President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday ruled out the possibility of holding talks with militants, and said that the government "has no other option" but to fight out extremists till their complete elimination. Addressing a jirga of public representatives and notables from Swat here, he said that militants want to impose their will on society, "and this is not acceptable".
The holding of jirga was the second attempt of the government during this month. The government wants to have feedback and suggestions directly from the people of area to restore peace and order. NWFP Governor Awais Ahmad Ghani, Chief Minister Haider Khan Hoti, Minister for Law and Justice Farooq H Naek and Advisor on Interior Rehman Malik also attended the Jirga. NWFP ministers Rahimdad Khan and Bashir Bilour were also present.
Zardari said: "Our mind must be clear that there is no other alternative to fighting out terrorism and extremism. We have to act in accordance with the aspirations of our people. We must not be dictated by a handful of terrorists."
The President said that the political government was determined to eliminate terrorism. In the past, militancy in parts of the country has successfully been confronted. "We have drawn lessons from that experience. We will continue to carry out our campaign till logical conclusion," he added.
He said he would regularly meet representatives of the people from the affected areas to listen to their views and to take their suggestions forward to the government. He said that the government's struggle against militancy was part of a larger struggle for saving the country, the federation and its federal and democratic structure.
"That is why the government had embarked on the three Ds strategy involving Dialogue, Development and Deterrence to root out the menace," he said. "This is a full-fledged war, which has to be fought not just on one front but on many fronts and in totality," he added.
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