Action will be taken against TTP factions averse to talks, Senate told

ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Friday that the government would use force against those factions of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which had adopted the path of violence instead of coming to the negotiating table. “The government’s policy is very clear. Those interested in holding dialogue will be welcomed but those resorting to violence will be taken to task,” leader of the house Raja Zafarul Haq said. Responding to points of order raised by PPP’s Mian Raza Rabbani and ANP’s Afrasiab Khatak during the brief proceedings, he said there were three to four dozen groups within the Taliban and they took their own decisions. He said there had been no drone attacks since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s last visit to the United States and after that there should have been some headway in talks. He said dialogue would be held with those who wanted it, but no-one would be allowed to challenge the writ of the state and play with the lives of innocent people. Earlier, Raza Rabbani said the TTP had claimed responsibility for the recent suicide attack near Fateh Jang in which two colonels and three civilians had been killed. He regretted that while the Taliban continued to carry out attacks and openly claimed responsibility, the government was yet to come up with a clear policy. He said it was not clear if the government wanted to take the dialogue process forward or decided to go ahead with the operation. He said it was a matter of national security and there should be no dilly-dallying on part of the government. Stressing that the current situation was not in the national interest, he asked the government to come up with a clear policy. Mr Rabbani was of the opinion that terrorist attacks were taking place because of lack of a mechanism for intelligence sharing. He said the government had announced a national security policy with fanfare, but the National Counter-Terrorism Authority which was to serve as a focal point for coordinating efforts against terrorism was still dysfunctional. Afrasiab Khatak expressed concern over the situation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and regretted that there was no word of condolence from the government side over the killing of patriotic tribal leader Malik Qadir Khan. He said there were half a million internally displaced persons in Fata and about 200 schools in Bara alone had been closed for years. He said even a person like commander Gul Bahadur had talked of rescinding agreement with the government. “The government talks about external conspiracy but is itself paving way for it.” He called for a time-bound plan to rid Fata of terrorism. Shahi Syed of the ANP asked the government to take steps to control the situation in Karachi arising out of the arrest of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in London over money-laundering charges. The situation might worsen if timely steps were not taken, he warned. At the outset of the proceedings, Raja Zafarul Haq laid before the house annual report of the Council of Common Interests for 2012-13 as required under Article 153 (4) of the Constitution. The house will meet at 5pm on Monday. Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2014