And Nisar’s, too, to an extent
It didn’t surprise many, especially not Nawaz, that when he first appointed Sami to mediate with the Taliban – and this was before the committees were formed – the Molana’s first public statement was that the Taliban were not at war with the state, but rather had taken up arms for the state. And then, months later, with talks frozen and ceasefire ended, he has pulled another novelty out of his hat. The Taliban, we are told this time, are patriots.
Now this is important. Everybody remembers how angry ChNisar got when Americans droned Hakeemullah on Nov1. Red-faced and emotional, he lumped whatever grievance his mind could gather on the Americans, and in the process came perilously close to extolling the Taliban’s existence in the badlands, trying what-not to translate the drones’ violation of international laws as vindication of mullahs’ shari’a obsession. Then there was Munawar Hasan’s ridiculous shaheed title for the villain. And then the committees, and prime time media parading the farthest of the far right, over and over again, till only small, shrinking secular bloc still pointed at the Taliban’s long orgy of death and destruction, and the necessity, still, of rescuing the national narrative and bring the murderers of tens of thousands to justice, not negotiations.
It was, of course, entirely another matter that the interior minister was trying to hide his own incompetence, for which a few crocodile tears over Hakeemullah worked just fine. And the jamat, it turned out, had increasingly “gone ‘Qaeda” since the ’07 lal masjid episode in which much of the Punjab’s clergy, especially militant proxies, turned on the state. But Munawar’s belligerence was just without the subtlety needed for diplomatic wriggling and the party soon tired of him; and he’s now more than welcome to consume his days lamenting the Taliban’s shaheed and the nation’s blind eye to shari’a proper, fata style.
The talks circus, especially the media circus, not to mention Nawaz’s own political circus in Islamabad, have all combined to keep much of the country in the dark about the true nature of these talks, and the real level of the Taliban threat. Talking was important, it was decided at the APC, to control casualties and keep the fight from expanding into urban centres, not to legitimise non-state actors responsible for more than 50,000 deaths. That Nawaz failed to impress this on most people, especially his interior minister and committees charged with the negotiations, was perhaps the biggest mistake. That, of course, if it was not deliberate. And to let religion, shari’a, and such matters – which have very little to do with the Taliban or the government intrinsically – dominate matters was the second mistake; again, if it was not deliberate.
So, talk to these militants if you must, prime minister, but remember they are proxy militias, armed and funded by Pakistan’s enemies. And their shari’afaçade is gimmickry that we taught them – or to be more precise, the same patrons that brought you into the political world – so please do not be fooled by such rhetoric.