It is more important to secure Pakistan than to seek a dominant role in Afghanistan or keep the pot boiling in Kashmir
Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad
Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will become a vegetarian. —Heywood Campbell Broun
Since its assumption of power more than seven months back the PML-N has advocated talks with the Pakistani Talban as panacea for putting an end to terrorism. As Chaudhry Nisar put it soon after the APC, “the war Pakistan was facing could only be brought to an end through dialogue and negotiations.” The policy of total reliance on talks that has been pursued over the time has further encouraged the terrorists and harmed the country while it has failed to achieve the stated goal.
The use of force is never an ideal solution. Military action against militant groups operating in civilian areas often leads to the killing of innocent people, destruction of habitations, infrastructure, means of livelihood and displacement of large chunks of population.
An attempt has therefore to be made to isolate the insurgents by winning over the wavering elements. This was why the political parties which have been the major target of the TTP also supported the talks first at the APC called by the ANP in February and later at the APC convened by the PML-N in August.
The PML-N has had enough time to conduct the talks. It has however miserably failed to break the alliance of terror forged by the TTP. The cause of the failure is the leadership’s policy of appeasement.
The PML-N and PTI have a soft corner for the militant groups. The PML-N has in fact sought the help of LeJ activists during several elections in a number of constituencies in Punjab. Many activists of the two parties have an ambivalent attitude towards the militant groups, sharing their ideals of a world Islamic khilafat while differing with the use of violence to achieve the aim.
The PTI has reintroduced the teachings about jihad reportedly removed by the ANP government into the school curriculum in KP. The demand in the National Assembly by PTI MNA Mujahid Ali Khan for the release of Taseer’s murderer Mumtaz Qadri made during a debate on the budget is reflective of the extremist streak in the party. In view of their bias for the militant networks the PML-N and PTI were not qualified to break the terrorist alliance.
The PML-N has wasted months in talking about talks. It employed a lot of verbiage like Ch Nisar claiming that ‘it would be an integrated and all-encompassing dialogue. The first interaction between the government and the Taliban would determine what the two sides wanted from each other’.
The ‘first interaction’ is nowhere in sight. Instead of calling upon other parties to help in the talks, Nawaz Sharf should acknowledge the failure of his policy .The only alternative left now is to fight the militant groups.
Anyone who had read the statements of the TTP or watched their activities knew there never was a chance of making the TTP discard violence through negotiations. What Hakimullah Mehsud said in his last interview with the BBC on October 9, should have opened the eyes of the supporters of talks. As he put it, “There will be no impact of the American withdrawal on the TTP, because friendship with America is only one of the two reasons we have to conduct jihad against Pakistan. The other reason is that Pakistan’s system is un-Islamic, and we want that it should be replaced with the Islamic system. This demand and this desire will continue even after the American withdrawal.”
The terrorist network has never made a secret of its aims or of its methods to achieve its goal. Without mincing words it has categorically rejected democracy and declared that it would enforce the Sharia through violence that includes bombings, suicide bombing, assassinations, and indiscriminate killings. It has declared that it did not believe in geographical borders or national states and would replace them with a worldwide khilafat, through jihad.
The TTP has idealised Osama bin Laden, observed his death anniversaries where it expressed solidarity with his cause and vowed to continue on the path shown by him. There is a complete ideological affinity between TTP and Al-Qaeda. All this has been duly reported in the press and the electronic and the social media.
The PML-N and PTI have vied with each other in placating the terrorists. Even when Ehsanullah Ehsan or Shahidullah Shahid owned a deadly attack that had killed or maimed dozens, Ch Nisar and KP Information Minister Shah Farman feigned ignorance. Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan also remained in a perpetual state of denial.
Any probing questions regarding the dialogue put to the leaders of the two parties were sidestepped. The TTP comprises over two dozen groups, around 50 by some counts. Anyone asking which ones the supporters of the dialogue wanted to talk to or win over was asked to wait patiently. The same answer was given to those who put questions about what the government was willing to offer in return for peace.
The PML-N’s vain quest for talks started soon after the elections. An APC was convened in September to develop a consensus. The PML-N enjoyed absolute majority in NA and the PTI had formed government in KP. The religious parties were already supporting a compromise for whatever it might cost. As they were seen to be adamant on holding parleys, parties like PPP, ANP and MQM which differed with the approach decided to go along with those ruling at the centre and in KP, the province most affected by terrorism.
The APC rubber stamped the policy of appeasement being advocated by the PML-N and PTI. The militant groups which were responsible for the death of an estimated 50,000 men, women and children and over 5,000 soldiers were described as “our own people” and declared “stakeholders” in the peace efforts. The resolution passed by the APC was aptly declared by critics as a sell out and an instrument of surrender.
The move at appeasement was bound to encourage the TTP. It became even more intransigent. While the PML-N and PTI continued to talk about talks, the TTP increased its attacks. Six days after the APC the TTP killed Maj General Niazi and in the week after that it launched three of its deadliest attacks in Peshawar.
The only option left now is to fight the TTP on front foot. The battle needs to be taken to the militants’ stronghold of North Waziristan which has been turned into a hub of terrorism both for attacks inside the country and abroad. Once the TTP is deprived of its safe haven and is on the run the wavering elements in the terrorist alliance will be willing for talks. It would be possible then to hold negotiations with them from a position of strength. Unless they are seen to be in a hopeless position, making approaches to them will not yield results.
There is a need during the operation to keep it targeted. The civilian population too has to be provided security, possibly through evacuation from the zone of operation. If this could be done in the case of Swat and South Waziristan which had larger populations, this can be made possible in North Waziristan.
There is a need on the part of to army to avoid the policy of cherry-picking among the terrorist groups. This had harmed the country during the so-called Afghan jihad. The subsequent patronisation of the Afghan Taliban created problems that Pakistani is still facing. It is more important to secure Pakistan than to seek a dominant role in Afghanistan or keep the pot boiling in Kashmir.
The writer is a political analyst and a former academic.
