EDITORIAL: The civilian leadership seems to be completely out of the loop regarding talks with the terrorist outfit, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), started a while ago, except for announcing that they are at a standstill.
According to media reports, hundreds of TTP militants have already been allowed to return to Pakistan from their sanctuary in Afghanistan. Consequently, people in Swat and some tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been staging protests against rising incidents of targeted killings, extortions and kidnappings.
On Wednesday, KP Minister for Science and Information Technology Muhammad Atif Khan confirmed that he had received a ransom note, widely circulated on social media, from the TTP’s chapter in Mardan, his hometown, demanding Rs 8 million in three days or he would be targeted.
The same day in Parliament, legislators as well as ministers voiced concern over the resurgence of TTP violence in Swat and other parts of the country .Terming the law and order situation “very serious”, they called for “collective measures” by all state institutions.
That the right hand does not know what the left hand has been doing also comes out from what Special Assistant on Information to the KP Chief Minister, Barrister Mohammad Ali, had to say in a news conference at the Swat Press Club. While defending his participation in negotiations with the TTP, he said, they were aimed at curbing the menace of terrorism.
Yet sensing the public anger, he tried to distance the KP government from the talks and conveniently lay the burden on the federal government’s shoulders as he added: “Prime Minister’s adviser Amir Muqam is also a member of the committee formed for negotiations with the TTP”. But the lawmakers ask for ‘collective measures’ clearly indicates the Prime Minister or his cabinet members have no say in decision-making with regard to the peace negotiations.
In fact, it was Defence Minister Khawaja Asif who while expressing concern over the activities of TTP in Swat, emphasised that the responsibility to find a solution to the threat faced by the state rested with ‘all’ institutions.
There was no beating about the bush for Climate Change Minister Pakistan People’s Party Senator Sherry Rehman. Demanding that Parliament be briefed about anti-terrorism operations, she averred “there can be no engagement with terrorists.
If you want to talk to them, then it can only happen after they [TTP terrorists] lay down their arms as a precondition.” It is pertinent to recall here that speaking at a seminar in Islamabad last June, Lt-Gen Tarik Khan (retired), having had hands-on experience dealing with TTP during his 2008-2010 stint as inspector general of the Frontier Corps, expressed similar opinion, saying “if we have to talk to them, we should only negotiate on the terms of surrender.”
Time has proved right him and all others who have been arguing that talking to these merciless killers is a waste of time. In any case, it is too seriously an issue to be decided by the powers that be behind the back of civilian authority.
The government has constitutional duty to protect the life and property of all citizens. It must have the authority to decide whatever needs to be done about the TTP terrorists who have killed thousands of Pakistanis, and continue to threaten the peace and security of this state and society.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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