No end to vacillation

Time to overcome the state of indecisiveness

Ch Nisar and Khawaja Asif represent the two contradictory aspects of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s stance on TTP. Sharif has for months flip flopped over the issue of military operation or talks without being able to resolve it. He was all for talks with the TTP till the deadly blasts in Bannu and Rawaplidi shook the entire country on January 19 and 20. The two events seemed to have changed his thinking. He called a special meeting of the cabinet after which he told the media that extraordinary situations demanded extraordinary steps and the government was poised to take all necessary measures to wipe out the menace of terrorism. The same day he told the COAS he had decided to take difficult decisions to establish peace in the country. When Sharif came to address the National Assembly on January 29 most people expected him to announce the beginning of military operation. However, belying all expectations Sharif accepted the invitation from the Taliban for the initiation of dialogue maintaining that the government wanted to give peace another chance. He also said that the acts of terror must stop as terrorism and talks could not go on simultaneously.

Two months after the about turn, the situation remains no different. Nisar is still wedded to the idea of bringing peace through talks, irrespective of the unending attacks by militants. On Thursday he made the stunning pronouncement that a majority of the militant elements that constitute the TTP were not against the state of Pakistan and efforts were underway to start direct talks with them. Asif, on the other hand, told a private TV channel that the TTP knows the terrorists who targeted judges and lawyers inside the Islamabad court and it had to identify them. In his interview with the Reuters the defence minister was even more explicit. He said if the citizens or military personnel were subjected to attacks, the government would retaliate in kind instead of taking it lying down.

Torn between the opposite pulls, the government has lost the capacity to take firm decisions. This could be disastrous for a country where terrorist attacks pose an existential threat. While the government team negotiating with the TTP representatives had suggested direct talks between the army and the militants, the army high command has quashed the proposal by reportedly observing that holding the dialogue was a government initiative. The corps commanders are said to have expressed deep concern over the continuation of attacks by militant groups despite TTP’s avowed suspension of violence for a month. The airstrikes may therefore continue. Unless the prime minister overcomes the present state of indecisiveness, this could lead to further polarisation with lethal consequences.