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January 09, 2026
PTI Takes Offence to Being Labelled as ‘Terrorist Facilitators’Islamabad: The PTI on Thursday took strong exception to being labelled as “terrorist facilitators”, saying the party had always maintained that there should be no politics on the issue.
The remarks from the party came during a press briefing held in Islamabad by party chairman Gohar Ali Khan, and party leaders Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.
In his remarks, Gohar said, “The PTI’s stance has always been that terrorism is a menace, and it is a national responsibility to eliminate it from its roots.
“Our stance has always been that there should be no politics on terrorism. In fact, we need a singular stance and narrative on terrorism,” he said, adding that 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, highlighting that a grand jirga was held on the matter in the province in October.
“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.
He added that at this time it was “inappropriate and dangerous” to ask why the PTI was not targeted by terrorists.
“We believe that any time someone comes under a terrorist attack, the whole of the country is targeted,” he said.
“If tackling terrorism requires a more serious approach, then the support of Twitter and press conferences should not be taken for levelling allegations. Present your argument at the relevant forums,” he said.
He further claimed that the PTI government in KP had increased the capacity of the province’s police force and also spent Rs40 billion for this purpose.
Gohar said the top priority of the PTI and its government in KP was protecting the life and property of its people. “And there can be no compromise on this, nor has there been,” he said.
“Despite that, blaming us, doing press conferences and targeting us is making the rift wider and wider, which is harmful for the nation at this time,” he asserted.
“This should be avoided,” he said.
“I am hoping that next time we will not feel the need to hold such a press conference. And I also hope that no press conference will be held against us either,” he said.
Raja, speaking at the press conference, also termed the allegations “unfortunate” and stressed that Imran and PTI were “not terrorist sympathizers”.
“Only a fool would sympathize with terrorists,” Raja maintained.
Addressing the allegations levelled at PTI on the matter of military operations, Raja held, “We stand with the people of Pakistan and cannot accept the displacement and martyrdom of innocent people.”
He said that the PTI had always offered to “work in cooperation in deciding the action plan”.
Raja spoke about the grand jirgah in KP, where he said, “all political parties, scholars, and intellectuals from KP, unanimously agreed that the current policy on counterterrorism was wrong”.
“Bombs and explosives cannot create the conditions for peace,” he reiterated.
Raja believed that the state’s priority should be to “bridge the gap between people in KP and state institutions”, stressing that PTI was the only party which could help bridge this “gap”.
“PTI can bring people and institutions together for a national purpose,” he added.
Raja said that PTI’s main proposal was that “we sit down and talk,” stressing that until the “gap” is not addressed, the future will remain “unstable”.
In that regard, he urged that the party representative of the people in KP — PTI — cannot be isolated in matters relating to policies on counterterrorism.
Raja also maintained that “no negotiation — whether about terrorism or any other matter — could be done while keeping Imran Khan out” of the process.
Qaiser also spoke about the grand jirgah and said it was “unanimously decided that any policy the Center brings should be made in consultation with the provincial assembly“.
He noted that there has been a “rise” in terrorism in the recent past and called into question the current 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 assailed the Center for “not providing KP funds for the development of its people”.
He stressed that such an attitude “serves to foster bitterness”.
Qaiser asserted that PTI was the “largest party in the country” and claimed that it was being “crushed”.
“We are not being allowed to hold rallies, which is our constitutional right and on top of that, a campaign is being run against us,” Qaiser added.
Holding up a written statement issued after the grand jirgah, Qaiser said, “This right here is our main stance“.
He read: “The peace jirgah condemns terrorism in KP and its merged districts and […] Every resource should be used in consultation with the provincial assembly and within the ambit of the law, to eliminate terrorism and ensure the establishment of peace in KP.
“Resolutions passed by the KP Assembly on the security situation and counter terrorism policies should be acted upon”.
He further said, “No party in KP has remained safe from terrorism.”
Some of the key demands made by the KP peace jirgah in October were taking the provincial government on board before making any decision regarding peace in KP and resolving the differences between the federal and provincial governments for the larger public interest.
The PTI press conference comes after the military’s spokesperson, in a wide-ranging press briefing accused a political party in power in Pakistan in 2021 — ostensibly referring to the PTI — of “internally facilitating terrorists” … - Dawn
Courtesy Dawn
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