No compromise on sovereignty: Rehman Malik
Islamabad: Former Interior Minister and Chairman Institute of Research and Reforms (IRR) Senator Rehman Malik has said that there should be no compromise on the integrity, sovereignty, constitution, and law of Pakistan while giving general amnesty to Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He said that Pakistani Taliban have never abided by the agreements they had made in the past but instead take advantage of the time during the dialogue and negotiation to strengthen themselves and continue terrorist activities.
He said that it is a good omen to bring those elements of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban and other terrorist organizations who are deviated from violent ideologies and want to follow the constitution and law of Pakistan but giving amnesty to those who had been involved in killings and terrorism is against the constitution and law of Pakistan. He demanded that TTP should surrender their weapons in Norristan in Afghanistan before the Afghan Taliban during the talks with Pakistan and also announce disassociation from Daesh.
The former interior minister said that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should be held accountable for the massacre of innocent children at Army Public School Peshawar and the incident should be investigated from them as to who was behind the attack as the parents of the children are still waiting for justice. He said that the handover of Ikramullah, the suicide bomber who survived the attack on Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed should be demanded from TTP.
Rehman Malik said the nation wanted to know the facts of the attack on Malala Yousafzai, and details of the attack should be sought from TTP during talks with them. He said that in various incidents of terrorism, hundreds of Shia were martyred in attacks on Imambargahs in Karachi, Hazara Town, Quetta, and other cities of the country. He said that the blood of hundreds of Christians killed in attacks on Churches in Lahore and Peshawar was also at the hands of Tehrik-e-Taliban. Hundreds of suicide attacks were carried out on mosques, imambargahs, shrines, bazaars, parks, and churches, and even hospitals across the country and in Balochistan and Karachi killing thousands of innocent people whose blood shall not go waste, he added.
Rehman Malik said that more than 80,000 innocent people including Pakistani army, police, law enforcement officers, and personnel have been martyred by TTP, and if their brutal killers are forgiven then the souls and families of martyrs will never forgive us. During the last twenty years, TTP has targeted key and sensitive areas of the country including GHQ and PNS Mehran and it is important to investigate from TTP the motives behind it those attacks, he said.
Senator Rehman Malik stressed that general amnesty to the terrorists would hurt the families of the martyrs who sacrificed their loved ones for the protection and sanctity of the motherland. He said that as Interior Minister, it has been his experience that the TTP continues its terrorist activities by taking advantage of the dialogue and never abides by the ceasefire agreements. He said talks with the TTP had begun several times during his tenure but had never been successful because the Taliban always continued their operations and did not back down from their nefarious intentions. He said that terrorists strengthen themselves by taking advantage of time in dialogue so the government should never rely on their ceasefire announcements.
He said that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) must be planning to continue terrorist activities by keeping Pakistan engaged in talks through Afghan Taliban as it has been experienced in the past that the Taliban have never been sincere in moving towards peace. He stressed that no step should be taken against the law and the Constitution of Pakistan..
