Government decides to take on the terrorists
The government’s decision to fight the terrorists till they are eliminated received overwhelming support from the two Houses of Parliament where members heard Nawaz Sharif’s address with rapt attention punctuated by frequent thumping of the desks. Political parties like PPP and ANP which had earlier complained about the prime minister not taking them into confidence, came out openly in support of the military operation. . So did the MQM. The JUI-F which was earlier divided over the issue also stood by the government. The PTI naturally took time to decide as it had been the strongest supporter of talks with the TTP and had consistently opposed any operation. The party however managed to overcome its reservations. Addressing the media Imran Khan once again castigated the government for insincerity while holding the talks and failing to take the KP government, a major stakeholder, into confidence. Finally, he too announced his party’s full support for military operation.
Jamaat-e-Islami thus remains the only parliamentary party which failed to stand by the national consensus. The remarks by its former chief about the army were widely condemned in the country. Its present stance would further isolate it.
Fighting insurgency is different from fighting a conventional war with a standing army. It further complicates the matter when the insurgents are also terrorists allied with foreign groups. The present operation is however limited to North Waziristan Agency only where militants, both local and foreign, are holed up in certain areas. The army has surrounded them while it has also blocked the exits to the adjoining Agencies and the settled districts and has called upon the Afghan government to seal the border from its side. One expects that the ongoing operation in NWA would be completed in weeks rather than months.
The fight against the TTP will not be confined to distant North Waziristan alone. The terrorist groups are likely to target the cities also. TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid has put the PML-N also in the category of enemies, a slot reserved so far for the PPP, ANP and MQM. What is more the terrorists are not likely to spare Punjab which has by and large been an island of peace during the last few years. A large number of terrorist groups like LeJ, JeM and Punjabi Taliban have managed to set up their sleeper cells in the province. So far the PML-N’s provincial leaders have described highly dangerous groups like the Punjabi Taliban as mere figments of imagination. Soon the chicken are likely to come home to roost.
