Some call them an ideologically motivated lot, some
consider them as a bunch of misguided people working on behest of hostile
foreign agencies, then there are others who simply take them as terrorists,
while the fact on ground today is that TTP has recently earned the status of a
stake holder parallel to the Government of Pakistan. Not only that, they are now on the driving
seat and dictating terms with some of the political parties dancing to their
tune and some vying to sleep with them, leaving the military leadership high
and dry with nowhere to look for direction, meanwhile the people watch with
indifference – spectre of state succumbing under coercion to a non-state
militant entity.
Though TTP’s ascent to such enviable position could be
attributed to our perpetual failings at government and institutional levels,
yet the happenings in the last few months give a clear indication of how the
TTP is following a well thought-out strategy to extract maximum from the
government which has been forced to take the back seat, react to evolving situations
and now seems to be pursuing peace as underdogs.
It all started with influencing the outcome of May
2013 elections by TTP to ensure that those political parties reached the
corridors of power which could easily be ‘persuaded’ through the instrument of
coercion or otherwise. By and large, they achieved that objective.
In the next phase, while the people were anticipating
a sigh of relief with change of government, TTP unleashed unabated spate of
major terrorist incidents during first sixty days of the new government to shatter
the will of the political leadership as part of the envisaged plan.
Apparently, the strategy adopted by the TTP paid off,
a manifestation of which we saw in buckling down of the PM to threats against
execution of the convicted terrorists. The TTP reciprocated by a sudden ending
of terrorist acts directed against the civilians and government installations, barring
military targets, indicating some sort of covert deal, as a follow up of which
APC was held which recommended ‘unconditional talks with the people of FATA’.
Amid such environment of reciprocity, TTP has not only
intensified attacks on military targets but have vowed to continue the same.
Again, a well thought-out undertaking to create a wedge between the political
leadership and military establishment, as they know that latter’s hands would
remain tied-up due to government’s resolve not to let any terrorist incident,
and response thereof, derail the peace process being pursued through
negotiations.
While no sane person would question the need to achieve
peace through dialogue, one may raise questions regarding the efficacy of such
an undertaking in environment, whereby, the government has been forced into falling
on its knees, to what extent the government can give-in to TTP’s demands and
who would guarantee peace even after the TTP takes away major share of the cake
on the negotiation table?
Notwithstanding above, as the stage is being set for
talks with the TTP, the government can least afford any further miscalculations.
They should have known that negotiations with TTP would only yield results if undertaken from a
point of strength and since they have already missed the bus, the only way they
can redeem is to build consensus, show resolve and
develop a clear cut thought process on how to tackle the issue of terrorism,
including use of military option, should the envisaged talks with TTP fail.
Moreover, the government should not accede to
any pre-conditions by TTP or the negotiations would start and end with nothing
in the platter for government.
The
political leadership also needs to shun the misplaced contention that war with TTP for years has achieved no results. The
fact is that we as a nation have never fought any war with TTP, though clean-up
operations were conducted here and there by the Army, wherein, it succeeded in
evicting them but there were fewer casualties as most of them moved to other
areas to regroup later. TTP was by and large perceived to comprise our own
people and dealt with accordingly, at times Army paying a very heavy cost in
terms of soldiers’ lives. If the political leadership, fully backed by the
nation, decides to root-out terrorism through the use of all instruments,
including force, environment may not remain so cozy for those operating against
Pakistan’s interests.
Linked with above, there is a need to develop a clear understanding
of the nature of threat Pakistan faces today. For last so many years, we have remained
embroiled in the controversies of good and bad Taliban and, as such, were never
clear and still undecided on how to deal with those who directly or indirectly
threaten Pakistan’s existence. While we may not challenge the legitimacy of
struggle by the Afghan Taliban to oust the foreign forces from their land, we should
also not ascribe to the idea that they are our assets or that Afghanistan
provides us strategic depth. Pakistan is a nuclear power and its strategic
depth lies in internal stability and economic viability. As such, any entity or
non-state actor which strives for Pakistan’s instability must be taken as enemy
number 1 and promptly taken to task.
The political leadership must also have a clear
understanding of the nature of war being waged these days, whereby, it has
become a creeping phenomenon with use of militancy as one of its
manifestations. It must remain cognizant of the fact the some factions of TTP
may be playing in the hands of our adversaries and would endeavour to stall the
peace process, objective being to continue to bleed Pakistan. In such
environment, the government should not only include military establishment as a
stake-holder in the negotiations but also give due weightage to their
view-point. It is also imperative because ultimately it is the troops on ground
that would mainly face the consequences of any failings on the part of
government at the negotiation table.
