TTP’s declaration of war

Stop placating it

The PML-N’s policy of placating the terrorists has led it to a blind alley. The party leadership was so partial to the militants that it would avoid naming the organization involved in a terrorist attack even when the latter had publicly owned it. Despite Hakimullah Mehsud pledging to enforce Sharia through the barrel of the gun and establishing a world caliphate parties like the PML-N, the PTI and the JI continued to woo him. The TTP denounced what it called an “un-Islamic democratic system which only serves the interests of infidels and enemies of Islam” and called upon voters to boycott the elections and follow in the footsteps of OBL. This too failed to reduce the fondness of these parties for the killer group. The PML-N leadership was meanwhile equally keen to gain the US support, particularly after winning the elections. Running with the hare and hunting with the hound created doubt and suspicion among both the militants and the US administration. During Sharif’s Washington visit, explanations were sought regarding ties with the militant outfits. And now it is the TTP’s turn to accuse the PML-N government of duplicity and threatening revenge.

The military too followed a similar policy. Failing to learn from the bitter experience of patronizing the Soviet-era jihadi outfits who often bit the hand that fed them, Pakistan’s military establishment alternately supported the Afghan Taliban and several Pakistani militant networks as ‘assets’. The policy has cost the country and the military heavily. Soon after the drone attack that killed Hakimullah, the TTP turned bitterly against the PML-N. The TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid accused the government of kowtowing to Washington and cutting a deal to ‘sell’ the militants. The nomination of Fazlullah, who oversaw a bloodbath in Swat and ordered the killing of Malala Yusufzai and the attack on Swat GOC, as the TTP chief amounts to a declaration of war.

It is time political parties stopped placating the TTP. The government needs to urgently make preparations to secure the population against terrorist attacks. A new COAS to replace Gen Kayani who is about to retire should be nominated without delay. There is a need to take meaningful steps to improve relations with India to be able to deploy more troops to fight terrorists who have announced they would launch attacks all over the country particularly targeting government leaders, politicians, police and the army.