PESHAWAR, Dec 2: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has said that besides the growing challenge of Talibanisation, Pakistan faces an equally grave threat of ‘Balkanisation’ because of the government’s domestic policies.

Talking to journalists here on Sunday, she said it was the duty of patriotic and democratic forces to remove the causes of both the menaces by replacing the dictatorial rule with a democratic set-up.

She said return of peace and democracy would be a severe blow to the extremist groups operating in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the NWFP.

Ms Bhutto said it was only the PPP which stood against the anti-democratic gangs and their religious surrogates.

She said that anti-people lobbies had tried to bar PPP leaders from taking part in elections and created hurdles by instituting fabricated cases and launching a character assassination campaign against them but they failed to hoodwink the people.

She said that although the government claimed that the extremist groups had been banned, they were openly operating in Fata and other parts of the country and they were being funded to carry out their anti-people agenda. The extremists were paying Rs70,000 rent for a one-room accommodation in Fata, running FM radio channels and defying the writ of the government, she said.

She said political parties had no access to Fata but extremists were free to operate in the region.

She said no Chechen, Uzbek, Arab or Afghan would defend Pakistan. The country’s own people would defend its independence and integrity.

About the military operation in Fata, she said troops should be used to support the civilian authorities in quelling the rebellion.

She said she was against using the military in Fata, and favoured negotiations as the only viable instrument for restoring peace.

“If we do not punish the culprits, foreign troops will come after them and it will be contrary to our independence and solidarity. Why are we creating an environment for foreign troops to attack us?”, she asked.

She said the PPP would set up sessions courts and abolish the system of political administration in Fata, ridding them of the influence of the maliks and political agents. Late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government had set up sessions and high courts in Balochistan, she said.

She called for early release of judges, lawyers and political activists, including former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal.

She said that about 90 per cent of blasts in the country were simple cases of bombing but the rulers had dubbed them suicide attacks.