As Taliban are on the verge of signing a peace deal with US to put an end to the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan, a group of Ulema say they will visit Kandahar province, a Taliban heartland, to get the message of peace to areas under the militant group’s control, and to discuss peace with them.
Members of the group called ‘Afghanistan’s Impartial Religious Scholars Peace Convey’ (AIRSPC) on Sunday said they would travel to southern Kandahar for peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents, urging the warning parties to soften their stances for finding a way out of the ongoing conflict.
AIRSPC, a group of around 70 Islamic scholars, in Kabul said they had collected some money and would travel to Spin Boldak district of Kandahar coming Tuesday to meet some Taliban representatives about peace negotiations.
Mufti Mohammad Bilal Safeer, head of AIRSPC, and another member of the movement Shaikh Niamatullah called on the government and Taliban to start peace talks and show flexibility in the negotiations as well.
He said if they were assisted, they could meet Taliban representatives in Quetta and Peshawar of Pakistan and even travel to Qatari’s capital Doha for peace talks.
He said they had also discussed the peace process with the Afghan government.
Another religious scholar Mufti Gul Ahmad Sidiqi said peace was a divine order and the government and Taliban should fear God and reach peace as soon as possible.
He said if there was unity among Afghans, no country, including the US, would find any pretext for staying in Afghanistan.
A number of other scholars held similar views, urging the government and Taliban representatives to declare a nationwide truce at the earliest possible.
They also issued a resolution letter, asking both the government and Taliban to announce a ceasefire across the country.
The scholars said they will not allow anyone to use the peace process for their personal interests.
