lashkars will create enmities among tribesmen.Qazi Hussain Ahmad

LANDIKOTAL : Demanding halt to ‘lashkar kashi’(volunteers’ group armed force) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Amir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmad asked the government to refrain from shifting the US war from Afghanistan to the tribal areas of Pakistan.

“The US wants to shift war from neighbouring Afghanistan to Fata and establish its base in Bajaur Agency and our rulers have launched operation in Fata on the dictates of Americans. Raising of Lashkar (armed volunteer force) to fight against, what they call militants, is dangerous trend and would lead to civil war,” he warned.

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief said that ‘Lashkar Kashi’ would not resolve the problem. Rather it would create enmities among the tribesmen, he said while addressing a press conference here telecasted by TV channels. He said the unfortunate incident of Orakzai Agency wherein over 110 people were killed was result of the government’s wrong policy of raising lashkars.

The issue of militancy could be resolved through dialogue instead of lashkars and people having influence should be contacted for the purpose, Qazi Hussain Ahmad said. Being a major political force, Jamaat-e-Islami had influence in Bajaur but its leaders were not consulted in the whole affair, he complained.

“If the United Kingdom and France have realised the reality that Afghanistan and Taliban could not be occupied through force, then why our rulers have shut their eyes to the fact that military operation is not solution to the problem,” he posed a question.

The Jamaat chief said his party could play a vital role in the negotiations to bring normalcy to the tribal region if the government abandoned the policies of Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf’s regime. He alleged that the government was fighting the war of the US and ground was being levelled for shifting others’ war to the tribal areas just for the sake of dollars. The US, he said, was bent upon destabilising Pakistan to do away with its Islamic identity and nuclear capability. He said the rulers should refrain from compromising the country’s stability and sovereignty just for the sake of aid and funds.

The Jamaat chief said that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rahman Malik called on him in the morning and held lengthy discussion on the current situation. “I told him that lashkars will not resolve rather intensify the issue and he should convey the suggestion of holding talks instead of operation to the president and prime minister,” he said.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad had arrived on a short visit to the province to condole the death of former minister and seasoned politician, Muhammad Aslam Khattak. Lauding services of the late leader, he said Aslam Khattak was great politician who served the country and province for a long time.