ISLAMABAD - Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has emphasised that the key dividend of peace in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas remains linked to its mainstreaming in line with popular public sentiments.
Chairing the 210th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the GHQ in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, the army chief directed that stability and development efforts must trickle down dividends of peace to the public.
A statement issued by the military’s media wing said that the forum reviewed evolving geo-strategic environment and security situation in the country.
It said that progress on ongoing Operation Raddul Fasaad and Khushal Balochistan programme was also discussed.
The meeting acknowledged contributions and sacrifices of all the national stakeholders, especially the resilient Pakistanis in rejecting terrorism and bringing about security and stability in the country.
The forum discussed lines of stability operations to carry forward the gains of successful kinetic operations.
It concluded to continue efforts in support of state institutions, which are taking Pakistan on a positive trajectory of peace, stability and prosperity.
The army chief’s statement about mainstreaming of the Fata comes in the wake of a major rally staged by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Peshawar on Sunday.
One of the PTM’s demands is the restoration of routine life in the Fata, which has been at the forefront of Pakistan’s fight against terrorism.
“The people of tribal areas should be given the same rights as the people of Lahore and Islamabad,” one of the organisers of the PTM protest had said on Sunday, while demanding the provision of basic human rights to the people of the tribal areas.
Other speakers had demanded that facilities such as hospitals, schools and colleges should be provided in the Fata and vowed to continue their demand for rights within the ambit of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan, on Wednesday said major demands of the PTM and its leader Manzoor Pashteen were “genuine” and promised to discuss them with the army chief if he formed the next federal government.
“His major demands are genuine,” the PTI chief was reported to have said during a meeting with representatives of various tribes.
“I will take up the matter of check posts, landmines, missing persons and other issues with the army chief, if my party forms next government in the centre,” he said.
