The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday issued a rebuttal to this week’s press conference by the military spokesman, who had dubbed the party “terrorist facilitators,” emphasizing there should be no politics on the issue of national concern.
On Tuesday, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry addressed a press conference on terrorism in Pakistan. Noting that over 70% of all attacks occurred in KP, he alleged “facilitation” by members of the provincial government, and “sympathy” from the PTI for terrorists were among the chief reasons for the surge.
In a joint press briefing, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, and senior leader Asad Qaiser stressed on the party’s belief for national unity to eliminate terrorism at its roots. “Our stance has always been that there should be no politics on terrorism,” said Gohar. “In fact, we need a singular stance and narrative on terrorism,” he said, maintaining the party and its leadership had always condemned terrorism.
“To say that the PTI and its government in KP is uncooperative is inappropriate and far from the truth,” he said, recalling a grand jirga organized by the provincial government in October to debate the issue. “Terrorists do not have a religion, nationality or boundaries. They do not differ between men and women. They attack our mosques, Eidgahs and we condemn each and every attack,” he said, lamenting the “inappropriate and dangerous” questioning of why terrorists did not target the PTI.
“We believe that any time someone comes under a terrorist attack, the whole of the country is targeted,” he continued. “If tackling terrorism requires a more serious approach, then the support of Twitter and press conferences should not be taken for labelling allegations. Present your argument in the relevant forums,” he added.
Gohar maintained the PTI government in KP had increased the capacity of the province’s police force, spending Rs. 40 billion for this purpose. He further said the party and provincial government’s top priority was protecting the life and property of its people. “There can be no compromise on this, nor has there been,” he stressed. “Despite that, blaming us, doing press conferences and targeting us is making the rift [between Army and the PTI] wider and wider, which is harmful for the nation at this time,” he said. “This should be avoided,” he added.
He hoped that he would not need to address a similar press conference in future, adding there should be no such conference targeting the PTI either.
Secretary-General Raja, meanwhile, described the military spokesman’s allegations as “unfortunate,” stressing that Imran Khan and the PTI are not “terrorist sympathizers.” He further said the PTI represented the public and could not accept military operations that led to the displacement and martyrdom of innocent people. He said the PTI had always offered to “work in cooperation in deciding the action plan” to tackle terrorism.
“Bombs and explosives cannot create the conditions for peace,” he said, urging the state to “bridge the gap between people in KP and state institutions.” In this regard, he claimed, the PTI can bring the public and institutions on a single platform for a national cause.
Raja warned that if the state did not adopt a path for dialogue, the future would remain “unstable” and reiterated the party’s stance for including the PTI in policymaking on counter-terrorism. However, he stressed, no negotiations on “any matter” could take place without including the input of Imran Khan.
Former National Assembly speaker Qaiser also referred to the grand Jirga and questioned the effectiveness of previous counter-terrorism policies. “If your policy has consistently failed, then it is time that you should review it, revisit it and adopt a policy which can help eliminate the issue,” he said, alleging the center had not provided due funds to the KP government.
The senior PTI leader claimed his party was the “largest” in the country but was being deliberately “crushed” through denial of public interactions.
In a subsequent Q&A session, Gohar said the PTI was currently not engaged in any dialogue with either the government or the establishment. He said the relevant parties for this question were Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Nasir Abbas, who Imran Khan has entrusted with leading the talks process.