He is hoping against hope. He thinks he may be able to bring the tribal society of Pakistan into the main stream politics of Pakistan. There will be hiccups on the way. Imran still thinks the war is the cause of the increased terrorism even though he agrees that many criminals and antistate actors have joined the fray. But all this will have to wait until the American's leave. What if they do not leave for another year or two. What then. Pakistan would be mortally wounded and left gasping. This is the only reason that should force our hand do it now before you are weakened too much. Go for it . Fight it out now.

If Imran's ill-advised suggestions are accepted, then it will be the last nails on the Pakistan's coffin.

This is the only solution left as we know Talibans cannot be defeated with power...Americans and the nato has already lost it...and are running away...remember we creaated them and left them isolated now its our responsibility to bring them back.....we have to try something new.....we have to show them a democratic way...and that is exactly what Imran khan doing....even if we fail after Imran's advice we can go back to fight them.

I trust you IK.. i know you'll do something good!!

By supporting terrorism and terrorists IK has betrayed the Country, he should be charged with treason and trialed in the court of law ... (law? oh sorry, this statement would have been noticed by our courts only if it was against the CJ!)

Before elections I thought may I am wrong and people around me and supporting Imran are correct.But my very dear friends are now disappointed because of his shallow approach. Sirilanka had similar problems and there too the "dear misguided country men" were involved in terrorism and for 30 years the country suffered.Once the Govt went for an all out war and eliminated the menace the country is prospering . Imran should have some pity on this poor nation and stop creating confusion in the minds of innocent people.

Before elections I thought may I am wrong and people around me and supporting Imran are correct.But my very dear friends are now disappointed because of his shallow approach. Sirilanka had similar problems and there too the "dear misguided country men" were involved in terrorism and for 30 years the country suffered.Once the Govt went for an all out war and eliminated the menace the country is prospering . Imran should have some pity on this poor nation and stop creating confusion in the minds of innocent people.

TTP has issued two statements stating they dont have anything to do with the Church Blast while in the past they have been quick to admit involvement in the bloodiest of attack... WHY IS THERE A DEBATE THAT TTP IS BEHIND THIS ATTACK... these events are just to destabilize PTI govt in KPK

I still have faith in IK because he is a good, honest man but on the issue of TTP/Taliban and religious extremism I strongly beg to differ with him. Still no excuse but perhaps he can't bring himself to condemn these tribesmen openly because he was treated so well by them in the past? I am referring to IK's extensive travels in the region post World Cup glory in 1992, also covered by BBC. IK even wrote a book titled 'The Pathan Warriors' + remember his mother hails from South Waziristan. Re. Taliban office, Khan sahib zara socho aap kiya keh rahe ho... Maybe you know something that we don't! I am totally astounded by this request. This is akin to giving legitimacy to murderous, criminal TTP. There is no parallel between USA (the occupying force in Afghanistan who are now looking for a graceful exit strategy) opening Taliban office in Qatar and Pakistan doing the same. In Pakistan's case the army is not the occupying force in FATA. It has every right to be there. It has a legitimate, federal government authorised/ mandated mission in FATA to protect us from TTP murderers and to act against miscreants and enemies who are challenging the writ of the state; who want to impose their twisted ideology on the rest of the country. I outrightly reject Taliban and their narrow-minded wahhabism or salafism. Such ideology is incompatible with life in the 21st century. You cannot really have meaningful talks with religious bigots who feel no shame in butchering innocent people, who bomb schools and places of worship, who don't even spare funeral processions (can any human-being stoop any lower than this?) Talks only if TTP first renounce arms (wishful thinking for sure). These scumbags must stop suicide bombings and butchering of innocent civilians and soldiers. Pakistan cannot unilaterally declare ceasefire and let these nutheads roam freely in the country. Talks are bound to fail unless there is the continued threat of military action against groups who will not give up arms

Afghan Taliban are fighting foreign forces that are Non Muslims. hence they are conducting Jehad by definition. While these Pakistani Taliban are killing their own Muslim brothers and protected non Muslims in various parts of the country. They deserve to be fought and given no quarter by the government, as throughout history, these kinds of fanatics have claimed Jehad to kill Muslims and given quarter to infidels. There is more that can be written on this topic, but for now this should suffice.

First of all i would like to thank Dawn for printing all the comments. I am not sure if we are in the same team but almost all agree that imran has lost the plot. Can any one put up a solid argument on his behalf? When i was a student, my late professor used to say that there were two ways to show that one was an idiot--1) To keep quiet and let others think you are one 2) To speak up and remove all doubts about it! I wish our grate hope of Pakistan had thought long and hard before opening his mouth. Media is addictive---all the more reason to keep lips sealed!

Imran was,is and will always be a confused soul...who speaks whatever comes to him before he start thinking what he actually spoke...all of pti brigade will start defending his brainless statements ...abusing every one who even think of questioning imran khan's statement ..later on when people like asad try to minimise the damage by absolutely negating imran....they would call " yehi to jamhuriat hay PTI main " we have diff of opinion...from leaders to ignorant followers...all are confused

There should be a branch office in every district of Pakistan, and also posted abroad. jj

There are too many comments positive and negative towards Imran but lets keep political parties out of the way and focus on the issue and the options. I don't support any political party but the key is what is right to resolve the situation and the best strategy is to learn from the history. We have tried to suppress Taliban's didnt work, the only way out is to accept them and bring them in the front and than find a resolution. You can never win against suicide bombers.

@nb: It would take a miracle and trusting our politicians implicitly has gotten us into this mess in Pakistan in the first place. Please grow up and follow the correct policies of party that speaks sense and not the individual. One can't trust ones own family nowadays

every one needs peace ,but unfortunately there is no sencerity in our politians , why not they come together for this serius problem .how many peoples destroyed in terrorism ,but again we are not serious for its solution .kash kash and kash our leaders come together and show their unity ,then inshallah this problem can solve .it is requested for all pakistani to come and denify this problem with all the leaders and local politions to give us peace only peace .we should change the external policy and we come out from black mailing .