Helmandis urge Taliban to come to talks table

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): Hundreds of people including clerics, tribal elders and residents in southern Helmand province on Sunday urged the government and the Taliban to respect ulema’s fatwa and arrive at the negotiating table.

The gathering about the peace process was addressed by religious scholars and influential figures in Lashkargah, the provincial capital.

Provincial peace committee head Mohammad Ishaqzai said the meeting participants voiced their support for the fatwa of Indonesian ulema and the Makkah Declaration on Afghanistan

He said all the Afghans wanted peace and they wanted the government and the Taliban to change their respective stance on the war.

Religious scholar Mualvi Abdullah said the ongoing conflict was not in the interest of Islam and the Afghans.

He said: “Peace is an order in the Holy Book and several times peace had place with non-Muslims, but here both the warring sides are Muslims.”

Attaullah Afghan, the provincial council chief, said they were ready to help the government and the Taliban reach a peace deal.

He said they called on the both warring parties to respect to Ulema’s fatwas and arrive at the negotiating table.

Provincial women’s affairs acting director Qamar Niazai said mostly women suffered in the conflict as they lost spouses, sons and brothers.

A number of other women and men who attended the meeting expressed similar views and urged both the warring sides to enter peace talks.

pk/ma