APC pledges to unite nation to tackle insurgency: consensus among political parties need of hour, says Prime Minister

All Parties Conference (APC) on Monday pledged to protect the country's sovereignty at all costs and make efforts to unite the nation for tackling insurgency in Swat and other parts of Malakand Division. Giving details of the APC, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira at a news briefing claimed that the APC fully supported the ongoing military offensive against what he called "insurgents" in Swat.
"Whatever is happening in Swat is not terrorism; it is insurgency," he added. However, the political leadership failed to come up with clear words in support of ongoing military action as far as the written "unanimous" resolution is concerned.
The resolution said that the political leadership reaffirmed its commitment to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan. "The APC maintained that the safety and security of civilians is paramount and it should be ensured that minimum harm is caused to the non-combatant civilian population." From this part of the resolution, the information minister derived that the political leadership supported the military operation.
According to sources, some political leaders opposed the military action in the context that use of force always fails to provide long lasting solution. They called for ending the military action as early as possible, besides asking the government to take tangible measures to compensate those who suffered in the post-operation scenario.
However, political leaders did not demand halting the military offensive immediately. They were unanimous in their assertion that the government must take the military action to its logical conclusion. Some APC participants including PML (N) took serious notice of President Asif Ali Zardari's statement that "military operation would be launched in Waziristan and other tribal areas after Swat."
Leaders of 43 political parties attended the daylong APC held at the Prime Minister House. The APC ended a few hours before the President returned from his over 20-day trip to the US and some European countries. Some Baloch nationalist parties disassociated themselves from the APC.
The information minister kept media persons waiting for almost two hours to brief them about the APC. Media persons were about to boycott the briefing minutes before Kaira reached the Press Information Department (PID). He apologised to media for being late, saying that he was late because of finalisation of 'unanimous' resolution.
Giving details of 16-point resolution, the minister said that the APC, after being briefed on the operation and insurgency in Swat, stressed the need to establish and maintain the writ of the state and ensure the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law.
The declaration reiterated its support to the resolution passed on October 22, 2008 at the conclusion of in-camera joint session of the parliament and the subsequent recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, as required by the resolution and impressed upon the need for a speedy implementation.
It condemned all violent challenges to the constitution and the state of Pakistan and expressed grief for the martyrdom of security personnel and innocent civilians as well as re-emphasised the need to ensure safety, wellbeing and rehabilitation in their respective areas of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The resolution called upon people to respond as one nation to mitigate the sufferings of IDPs while emphasising that Pakistan is a vibrant dynamic democracy. The APC re-affirmed that Pakistan's nuclear assets are under effective command and control authority and asserted that the strategic decisions regarding military issues including troops deployment are the sole prerogative of the state of Pakistan.
Responding to a question, Kaira said that the government was alive to the security of the Pakistan nukes. "Taliban are not capable of capturing our nukes," he added.
The political parties appreciated the tremendous sacrifices given by Pakistani people economically, politically and in terms of human life while fighting terrorism, more than any other country or people. The APC condemned the violation of Pakistan's political, economic and territorial sovereignty including drone attacks.
The joint resolution conveyed that Pakistan is a sovereign state and any aid, economic or military which carries conditionalities will be counter productive and resolved as well as to struggle collectively for the security and welfare of IDPs and to unite the nation to combat terrorism, extremism and sectarianism.
After reaching Islamabad for APC, the PML (N) leader Nawaz Sharif said that the APC should have been held before the military operation was formally launched. He, however, supported the government move. He said he was satisfied with the in-camera briefing by army about the Swat operation.
Talking to media after Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, leader, Awami Muslim League said Pakistan's nuke arsenal is fully secure under command and control system. He said that no political leader in the APC called for halting the military operation. "No one has really opposed it in the APC," he added.
Jamaat-i-Islami leader Liaquat Baloch stressed the need to implement the resolution unanimously adopted by all the parties. He said that there must be home-grown solution to the problems.
Director General ISPR, Major General Athar Abbas and Secretary Information, Ashfaq Gondal were also present. Earlier, Addressing the political leaders at the All Parties Conference (APC), Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday called upon the political parties to help find a durable solution to the problems of militancy and insurgency in Swat and other parts of Malakand.
He said that the government pursued a policy of dialogue, deterrence and development in tribal areas for which it faced criticism and was blamed for "following the foreign directives". We endorsed the peace agreement signed by the Provincial government and it was agreed that militants would give up weapons after implementation of Nizam-e-Adl, he said regretting that those who had signed the peace deal refused to lay down weapons.
Gilani said the army action became a necessity when militants treated the innocent people with violence and brutality, and made their lives unbearable and mentioned cases of flogging of a girl, desecration of Sufi shrines, forcing people to follow self interpretation of Islam and training youngsters to become terrorists, as the main reasons that prompted the government to call in army in the area. Prime Minister Gilani said the army would remain in Swat valley until peace was fully restored and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) return to their homes.