ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the PML-N on Monday accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of using the “Pashtun card” and deliberately sabotaging talks with the government, saying its 13 years in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had brought terrorism, smuggling and little else.
The co-ordinator to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Information & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Affairs, Ikhtiar Wali Khan alongside MNA Barrister Daniyal Chaudhry, said KP was facing terrorism and that the state would not be allowed to be held hostage.
He claimed thousands of terrorism incidents had occurred in the past two years and that 1,200 security personnel had been martyred. He also said the provincial counter-terrorism department lacked modern weapons.
“What has the PTI been doing in KP for 13 years?” he asked, alleging that PTI members had been “filling their pockets” all that time. He asked whether the party was taking its policy from Afghanistan, adding: “The Afghans are following an Indian policy.” Wali also said the public had been given “empty promises” of 10 million jobs and five million homes. Chaudhry said the government believed in reconciliation and accused the PTI of sabotaging the negotiations on purpose. “PTI deliberately sabotaged the talks,” he said.
“What has the PTI government given Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?” he asked, alleging that smuggling was taking place in the province. He also claimed that PTI members themselves drove around in non-custom-paid vehicles.
PTI cites two sticking points
Meanwhile, simultaneously PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja gave a different account saying the talks collapsed over access to incarcerated party founder Imran Khan and the handling of counterterrorism in the province. He said the party was still ready to return to the table if both were settled.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside PTI leader Babar Awan, Raja said the party had made clear that no matter could be finalised without consulting Imran. “These were all placed on the table, and it was made absolutely clear that there would be no success in the negotiating process until these key matters were settled,” he said.
He said Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi faced more than 300 cases, and that their lawyers needed to meet them to take instructions. “A lawyer says in court what his client tells him to say,” he said. He added that family members had the first right to meet Imran and that senior colleagues, some of whom had been with him for 30 years, should also be allowed to see him as head of the country’s largest party.
The PTI also sought access to Imran’s personal doctors, which Raja called a medical rather than a political demand. “If the founder of PTI is not given access to his personal physicians, then there is no point in talking,” he said. The party wanted these provisions written into a proposed agreement, but the government did not agree to include them in the manner demanded.
Dispute over KP strategy
On counterterrorism, Raja said any future strategy could not be imposed unilaterally and should be framed jointly by the federal and provincial governments, with input from parties in the provincial assembly and tribal elders. He cited a peace jirga at the KP Assembly attended by the PML-N, PPP and ANP. “The future strategy should be based on consensus and consultation,” he said.
He said the PTI’s objection was to the manner of action, not to action against terrorism. The party’s delegation decided at around 2:40am that continuing the discussion was no longer useful, he said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has blamed the KP government, particularly Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, for backing away from commitments on counterterrorism.
‘Proximity turned into distance’
Raja said the two sides had been close to resolving their differences. “We were close to resolving the issues that day, but suddenly that proximity was turned into distance,” he said. “The government committee said it would not allow access to personal doctors and would not work on a consensus-based strategy. What else could we do?”
He said the PTI would take to the streets for “love, respect, the law, the Constitution and peace”. “I had said on the day of the negotiations that my daughters and I would come out, carrying flowers, not Kalashnikovs,” he said.
Responding to Naqvi’s description of Afridi as “non-serious” and “amateur”, Raja said: “If Sohail Afridi is being called non-serious and amateur, then remember that young people will eventually run the country.”
Awan’s remarks
Awan said denying Imran meetings with family violated prison rules and that denying lawyers access violated Article 10 of the Constitution. He said Imran’s transfer to PIMS instead of Shifa International Hospital went against a Supreme Court decision.
Responding to the government’s claim that Imran’s sisters were arrested because they posed a threat, he said: “One of the founder’s sisters is a doctor. If she is considered a threat, I would be a much bigger threat.”
“Even during wars, the two sides hold negotiations. Is the hotline between Pakistan and India not kept open during war?” he asked.
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