EDITORIAL: In what looked like a case of one step forward and two steps back, talks between Pakistan and the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban have been going on for a while away from the public eye and facilitated by the Afghan Taliban.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced in a recently posted tweet that ‘formal’ talks between “high level committees” of the two sides that began in Kabul on Monday had made “significant progress on related issues” and that a temporary ceasefire was also agreed upon, which a TTP spokesman later said is to last till May 30.

Although Islamabad and Rawalpindi have not been forthcoming on the subject according to media reports, after behind-the-scenes contacts through tribal intermediaries as well as official channels the Government of Pakistan has agreed to release two prominent TTP figures: a former spokesman for TTP ‘butcher of Swat’ Muslim Khan and ‘commander’ Mehmood Khan.

Although the terms of negotiations, underway for many months, are not known the release of the two TTP men indicates this side has softened its stance. That can also be seen as negotiating from a position of weakness rather than strength.

It may be recalled that the previous government had publically stated that it could consider giving amnesty to foot soldiers, but not the leaders of the terror outfit. After all, they have blood on their hands of some 80,000 Pakistanis, including 150 people at the Army Public School in Peshawar, 132 of them children.

There should be no mercy for those responsible for masterminding merciless killings of innocent people; they must be held to account for their unforgivable crimes. Or at the very least their ideological brothers, the Afghan Taliban mediating the peace talks, should be asked to keep them in their country.

In the erstwhile tribal areas the TTP terrorists have kept launching attacks on the security forces –even the present ceasefire is provisional— from across the Afghan border, also targeting civilians in other areas. Establishing broader peace is imperative, but the cost of any peace accord needs to be carefully weighed. A poorly negotiating agreement can eventually endanger socio-political stability.

Reports suggest an unannounced amnesty has already been in place; many TTP members, presumably, foot soldiers, who surrendered have been freed. Many more are likely to join them if and when the ongoing peace talks conclude on a positive note. They will need to be mainstreamed and provided with some sort of productive activity to occupy their minds.

But their minds that have been heavily indoctrinated into militant ideologies can cause major trouble wherever they live unless all such people undergo deradicalization before allowed to go home. They will also need to be kept under surveillance afterwards. It is a challenge that cannot be taken lightly.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022

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