Efforts urged to forge unity among Pakhtuns

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad (PJI) on Saturday took stock of the regional, national and international political situation as well as the issues being faced by the Pakhtuns.

According to a press release, a meeting of the alliance was held with its convener Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao in the chair. The meeting said that there was a dire need to speed up the efforts to forge unity among the Pakhtuns at this critical juncture. It said that awareness campaigns, seminars and jirgas would be organised to highlight the issues being faced by the Pakhtuns. A committee was also constituted to seek the support of other political parties, alliances and forums to address the grievances of the Pakhtuns. The meeting expressed concern over the human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir.

The participants of the meeting said that India and Pakistan were nuclear states, therefore, they should solve this issue through dialogue as per the aspirations of the Kashmiris. They also supported the ongoing peace process to restore stability to Afghanistan. The meeting said the democratic process should also be strengthened in Afghanistan, besides taking the peace talks to its logical conclusion. It said that Kashmir dispute and the Afghan peace process were two separate things and these should not be linked. The PJI also reiterated the pledge to step up efforts to mitigate the sufferings of the Pakhtuns.