HYDERABAD: A member of Taliban negotiating committee, Maulana Yousuf Shah has said there is no grouping in the Pakistani Taliban as all militant groups support the dialogue process being taking place with the government.
He was speaking to media representatives at Jamia Ashrafia Liaquat Colony on Friday night as he arrived here to address a conference organised by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) in Market Tower area.
He said the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a movement which is led by Mullah Fazlullah and all groups accept him as their ameer. He, however, complained that he is not witnessing the kind of seriousness for the last ten days that was seen in initial stages of peace talks.
Maulana Shah said that, “we should not term Taliban as rebels. They are our estranged brothers and children,” he added.
He remarked that those who had refused to accept Pakistan and burnt flags were given ‘government as a gift.’
He said that this is an issue which is pending for last 12 years and during the course of this period 60 to 70,000 people lost their lives, 1.6 million people dislocated and 52,000 houses and 700 mosques were destroyed.
“It can’t be resolved overnight. It is not the problem between two individuals,” he said.
The TTP negotiator disclosed that the next phase of dialogue would begin on May 4 or May 5 as arrival of Secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hussain Fawad, a member of government negotiating committee, from UK is awaited.
He said that, “we have asked the two sides to show seriousness and be focussed on negotiations alone.” “We have asked them [government and TTP] to present their demand in the next phase of dialogue so that we can see which of them should be taken in hand first.”
Maulana Yousuf Shah confirmed that the next phase of dialogue would be held in tribal areas and the TTP would be represented by Qari Shakeel Haqqani, the head of TTP’s political shura. He said that a representative of army has been attending meeting of the committee and he would be present in next round of talks also.
He denied that TTP had presented any demands and said that they had only proposed that all interned non combatants should be released and a peace zone should be identified to facilitate them.
“They [TTP] didn’t insist on it,” he said while emphasising the need for creating conducive environment to keep the process going.
He said that clerics had always raised voice for defence of Pakistan and they also raised voice for Balochistan.
“That’s why we say all people whether they belong to Balochistan or Bajaur and Waziristan should be engaged. They are our people and estranged brothers,” he said. He added that external forces are bent upon destabilising Pakistan.
Maulana Yousuf Shah expressed the hope that next round of talks would be held as scheduled and the two sides would be focused on negotiations alone for establishment of lasting peace in the country.