Taliban militants group in Pakistan called upon the government to replace interior minister Rehman Malik with a ‘serious person’ for peace dialogue after mocking him as a ‘comedian’.
Ehsanullah Ehsan spokesman for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday said, his ultraorthodox militia did not take Malik’s statements seriously.
While speaking in a telephone interview, Ehsanullah Ehsan told Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, “Our Central Shura (consultative council) believes that if Rehman Malik keeps on churning out statements about our offer, it’ll indicate the government is not serious in pursuing peace talks.”
This comes as Pakistan interior Rehman Malik on Saturday asked the Taliban group to name a team of ‘serious negotiator’ if they wanted to make peace.
He also said that the Taliban group start talks about peace dialogue when they become weak.
In the meantime Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said, “If the government replaces Rehman Malik with a serious person to deal with the dialogue issue, we will come up with an immediate, positive and civilised response in the best interests of Pakistan and its people.”
Ehsan said he has been stopped from commenting on Malik’s statements because the Taliban and “even many in Pakistan don’t trust him (Malik)”.
He also compared Malik with a Pashtu comdedian, Ismail Shahid.
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan also denied to comment regarding the upcoming all-party conference convened by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman later this month to discuss the peace prospects in the tribal regions.
He said, “The Taliban are fighting for the existence of the tribal people as many tribesmen have been killed and displaced [by fighting in the region] and now they should have a better life,” he added.


