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Only dialogue can solve problems: Hoti

* NWFP CM says Pashtuns not terrorists
* Says FATA needs basic reforms

By Zakir Hassnain

PESHAWAR: Only jirgas and dialogues can solve problems in the NWFP, particularly in the Tribal Areas, and the use of guns is no solution to restore peace or resolve other issues, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said on Monday.

Hoti said there would be no peace in the Tribal Areas if there was no peace in Afghanistan, and if there was no peace in the Tribal Areas, there would be no peace in settled areas. He said Pakistan and Afghanistan should sit together to solve their problems, as only Pashtuns were dying on both the sides. Hoti urged Pashtuns to come forward and solve their problems, including the existing law and order problem in which “foreign forces are involved”, in jirgas,.

The CM was addressing a tribal workshop organised by the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation (SBF) and the Benazir Democracy Institute (BDI) on how to define, develop and democratise the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Peace seekers: Hoti rejected an impression, particularly abroad, that the tribal people were involved in terrorism and did not want peace.

“Pashtuns are not terrorists. They are peace-loving people and are themselves victims of terrorism,” he said. He urged Pashtuns to unite and give a message to the world that they wanted “peace, peace and peace”.

Reforms: Hoti said that FATA needed basic administrative and political reforms and the tribal people should make decisions about what kind of system they wanted. He said the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) needed amendments, which should be made keeping in view the tribal customs and traditions. He said the percentage of poverty in ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ was more than in any other province.

Talking to the media, Hoti said he had discussed socio-economic development priorities and other issues of the province with US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher. He said Boucher, who had called on him on Sunday, did not ask him to ‘do more’. The chief minister said he asked Boucher to do more for the province’s economic development and to solve its problems.

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