Kayani and Taliban sympathisers

There is little common ground to make parleys meaningful

The army has finally announced its policy towards the Taliban. Gen Kayani says the war the army is fighting is Pakistan’s war and that anti-democratic forces would never be acceptable. He said that considering the war against terrorism as the war of the armed forces alone can lead to chaos and disarray that cannot be afforded. In his words, the fact of the matter is that today it is Pakistan and its valiant people who are the target of this war and are suffering tremendously.

Neither the JI, JUI-F and JUI S nor the PML-N and PTI are owning this war. They believe the country has been dragged into the conflict by the US. The sooner it comes out of it, the better for it.

With PPP, ANP and MQM already favouring military operation against the TTP, this should be the ideal moment to bring on board all other parties to form an anti terrorist front comprising all major parties. One is however not sure if Gen Kayani really means what he says. If the army is seen to be genuinely keen on getting rid of the militants, even parties which display a soft corner towards them will start distancing themselves from the TTP.

Religious parties share much of the agenda of the terrorists but they have strong differences over how to implement it. Like the Pakistani Taliban, the JI, JUIF and JUI–S too want the rule of Shariah in Pakistan. Religious parties are also willing to concede to the minorities, the status of second-grade citizens. They are against the empowerment of women and while they favour female education, which differentiates from the TTP, they are opposed to co-education as there are to allowing women to work side by side with men. They believe that the men and women are not to be treated as equals.

The Jamaat-e-Islami cadre is known for narrow-mindedness and intolerance. Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba which is the party’s student wing takes recourse to violence to suppress the liberal and leftist organizations. It opposes the mixing up of male and female students at the campuses and has set up a reign of terror in educational institutions wherever it has any significant presence

The Deobandi seminaries run by the JUI-F and JUI-S also impart extremist views. Some of their students later join the militant groups associated with the TTP. In the past, these seminaries have produced cadre for the Afghan Taliban, some of their top leaders being the products of Pakistan’s Deobandi madaris

Some of the activists of these parties have affiliations with the militants as they have received military training from common instructors. They have also fought together in Kashmir with the army’s backing.

But one important thing religious parties do not share with the TTP is the latter’s opposition to elections. Religious parties are keen to use all avenues provided by democracy, and that includes elections, to foist a system no different from that supported by the TTP. As JUI-S leader and head of Darul Uloom Haqqania Samiul Haq put it on Tuesday, voting isn’t just a democratic duty but a religious one as well. He rejected the Taliban’s view of voting as being ‘un-Islamic’. These parties not only support elections but also the election of women to the assemblies.

There is no difference of goals but of tactics to achieve them. The assumption of power by the Justice and Development Party in Turkey and the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt through ballot has provided the religious parties extra incentive to contest the polls. Whatever TTP might do, religious parties in Pakistan will not boycott the polls.

The JI, JUI-F, and JUI-S trio opposes the use of force against the Taliban. They instead demand a negotiated settlement with the militants. The security agencies have old links with the leadership of these parties. If it really desires to wean them away from the terrorist outfits, it has enough clout with the leadership of JI, JUI-F and JUI-S to get this done.

While the PML-N which was nominated a guarantor of peace by the Taliban presents itself as a moderate conservative party, many party loyalists are characterized by a streak of extremism. The PML-N has inherited Ziaul Haq’s prejudice against the minorities particularly Shias, Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians. Similarly it has no policy on, or any concept of, the empowerment of women. The PML-N thus shares a number of traits with the religious parties

The PML-N also makes use of the sectarian card whenever it finds that the LeJ sympathisers, who in half a dozen Punjab constituencies are able to muster a couple of thousand votes, can act as a game changer in a highly contested election. The party feels no compunction while entering into an electoral understanding with the banned network.

The PML-N is however a party of the business community. Like the class that it represents, it is scared of lawlessness and wants restoration of peace in the country. The party had taken on the communal terrorists when in power during the late 1990’s. At the time, it was also willing to help the US take out Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The party’s manifesto envisages a number of steps to contain the incidence of terrorism. These include the integration of FATA into the country‘s political mainstream, educational reforms so that madrassahs follow the same syllabus as the government schools, amendment in anti-terrorism laws and overhauling and modernizing the security sector, including the enhancement of the capacity of the counter insurgency forces. While it will continue to talk about dialogue with the militants to placate its extremist fringe, the party would support the army if finds it to be really serious about wiping out the threat of terrorism with force.

The PTI which claims to represent the new middle class comprising highly educated professionals, specialists and urban youth is more sympathetic to the TTP than the PML-N, thanks to its top leader. Imran Khan does not want to give his opponents a chance to delve in his past. He thus makes use of religious symbolism much more than the Sharifs. In PTI ads, he is sometimes shown offering prayers. Addressing a minority convention of Christian Community in Lahore last year Imran Khan declared that he wanted “to make Pakistan a state like Khilafat-e-Rashda where every citizen lives in peace and complete harmony.”

Many think Imran is simply naïve. The PTI chief hopes to win the war against terrorism for instance through dialogue in 90 days when the TTP is not even willing to talk o him. While in New Delhi last year he claimed that even terror leaders can be transformed. “I am sure they can be put into nation building, human beings can change. I will make them realise that militancy is not a solution.”

Interestingly Imran condemns the Mumbai attacks and has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. His highly questionable ideas include the belief that suicide bombings are a reaction to drone strikes, that there was no violence from militants in the country before February 2004 when the military entered Fata, and that the people of Fata support the Taliban because they are convinced that it is a movement led by freedom fighters.

There is a perception that the army is keen to enlist the services of the religious parties, the PML-N and PTI to hold dialogue with the TTP in case it is needed in days to come. Many believe there is little common ground to make parleys meaningful.

The writer is a political analyst and a former academic.