Government should immediately begin talks with the Taliban

Lahore: Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said, there appeared to be no serious effort on the part of the government towards the implementation of the APC’s decisions which was creating doubts in the public mind on this score.

Addressing the concluding session of the JI central workshop at Mansoora on Sunday, he said questions were also arising due to the delay in the talks with the Taliban. Therefore, the government should immediately begin talks with the Taliban removing all  the hurdles on the way. He said the eyes of the entire nation were on the Government- Taliban dialogue. He warned that if this opportunity was wasted, we would be missing the opportune moment for ending terrorism and restoring peace in the country.

The JI Ameer said the two sides should go beyond exchange of prisoners and a complete agenda of talks should be presented to the nation so as to pull the country out of a situation of uncertainty.

Syed Munawar Hasan said that so far, the Taliban response had been positive and they had appreciated the government efforts. Therefore, the opportunity should not be missed. He said the secular lobby in the country and the people and institutions serving US interests wanted to sabotage the dialogue, and warned that delaying tactics could also make the dialogue a failure.

The JI Ameer strongly condemned the events of criminal assault on minor girls in the Punjab capital and Faisalabad and stressed that the culprits be brought to the book and handed down deterrent punishment. He expressed deep sympathies with the victim families.