Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Wednesday that the security situation could return to normal if parliament was allowed to engage with the “people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan.”

While addressing the National Assembly’s session today, Fazl urged the parliament to talk with disgruntled people of both provinces and address their concerns.

Fazl’s statement comes after at least 73 people lost their lives in deadly terrorist attacks on August 26 and growing discontent over the enforced disappearances issue.

Countrywide terrorist attacks rose to 59 in August from 38 in July, according to a digital database maintained by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank. The majority of the attacks occurred in KP and Balochistan.

The JUI-F chief said the “government writ in Balochistan and KP had eroded due to unrest” and the “militants were ruling there and collecting taxes.”

“They are visiting the villages, patrolling the streets, and are armed with rocket launchers and special equipment,” Fazl said, adding that the government had failed to ensure peace in the two provinces.

Balochistan: August 26 terrorist attacks jointly carried out by banned outfits: minister

Fazl said instead of trying to address the burning issue of terrorism, the parliamentarians from the treasury and the opposition benches were engaging in verbal spats.

“While the opposition goes to the extent that they start talking about leaving the parliament, while the other side (the government) makes statements such as ‘we are ready to deal with them with force and we are ready to go to every extent for the state’s protection’,” Fazl said.

Referring to the retirement of ANP leaders Zahid Khan and Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour from politics, Fazl said the importance of politicians was subsiding as knowledgeable, experienced, and senior politicians were being sidelined.

“The new faces who have replaced them have no experience,” he added.