I think the jirga that took place today, on 12th November, was very important. And I think, the rulers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who relate themselves with Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have realised that until there is peace in the province, the province will not be able to progress. The second important thing is that the proposals that will be made in Jirga, which I will tell you about later, were all the things that we used to repeatedly say that the provincial government should do through the media, through tweets, and all the narratives that are being built that there should be an operation or there should not be an operation, how terrorism should be eradicated, all these things will now be revealed to us openly. Because the political parties today, presented their proposals, so there is no party among them, including PTI, which does not want peace.
So this Jirga is for peace. Now how will there be peace? All these recommendations will go to the Apex Committee. And we have repeatedly said that what the Chief Minister has been doing when he would go to the Apex Committee, even if he did not have a policy at that time, now he may have got the sense to go through a system.
So these recommendations will go to the Apex Committee, then to the National Security Committee. And one important thing about this Jirga is that it will get an endorsement from all stakeholders. The provincial government has repeatedly said that we were not taken on board, despite this very fact that if it is foreign policy, borders, military operations, these are affairs that no provincial government will decide.
And the provincial government itself has called the army under Article 245 that law and order situation is not better in the province, so army will help them to control. The provincial government is buying bulletproof vehicles, buying latest gadgets, strengthening police stations, increasing the police capacity in our newly merged districts, increasing the capacity of the counter-terrorism department.
So what does this mean? That the provincial government is also ready to fight terrorism, but it has been scoring political points on it so far. Because to hide its poor governance, the problems faced by the people were increasing, to hide them, and in a way it has been using the law and order as a political tactic.
So now it is good that there was an endorsement in Jirga. JUI-F, Awami National Party, Qaumi Watan Party, People’s Party, all political stakeholders were there, and Governor as the representative of centre was also there, the IG, and the security officials were there, I think a good message it was.
Look, whatever statements are made, whatever declarations are made, I think in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in tribal areas, it will be based on peace. No one can oppose peace. How will peace come? This is the modalities to be established. And I think if after this endorsement, this Jirga support counter-terror operations, then I think this is very good for the future of the province.
Look, I think there are two things. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, intelligence-based operations will continue. Yesterday you saw the attacks in Wana, once again trying to repeat APS episode. Our security forces countered it, five terrorists were killed, including the suicide bomber. Then you saw the suicide bombing in Islamabad, as per Khawaja Asif and our federal agencies, that the terrorist came from Bajaur, they reached Pir Wadhai, and from there he went by bike.
Now, if the root cause of this comes out in Afghanistan, then it will come out. Look, you have a very strange narrative, the Taliban’s Afghan administration is building that we cannot guarantee security in your country. Brother, we are telling you to neutralise the terrorists in your country. You take action against them. We did not tell you to take care of Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi. It is a big deal if you take care of your country’s security.
But I think it is a realistic approach. What Turkey is trying to do is a good thing. What Iran is trying to do is a good thing. There should be peace. We do not want to go into an unwanted war. But we have two demands. That you contain those terrorist groups, which the international community has called terrorists. We did not tell the Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, that Mir Khan Muttaqi, Sheikh Hibatullah, or Mullah Yaqub should come here and do Jihad against the terrorists. You should accept the terrorists as terrorists.
But you are not accepting them. This means that you are with them. Then your intelligence letters that have just started coming out, you are getting them to cross the border. And now look, this incident with Wana, there must be evidence in this too. After this, the incident with Islamabad, there is evidence of that too, that where did the person come from, who was he, how was he. You will find out. The claim that is being made, first the TTP claimed it, then denied it. So all these things will also be put in front of the mediators.
So after that, what do you think, that only the responsibility of peace is of Pakistan? In our areas, look, these incidents happen because, no matter where the sympathisers are, there is penetration in the last 50 years of war. Someone is doing it for money, someone is doing it for their ideology, someone is an mole of foreign agencies. Obviously, they have missions. And it will happen in a country as important as Pakistan.
But these three incidents, you look at the incident of Delhi, you look at the incident of Wana, and you look at the incident of Islamabad. This also tells us that maybe there are other forces besides the Taliban who want to instigate all this war. They want to take the region into terrorism once again.
