Much irony and absurdity

Topping the latter is PM’s remaining attached to talks!

So, was this the “good news” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expected from the Taliban? Surely, owning the Karachi attack – dozens killed, many more injured – implies the TTP’s disassociation with previous, daily hits was as deliberate as misleading. And, for argument’s sake, if they, too, were caught unawares as foreign, cross-border forces manoeuvred to sidetrack government-TTP peace talks, then why posture for peace while fine-tuning the police bus raid? Yes, these things take some time planning, rehearsing, etc. But that’s not the direction right-wingers in the press went looking in as like-minded in the N-League and negotiations committees scrambled to keep the talks from collapsing. They (TTP) did it alright, and they will do it again if their conditions are not met, they said. And not only was ceasefire not very high on the to-do list till the Karachi attack, but the TTP’s proposed CBMs had also been largely brushed aside – what of their comrades still languishing in jails, the army still in South Waziristan (SW)?

The manner of official response, or rather the lack of one, to the TTP threat to Ismailis and other natives of the Kalash valley was to be expected. There is much irony in the fate of our minorities, even if there is little left to say about it. They have lost the most in this war, yet find neither voice nor representation in the government’s committee.

Incredibly, the talks seem to have survived this particular scare. The government committee was obviously upset, but Maulana Sami pleaded more patience, and assured peace was round the corner. A formal ceasefire is also in the works. And despite talk of differences in the press, the prime minister assured all the way from Turkey that the military and government were absolutely on the same page. But there’s more. What does back-to-business from here incorporate? And what of that other prominent feature of Taliban existence, its outright rejection of all forms of minorities, from Christians to the Shia, and how it oscillates from threats to genocide in dealing with them?

The manner of official response, or rather the lack of one, to the TTP threat to Ismailis and other natives of the Kalash valley was to be expected. There is much irony in the fate of our minorities, even if there is little left to say about it. They have lost the most in this war, yet find neither voice nor representation in the government’s committee. There is more irony. PM Sharif’s assurances notwithstanding – the TTP trusts his ‘sincerity’ – the Taliban are convinced the army is not for these talks. And how that sets up a North Waziristan (NW) finale with their former masters should discomfort many a grey-haired khaki about how times change. Then there is the army’s new position. Despite its history of meddling in politics, of creating these soldier-clerics that now threaten state existence, and its playing proxy east and west, it is, today, without doubt the country’s best hope of reining in the wolf at the door. So much for irony. But there’s also the prime minister, refusing to accept futility of talks even as the TTP deceives, plots, and kills. That part is absurdity.