Canadian Pakhtuns call for peace in Pakistan, Afghanistan

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Bureau report PESHAWAR: Pakhtuns Peace Forum (PPF), a Canada-based organisation, has demanded of the United Nations, United Sates and international community to take measures to bring peace to Afghanistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and NWFP by engaging and empowering political parties of Pakhtuns. In a press release issued from Toronto said the PPF urged the international community to immedia-tely provide shelter, food, immigration and refugee status to Pakhtuns dis-placed in the region on priority basis to “save innocent children and women from the war among al-Qaeda, Taliban, military agencies, US and Nato forces. The international community needs to strengthen the government of Pakhtuns in NWFP to end the influence of militants and outlaws. The government of Pakistan should also extend Political Parties Act to Fata, form independent legislative councils, abolish the ‘notorious’ Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and Maliki system and to give representation to people of Fata in the NWFP Assembly. The PPF proposed Fata should be under the control of the elected parliament instead of the president. Women and youth should be given the right to sit in Jirgas and assemblies in Fata as the same tribal women had already won their right on the other side of the Durand line in Afghanistan, noted the forum. To curb militancy in the area, the organisation further suggested that Canada, US and the international community should divert their investment from war to construction and development of Pakhtuns by investing in education, healthcare and small industries. The PPF deplored that neither the Pakistani government nor the international community had provided moral or financial support to over 300,000 internally displaced innocent Pakhtuns, who had left their homes due to military operations and militants’ activities in Bajaur, Swat, Waziristan and Darra Adamkhel.