KOHAT, Oct 1: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sirajul Haq on Tuesday claimed that the federal government was holding talks with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan for peace through back channel.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 80th branch of Khyber Bank and second in Kohat, the minister said the current security crisis couldn’t be resolved by use of force and that the government and TTP would have to sort out things for peace by dialogue.

He said Jamaat-i-Islami was a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but would have own stand on the call for letting TTP open office in the country for peace dialogue.

Mr Haq said the country was experiencing the worst times in its history only because the people did believe in Islam but were hesitant to adopt it as a way of life.

He urged State Bank of Pakistan to begin more self-employment schemes and issue licences for the opening of new banks to alleviate the rampant poverty and unemployment in the country.

The minister said 10 years ago, he as the finance minister had inaugurated the first Islamic banking branch of BoK in Karkhano Bazaar. He asked the BoK management to open Islamic baking branches to Kabul and Jalalabad in the region.

Mr Haq said Islam had emerged as the popular way of life in the world, which earlier followed capitalism or communism.

He said Islamic banking was introduced and run successfully by Egypt and then by Turkey and other countries.

Earlier, BoK Managing Director Imran Samad said the bank had so far earned a profit of Rs1 billion this year with the number of Islamic banking customers coming to 140,000. He said BoK had got A-grade in international rating.

The BoK managing director asked other banks, too, to promote Islamic banking to turn their business around.

He said BoK had 37 branches of Islamic banking, while the rest, 43, were conventional and that 40 branches were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Kamran Masood of BoK said the bank had planned to open eight more branches of Islamic banking and 15 of conventional banking in the country.