Pak Oppn leader urges Taliban to shun violence

New Delhi, May 18: Top Pakistan opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman suggested Taliban shun violence and contest elections and urged India and Pakistan to join hands to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.

''India and Pakistan should together evolve a common strategy for establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan,'' the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal General Secretary, known for his close links to the Taliban, said at a reception here last night.

Being a SAARC member, strife in Afghanistan cannot be overlooked specially by India and Pakistan. Both the countries should join efforts for the establishment of peace and normalcy in Afghanistan, he said.

Dismissing the Taliban's demand asking all the Indians in the war-torn country to leave, the Maulana said the Indians involved in various rebuilding projects there should not be harmed in any way.

Maulana Rahman, who had tutored Taliban chief Mullah Omar and his militia in his seminaries, urged Taliban to abjure violence and called for ways to promote their participation in the democratic process in the country.

Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, former Ministers Natwar Singh, Ram Jethmalani, Ms Mohsina Kidwai, Mr Ajit Singh, former Chief Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah and Ajit Jogi and a host of Muslim leaders and parliamentarians attended the reception hosted by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Arshad Madani.

UNI