Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while referring to the banned outfit, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) stated on Monday that the government will only talk to those who respect the law and Constitution Pakistan.
The minister went on to state that in case of violation of the law, “we have battled before and will do again”.
It is pertinent to note that his remarks came three days after the TTP accused the government of failing to honour the decisions reached earlier, while ending a month-long ceasefire with the government.
According to the agreement, the both sides had also agreed to observe a month-long ceasefire from November 1 to November 30, 2021 and that the government would release 102 “imprisoned mujahideen” and hand them over to the TTP through the IEA.
Additionally, the two sides had accepted that the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA) would play the role of a mediator and that both sides would form five-member committees each which, under the supervision of the mediator, would discuss the next course of action and demands of each sides.
The banned TTP, in their statement on December 9, said that the government had not only failed to implement the decisions reached between the two sides, security forces had conducted raids in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Swat, Bajaur, Swabi and North Waziristan and killed and detained militants.
“Under these circumstances, it is not possible to extend the ceasefire,” the TTP said.
The information minister, while addressing a gathering in Lahore today, stated that the [Afghan] Taliban government had once again pressed the TTP to abide by the [ceasefire] agreement. “And I think their advice is sane,” he added.
Earlier, the minister identified “the attitude of judges” towards the criminal justice system as a big reason for its deterioration.
Chaudhry said chief justices came for a little time and they couldn’t undertake judicial reforms alone. He said the coordination between senior police officers and the judiciary was key to bringing in reforms the system needed.
“The judiciary has not shown as much concern on the matter as it should have.”
The minister said it was unfortunate that “we did not move towards police and judicial reforms”.
“It is vital to have reforms in our police, prosecution system, judiciary and prisons to overhaul our criminal justice system,” he added.
While referring to the recent Transparency International report, he stated that “it termed judiciary and police as corrupt institutions in the public eye”.
