PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called upon the government to stop using force against militants and hold negotiations for restoring peace in the country.

Addressing a large public meeting in Hashtnagri on the G.T. Road on Sunday, the Maulana said his party set up a Fata jirga which could play an effective role if all other efforts for peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal region failed.

“The people hiding in forests should be convinced to lay down arms and accept the writ of law,” he said, adding that the peace process should be given a chance to end the bloodshed on a permanent basis.

Expressing reservations over the proposed military operations, Maulana Fazl said the use of force was not a solution to the problem. The prevailing situation could be controlled only through a national security policy.

He said parliament and an all-party conference held in September last year had given a mandate to the government to restore peace through dialogue and wondered why their resolutions were not being implemented.

He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was unable to run the affairs of the province; it did not even have the ability to save the provincial capital from attackers.

“We have asked the PML-N leadership to take pity on the province since the ruling party (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf) has not been able to overcome the crisis, but our opinion was given another colour,” the JUI-F chief said, adding that his party did not want to indulge in power game; it only tried to save the country and establish the rule of law.

He said the JUI-F had condemned the killing of security personnel and destruction of schools, but no one was there to share the same sentiments with “us over the destruction of mosques, attacks on religious seminaries and killing of Madressah students”.

He criticised the policies of coalition partners in the KP government and said the blockade of Nato supplies was an attempt to hoodwink the public because on the one hand the PTI was criticising the United States and, on the other, it was accepting billions of dollars from the Americans.

He alleged that the PTI had blocked the supplies to divert public attention from the shortcomings of its government. He said the provincial government had failed to meet its commitment regarding changes in the system.

Corruption was rampant and no improvement was seen in health, education and other sectors, he added.

“Extortion, target killing, kidnapping for ransom and other crimes have increased manifold and the KP government has almost lost its writ,” the Maulana said, adding that parties in the ruling coalition had backtracked on their stance regarding negotiations and were now giving signals for a military operation.

The meeting adopted some resolutions presented by JUI-F’s provincial spokesman Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan. They condemned the attacks on places of worship and bazaars and urged the government to provide security to traders and other people.

The resolutions rejected the neighbourhood councils in the local government system and called for initiating development schemes and filling the vacancies in different departments on merit.