We have to think about this aspect as well. And who are they? You see, the blast in India, in Mumbai, without looking at it, first it was a cylinder blast, the next day they put it on Pakistan. Not the Indian government, not Modi, their media has built a narrative that you go to war against Pakistan.
So what do you want, that on the western border you do proxy war, and on the eastern border you do conventional war. I think at this time we have to think that we have the capacity, it will be difficult. But it is time that we all, as a nation, come together. I think PTI or whoever it is, all these political parties will rule in Pakistan until Pakistan remains. At this time the hostile enemies are trying to break your Pakistan. So you will have to stop them, or else you will do your politics.
So the efforts of CM Sohail Afridi and the speaker, I think, I will say this, the big news is that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has also made a strategy against terrorism. You will see that it will come out after a while, it will come out. They are doing politics on it, but now they should think, not politics.
And the federal government also has the responsibility to take the province, which is really affected by terrorism, on board, to own it. And the phone call by the Prime Minister to Sohail Afridi, no doubt, that is an important thing. And secondly, I will say one more thing, you should let Sohail Afridi meet Imran Khan. What will happen? And when did this happen before? Do you think that after meeting him, he will come out and become a Tarzan? But there should be a realistic approach. You should let him see his leader every day. You should introduce him every day, what difference will it make? They have to do what is in the interest of the country. Can they do it against the interest of the country?
Amir Muttaki is also condemning the Delhi cylinder blast. So first, they should keep in mind that one was a cylinder blast and the other was a terrorist attack. In one, they tried to target innocent children. So now, will Mr. Hibatullah declare the terrorists who are attacking as Mujahideen, they are Muslims, they are doing Jihad, is it right to kill our children? If this same attack was taking place in Kabul, in a university, or in a school, then what would be Amir Khan Muttaki’s response? I think that he has very dual standards. It can be seen that he has gone beyond religion to save himself, his chair, and the survival of his group.
I saw a statement of his minister today, he said that Pakistan is doing injustice to them. Because when it is time to bring their goods, they open the border, and when it is time Afghan Muslims, they close the border. What does this mean? Only Afghan Taliban are Muslims, the rest of the world is not. It is a very sad thing. I think this worship of religion, worship of Shariah, and the so-called Islamic state, you can see that. On the one hand, they are saying that the infidels are your enemies, America is your enemy, you should not do business with them, but you are doing business with them. You have called their companies, American Oil and Petroleum Company, IGF, they are doing exploration here, you are doing relations with India. I think the people in Pakistan, they have a message, that they should end the slogans of Afghan brothers, they should end the slogans Pshtuns. They have their own country, we have our own country. If they are ready to sacrifice Uzbek, Tajik and their Pathan brothers, Pashtns, to save TTP, to save BLA, then will Pakistan die in their sorrow?
These so-called intellectuals, who give speeches for 24 hours, they should tell a solution. This is not a narrative, that Pakistan made a mistake, Pakistan made Taliban, Pakistan made TTP, Pakistan supported Haqqani, when the situation was different. Khawaja Sahib says that Afghan Jihad was a mistake, going to war on terror was a mistake, now we don’t want to repeat those mistakes. What do you want? That we should be punished for our past mistakes? We can’t tolerate more mistakes, we don’t support more. Then what option do you have? You used to say, our elders used to say, we hear this speech everyday, it is a very sad thing, that they put a new generation on a wrong narrative. You tell me, all of you were involved to make explosions in this province. How did Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao get martyred? You didn’t take revenge in Islamabad, you used to make explosions in Balochistan and KP. So think about it, don’t fall in love with those whom you yourself opposed, that they are terrorists, they are extremists, they are religious fanatics. So how do you build a narrative on international and Afghan sponsored media, this is against Pakistan’s survival and policy.
I think the damage that the KP government is causing to the counter-terrorism policy of the federation, by countering it, they are presenting the international media as a narrative. They are presenting it as if the Taliban are heroes, the people before them are heroes, we are the only sinners, we are Pakistanis. Some people are saying that we should talk to the terrorists. I am not saying that, we should send them and have them talk to them. They (TTP) are demanding that we don’t believe in Pakistan’s constitution, we don’t believe in Pakistan’s constitution, we don’t believe in Pakistan’s government, we don’t believe in Pakistan’s democracy, we don’t believe in Pakistan’s army, and you give us 7-8 districts and we want to build a government. You should ask them and get a referendum, if you want to live in their government, if you are good, but you should see what the outcome is.
