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Lashkars to push country towards civil war: Qazi

* JI chief says move would further militarise society
* Says US shifting war theatre from Afghanistan to Pakistan

By Daud Khattak

PESHAWAR: The formation of lashkars, the tribal militias, to fight the Taliban will result in civil war in the Tribal and settled areas of the NWFP, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference, the JI chief said, “The move was pushing the society towards chaos and uncertainty, resulting in further bloodshed.”

He said that the government would not achieve its objectives from the move that would further militarise the society. Qazi said that the bomb attack on a tribal jirga in Orakzai Agency was a result of the “wrong” policy of raising tribal lashkars in the agency.

United States: He said that the war being fought in the Tribal Areas was a conspiracy hatched by the United States that was planning to shift the war theatre from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Qazi said that the events in the Bajaur Agency were also a part of the same game, arguing that the US wanted to establish its military base in Bajaur and that the recent operation in the area was part of the same conspiracy.

He said that the allies of the US in the war on terror such as the United Kingdom and France were now admitting that they were fighting a “useless” war in Afghanistan where a “decisive” military victory was impossible.

Why the Pakistani government was fighting a war of the US whose staunch allies were now saying that they were being used by it for its own interests, said the JI chief.

Stopping short of condemning the attack on the tribal jirga in Orakzai Agency, Qazi said that he was shocked at the civilian casualties, adding that unofficial figures revealed that the death toll was over 100, while scores of people were injured in the blast.

He demanded that the government start negotiations with the Taliban in Bajaur Agency through the “true representatives” of the people of those areas and end the war. He said that hundreds of people had been displaced and that civilians had borne the brunt of this “useless” war.

He said that he had conveyed his reservations about the security situation and the military operation in the Tribal Areas to Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik during an informal meeting in Islamabad on Sunday.

About the in-camera briefing to parliamentarians by the top military brass, the JI chief, who stayed aloof from the briefing, said that there was nothing new. He said that the country was standing at crossroads and that it was time for the rulers to take wise decisions to avert the crisis with the support of the people.

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