Govt again offers dialogue to estranged PTM.

Byline: Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD -- Defence Minister Pervez Khattak on Sunday again invited leaders of the estranged Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), an organisation working for the rights of Pashtuns, to come to the negotiating table to discuss all the contentious issues with the government.

'We Pakhtoons belong to the same province thus we should collectively work for the development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,' the minister said in a statement.

Mr Khattak said the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) had been merged in the province in order to bring the tribal people into the mainstream. He said people of those districts were lagging behind in terms of education, healthcare and basic communications infrastructure and added that it was the time to collectively work for their uplift rather than indulge in confrontation.

Mr Khattak, who had previously served as the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and who is considered to be a close confidant of Prime Minister Imran Khan, invited the PTM leadership to the negotiating table to 'jot down issues of their concerns and discuss their resolution'.

The defence minister said the country was going through a tougher period wherein the masses were confronted by the global pandemic. The pandemic, he said, had not only brought devastation to the country's economy but also to people's lives.

Pervez Khattak says all contentious issues may be discussed

The minister said that political instability in the country, especially in the KP province, would lead to increase the miseries of people.

In September last year, after a heated debate on the floor of the National Assembly between Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, the PTM-backed independent members from the tribal areas, and federal ministers, the government had offered talks to the organisation, but with certain conditions.

The talks offer had been made by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Interior Minister retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah with the condition that the PTM members would only follow 'Pakistan's agenda' and would not target armed forces in their speeches.

'The army also wants to come out from there [Waziristan]. If your agenda is Pakistan, then I am ready to hold talks with you,' Mr Khattak had stated after the house had already witnessed a verbal brawl between Mr Dawar and Communications Minister Murad Saeed.

'However, if you continue to talk against the institution which has ensured security and peace in the country, then you will not be...