All the intellectuals who are outside the government and inside the government, who sit outside the government and investigate the people, give them advice, and consult them, I say that the people who call themselves great experts in Afghan policy, in relations with Afghans, calling Afghanistan indispensable, or say that Pakistan’s strategic depth policy was wrong, it was wrong, we tolerated it, what should we do now? Do you have any option? Tell us that. Don’t tell us the story after 1940 and 1950. It is very unfortunate that the story starts after 1980. This happened, this happened, this happened. What should we do now? Should we save Pakistan or Afghanistan?
It is a very simple question, it is a very simple option. Afghanistan is a separate country, it has its own problems. Pakistan has always supported Afghanistan, no doubt, you can understand the narrative that is being built that Pakistan changed the strategic depth policy, Pakistan changed the regime in Kabul, maybe it still wants to have its own government. I think no country can control another country. The United States, Russia, Britain, Spain, France, have tried to govern their colonies remotely. Today, people from South African countries are standing up and forming a joint alliance.
Afghanistan is a free country, its people can make their own decisions, we are not interested in that. If they want to trade with us, we will trade with them. If they want to form good relations with us, we will form good relations with them. But if they want to sacrifice us and keep relations with India and call India to terrorise our western borders, then it is wrong. In the time of Zahir Shah, there was a war of 1965 and 1971. In that era, we must accept this that the Afghan king did a good thing by keeping the western borders safe. The people whom we raised, raised, sheltered, they are not making it difficult for us, they are making it difficult for their own people. Today, people are saying that if the Pakhtun Taliban want to wage war against Pakistan’s army or Pakistan, then it is not appropriate. We, Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, are not safe here. We, minorities, are not safe here. They have no right there, nor does the Shia, nor do the rest of the Muslims, nor the people of Hazara. So what are you giving to whom? Was the Islamic system like this? You claim that for Jews, Christians, for non-Muslims, it was a matter of peace.
So we don’t understand what kind of an Islamic state is this in which you are not even giving your rights to your Pashtun brothers. If you want this, your daughters should go to school, the rest of the Pakhtun girls should not go to school in Afghanistan. And no doubt, if the Afghan nation gives you this mandate that you are their representative in the government, then fine. Now a new narrative is being built that Pakistan wants a regime change in Afghanistan. We did not say that. The international community said that the Afghan interim government will make a conclusive and inclusive government. This is a non-inclusive government. It is a government of five people who do not even agree with each other. And the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be better when the Afghan Taliban regime and their leadership will talk about the Afghans. They will talk about the Afghan nation. They will talk about Afghanistan. They are talking about the Kandahar group. They are talking about the Khost group. They are talking about the Haqqani network. The problem is that non-state actors, even if we talk to them, some say that I will support the TTP, some say that I will not. First, let’s decide among ourselves what you have to decide.
I think, if you take my realistic opinion, the government is with the Pakistan Army and the federal government in the war. Politics is in the middle. Yes, politics. Maybe they want to say that we are very powerful people. We can contest the establishment. We can contest the federal government.
But one thing the people should hear very clearly. That this army is yours, this establishment is yours, and these political parties are also yours. When you are on the same page with them, you are in opposition. Your interest is hurt a little. Your intentions and your wishes are not in accordance with the government. Then you remember that the army is very cruel, the establishment is also very cruel, you are also being oppressed. When you do these atrocities in the previous governments, then you see that all these things are right. I think that all people should be on the same page, whether it is the establishment, whether it is the intelligence agencies, whether it is the state of Pakistan, whether it is the provincial governments, your senate, your politicians. The survival of your politicians is on the same page. The survival of this country is on the same page. You can give very good speeches, you can give very big speeches to people. You have to do what is for the betterment of this country. So do it. If you want to do it tomorrow, do it today. Why don’t you want to do it? If you want to stay in power in this country, then you have to stay on the same page. Otherwise, you won’t be on the next page.
