EDITORIAL: Talks with the banned terrorist outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is too serious an issue to be left to any entity other than elected representatives of the people. A day after the TTP announced an indefinite ceasefire, creditably for it, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) held a high-level meeting to discuss the ongoing talks brokered by Afghan interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and rightly concluded that Parliament should have the final say on the issue.
In a follow-up action on Sunday, PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari formed a three-member committee — comprising Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sherry Rehman and Farhatullah Babar — to reach out to other political parties for creating a consensus on bringing the issue before the highest national forum — where it belongs.
In a related development, at a seminar hosted by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies all participants expressed unease over the way things are going. Lt-Gen Tarik Khan (retd), who fought against the militants during 2008-2010 as inspector general of the Frontier Corps, voiced a common view when he said “if we have to talk to them, we should only negotiate on the terms of surrender.”
But the news coming out of Kabul reveals that far from terms of surrender the TTP negotiators are making impossible demands, including enforcement of Sharia in Malakand as well as tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their most preposterous demand is for restoration of erstwhile Fata to status quo ante, and exit of the security forces from the area.
In a formal statement they said this, “if the Pakistan government and its security agencies want peace, they would have to restore its previous status.” There, of course, is no way the State can cede part of its territory to terrorists. Yet, the security agencies remain engaged with the TTP via jirgas. As recent as June 1, a 57-member jirga consisting of several present and former parliamentarians and tribal elders headed to Kabul for talks with the TTP.
If the expectation is that the Afghan Taliban government will help achieve a workable solution by putting pressure on its ideological brothers, it is a vain hope. Haqqani has already made it clear that any solution should come from give and take. That is where the TTP draws the confidence to make outrageous demands. Any unconditional give from this side to violent extremists who have taken the lives of more than 80,000 Pakistanis will have disastrous consequence for this state and society. It is imperative therefore that Parliament should discuss and debate peace proposals suggested by jirgas, and make a final decision.
The matter should worry the international community as well. In its report issued not too long ago, a UN Analytical and Monitoring report had noted that the reunification of TTP splinter groups had “enhanced the threat of terrorism” not only to Pakistan but to the entire region. Further complicating the situation for Pakistan is the support they get from their Afghan Taliban friends. Still, many former military commanders who fought these merciless killers think they can be defeated. That option should remain on the table.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022