The Taliban tactics
Those strongly supporting talks with the TTP have to answer a number of questions after the killings of high ranking army officers. The country was being told that the militants were sincerely interested in dialogue. Anyone who raised questions about the identity of the groups who were to be approached for talks, or demanded that talks be held only with those willing to renounce violence and adhere to the constitution was condemned for creating hurdles in the way of peace. The supporters of talks shouted down anyone expressing doubts about the intentions of the TTP. They wanted the talks to proceed post-haste. There were to be no preconditions on the part of the government, they argued, as these were against the spirit of dialogue. The fact that the state had engaged the militants in talks over a dozen times but failed to achieve peace was ignored. Ch Nisar went to the extent of claiming that some forces wanted to sabotage peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
The reservations of those who advised caution have turned out to be well-placed. The government which is keen to hold talks brought together parliamentary heads of all mainstream parties in an APC. The army chief and the DG ISI briefed the APC which then authorized the government to go ahead with talks. What explains the killing of the GOC Swat under the circumstances? One had expected that the TTP would dissociate itself from the crime and even take action against the perpetrators. What happened was the opposite. The TTP spokesman brazenly accepted responsibility for the dastardly act on the part of one of its franchises. Going a step further he made the preposterous demand for the release of thousands of TTP killers and the evacuation of the army from the tribal areas as precondition for talks. ‘’If the government does not take these two steps, the peace process cannot go forward.’’ If anything, this is a refusal to initiate talks.
Some of the politicians who have condoled the killing of the officers and men of Pakistan army have declined to condemn by name the organization which claims responsibility for the act. The strong and unambiguous message conveyed to the TTP by the COAs on Monday should in fact have come from the prime minister himself. This would have carried more weight, produced better results and strengthened the PM. The killing of a GOC is no ordinary matter. The terrorists have in fact killed six security personnel in four separate attacks. This shows that they are determined to continue their deadly game. That this should come when the Taliban are talking peace makes the proposed exercise look farcical. While one realizes that the army has the ability and the will to take the fight to the terrorists, as Gen Kayani puts it, what it needs to avoid is to pick and choose between the terrorist groups.