Refusal by opposition to hold talks with govt points to anti-Kashmir agenda: defence minister – Pakistan

Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, who has been appointed by the government to lead talks with opposition parties, said Saturday that the opposition's refusal to come to the table points to an anti-Kashmir agenda.

Khattak was referring to the decision of the opposition parties to respond to the call of the head of the JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, to join and march against the government on October 31.

The opposition has so far refused to come to the table to talk with the government and, instead, has expressed a singular demand: the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Editorial: The offer of the conversations was rejected

"We are asking the opposition parties to come and talk," Khattak said at a press conference held at the Islamabad House of Parliament, adding: "Because if you have any problems, you should talk. This is a democracy."

The defense minister warned that such stubborn behavior will only result in "absolute anarchy." He rejected any possibility of the Prime Minister's resignation.

"If you don't sit with us and talk, then we would have fulfilled our responsibility. What happens next will depend on you," he said, addressing the opposition parties.

Khattak warned that in such a case, the government will have no choice but to act and "make decisions according to the law."

He said the country faces many problems, the main one of which is the Kashmir problem, "which seems to be constantly scrapped." "It seems that there is another agenda (behind the protest); an agenda has been formed to bury the Kashmir issue."

Khattak said messages were sent to the top leaders of all opposition parties to come to the negotiating table and expressed the hope that the offer could still be accepted.

He denied the impression that the government had been forced to form a committee "out of fear." "These are norms of democracy. Things can only be resolved through dialogue."

He insisted on the fact that the government only wishes to protect the nation from anarchy and destruction. "The government has to establish its mandate. If someone challenges the government, it's not just Imran Khan who is the government, it's a state. And it's not just PTI that forms the state, we have a complete system and if someone wants harm they will get the right answer. "

The defense minister said that every time one tunes in the Indian media channels, "it seems that people (in Pakistan) are working on their (Indian) agenda." "They (the Indians) are happy to see Pakistan fall into chaos."

He said that the government for that reason wants to sit down and hold talks and strengthen the country's position against external threats.

Khattak, making a comparison of a protest conducted by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, which was part of the opposition in 2014, said the PTI approach had been different by which before a protest was called, the National Assembly , the courts and the Electoral Commission of Pakistan was addressed first.

"When all options were exhausted, only then Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was the leader of the party, decided to march towards Islamabad."

Khattak said the PTI "did not come out without a rhyme or reason." "We had a problem (electoral fraud) and a list of lawsuits."

The defense minister sought to remind everyone that the Panama scandal had also developed and that the PTI had "rightly demanded an investigation into the matter but no one heard."

"Right after we launched our movement, the next day, the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the case and we accepted it and put an end to our movement," Khattak said.

He also noted that despite the Panama scandal, the PTI "held talks (with the government) and discussions continued and when a commission was formed, we accepted its decision."

Khattak said that, on the other hand, the opposition had never approached the government in the Assembly or otherwise and had presented its demands.

He called Maulana (Fazlur Rehman) sahib to reflect on the government's offer. "You should think of Pakistan. If your agenda is Pakistan, if you love your homeland and love cashmere, you will have to sit down and talk to us."

The defense minister said that if the agenda is to create anarchy and let Pakistan slip further (in a downward economic spiral), then its choice to continue (with the march) will reflect the same.

He said the seven-member negotiating committee formed by the government, which contains the president of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, the president of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Noorul Haq Qadri and the president of the Assembly of Punjab, Pervez Elahi, has the composition he has "because the government is taking the matter very seriously and wants the same to be communicated."

"Protest for a constitutional right"

PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, in response, tried to remind the government that holding a protest was a right granted to citizens by the Constitution of Pakistan. "How can those who themselves organized a sit-in to protest?"

He said the offer of talks was a "two-sided movement."

Iqbal, in a clear reminder of the 2014 sit-in by the PTI, said: "The 126-day sitting caused the complete closure of the schools, the Chinese president's tour was canceled and now he is worried about the education of children?"

"Imran Khan should first apologize to the nation and Nawaz Sharif before talking about negotiations," he added.

The PML-N leader, in another coup in PTI, questioned the conscience with which party representatives were "delivering sermons on the wisdom of the talks" when "they descended to PTV offices, the Supreme Court building and the Parlament".

"On the one hand, this incompetent prime minister puts before us this farce of committee and, on the other, speaks ill of his political opponents and ridicules them," he said.

Iqbal said that not only Shahbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman see him as "incompetent" and "a failure", but the whole nation that supports the opinion.

"All the opposition, the nation's merchants, workers, students and media will leave (on October 31) to get rid of Khan's follies," he said.