News
Pak-Afghan bitterness now history: ex-envoy
ISLAMABAD: Former Ambassador Ayaz Wazir on Wednesday said that bitterness of the past thirteen years between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been removed in two days during the visit of President Ashraf Ghani, and now the two countries are walking on the same road to cooperation. Responding to question during the seminar on ‘Peace and Reform in FATA,’ organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in cooperation with the PPF, he asked the armed forces of Pakistan to fight the war against terrorism, with the support of the people local people, by taking them on board. In his presentation he said, military is fighting militants, but the local people are getting a hit from both the sides. He said the very nomenclature FATA, suggest that the tribal area is being administered from the center and not being governed, which is unacceptable to the local people and is against the spirit their culture. He said, exercising a new arrangement for governing FATA should be left to the local people, so, they can exercises the right of self-governance. He compared FCR with apartheid. But, he said, the regulation should continue till the time new arrangement is made. Earlier, retired ambassador Khalid Aziz said Article 247 of the constitution gives the concept of Joint Sovereignty, which is sharing power with the local people. This he said can bring tribal and social cohesion, which is a must for transferring responsibility to the locals after the military operation, is over. He said, Pakistan military, after 9/11 is following the strategy of Clearing, Holding and building. Transferring responsibility to the locals should also be the part of strategy. He said, local Malik System was very good but many of the Maliks’ were killed. Now their new generation has come up. Ready to play its role. Former Commandant NDU, Lt. General (r) Raza Muhammad Khan said, Pakistan has lost $ 80 billion and 50,000 lives in this war. He said, unprotected areas of FATA, ware misused, which has compounded the problemFormer IGP, Fayyaz Toru said, it is the police that should be strengthened to fight terrorism. Malakand was won over from the militants, as a result of using police, which was strengthened. He said, legal framework should be improved in the area. For that, Police law 2003-4 is good. Executive Director, SDPI said, for a durable peace, it was important to improve food situation in the areas. He said, according to the study conducted by SDPI, bulk of the population back in 2003 was food insecure. Once again, 82 percent of the population was food insecure, in 2009. He said, overall security situation cannot improve without first ensuring the human
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk