ISLAMABAD: Leaders at a rally organised by the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) on Friday urged the government to immediately initiate talks with the Taliban.

Maulana Samiul Haq, the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-S), and other speakers accused the government of playing in the hands of foreign powers and said it had failed in getting drone attacks stopped.

The rally was organised in connection with the death anniversary of Azam Tariq, a leader of the now proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP).Maulana Sami said the government was not serious in talks with the Taliban and described its initiative in this regard as a ‘fake proposal’.

“This is a time gaining tactic of the government so that an army operation could be launched against the Taliban,” he said.

He said that US policies introduced by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf were still in place, adding that following policies of foreign powers was the root cause of all problems confronting the country.

The JUI-S leader praised militants. Without naming some particular group, he said: “Jihadis are back because rulers are not implementing Sharia in the country”.

ASWJ leader Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi also called upon the government to immediately initiate dialogue with the Taliban.

“Enemies of the nation and Islam are opposing talks with the Taliban and they are creating hurdles in this process,” he said.

Maulana Ludhianvi supported the ongoing operation against criminal elements in Karachi.

He asked the government to form a committee for tackling the problem of sectarianism. He appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of growing sectarianism in the country and for this purpose cited the work done by former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah on the subject.

The ASWJ is believed to be the new name of the SSP which was formed after the Musharraf regime banned the latter in 2002 after terming it a terrorist organisation.