Speakers at the jirga, organised by an NGO, also voiced concern over the composition of the Grand Jirga from the Pakistani side, saying a majority of the members were serving and retired bureaucrats, pro-government tribal elders and politicians.
The Pukhtun Qaumi Jirga was arranged by the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (Camp) at the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday, which was attended representatives of various civic society organisations, politicians, writers, intellectuals, lawyers and journalists.
Meraj Humayun Khan of the Da Lass Gul (NGO) performed as convener of the jirga while Afrasiab Khattak and Haji Adeel of the ANP, Dr Syed Alam Mehsud of the PMAP, Anwar Kamal Marwat of the PML-N, Mukhtar Bacha of the NP, Shakeel Waheedullah, Begum Jan, Professor Qibla Ayaz, Ali Gohar, Shahab Khattak, Zar Ali Khan Musazai, Murtaza Shaheen, Shamim Shahid and others expressed their views and suggestions.
The jirga passed a resolution unanimously which called upon Pakistan to stop ‘meddling and infiltration in Afghanistan’ and take serious measures for making the upcoming grand jirga successful.
One of the resolutions stressed the need for inclusion of Taliban and Mujahideen groups in the jirga, as it said they were the main players in the process besides asked the foreign elements in the tribal belt to quit the area.
Another resolution stressed the need for making efforts for putting an end to the ongoing terrorism and bloodshed in tribal areas and settled areas of the Frontier province besides underlined the need for giving tribesmen political, constitutional and legal rights.
A resolution also demanded of the federal government to ensure the participation of women and representatives of civil societies and writers in the Pak-Afghan Jirga.
Addressing on the occasion, Dr Syed Alam Mehsud, provincial vice- president of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), said major Pukhtun tribes from settled and tribal areas were not included in the Pakistani side and a squad of pro-government Maliks and bureaucrats had held sway over the list, unfolded the other day.
He went on to say that the people of both the countries have attached great expectations from the Jirga and its failure would be a great setback for the Pukhtun-belt living in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “What needs to be done is that Pakistan secret agencies and army should withdraw their hands from the internal affairs of Afghanistan,” he asserted.
He further said some elements which were against peace in Afghanistan, were providing legal grounds to foreign forces to stay in the war-hit country.
He called for establishing a grand Jirga comprising Pukhtuns from Afghanistan, Balochistan, NWFP and Fata under the patronage of the United Nations who could decide and resolve the lingering issues being faced by the Pukhtun nation.
Afrasiab Khattak, provincial president of Awami National Party, said one of Pakistan's secret agencies had prepared the list of participants therefore, one could expect less from such dialogues, saying the presence of the Isaf or Nato-led forces in Afghanistan was not big issue but 'interfering of neighbouring countries' into Afghanistan was a big challenge to be solved by the jirga members.
Anwar Kamal Marwat, MPA of Pakistan Muslim League-N, said the main bone of contention was the presence of Nato forces in Afghanistan, therefore, they should immediately withdraw from Afghanistan, and saying for the sake of their vested interest, the US wanted to grab resources of the Muslim world, especially the Persian Gulf.
Moreover, other speakers termed holding of a peace jirga between two neighbouring countries as a good omen for restoring peace and stability in the region, however, they said until and unless all the people, including the Taliban, are given equal representation in the Jirga process, the success of the three-day jirga would be at stake.
They said that Afghanistan government had already announced the names of the participants and also organised various meetings of them to discuss ways and means for the success of the Jirga but the Pakistani government had kept secret the names, mostly dominated by serving and retired bureaucrats.
“It would be a futile exercise on the part of both governments if the real representatives of the people from both sides were not given the opportunity to speak their hearts in the Jirga,” they said, adding the Jirga process should be continued as only one round of the Jirga would not resolve the entire issues.—PPI