Taliban office in Pakistan

Once one starts down the slippery slope, there is no knowing how deep down one will fall; also, nations once they compromise their authority can not be sure how much of their sovereignty they will have to shed. That was one of the reasons The Frontier Post opposed talks with Taliban who were up in arms against the sovereign state of Pakistan and had challenged the legitimacy of our Constitution. For the nation's leaders to talk to Taliban is like accepting their separate identity beyond the jurisdiction and authority of the state of Pakistan. But that is not the end of it; even as the relatives of the church blast victims are burying their dead, Imran Khan is demanding that Taliban be given an office inside the country for the purpose of peace talk,Imran's demand is so outrageous that had one not known better, one would have asked the question as to whose side was the PTI chief on. What would be the next step? Give Taliban emissaries diplomatic status and declare their office an embassy! Would it be followed by giving the Taliban the security protocol given to ambassadors? Would it be our very soldiers and cops, whose comrade-in-arms have fallen to the insurgent Taliban, who will be guarding and risking their lives for the safety of the blood thirsty leaders of the militants? Will it come to, that militants with the blood of thousands of innocent Pakistanis on their hands go unpunished? Will the militants be roaming freely and rubbing shoulders with us in our streets and shopping malls? Then again how many offices of how many Taliban groups will we have to allow because the church blast has shown that Hakimullah Mehsud does not have control of all the Taliban groups and that while we may be talking peace with TTP, other groups will be attacking our soldiers and killing helpless citizens. The Frontier Post in one of its editorial had advised that if dialogue with Taliban was what the government wanted, it should at least make sure that the TTP leader could guarantee that all terrorist acts would cease once the talk offer was accepted. Also, before going down that slippery slope, we should have at least demanded that the militants hand over the culprits who sneaked upon our generals and soldiers and killed them in cold blood; and also give us the handlers of the suicide bombers who killed thousands of our civilians. Also the militants by their bloody, deceitful and sneaky ways have been the cause of so many enmities among so many tribes and clans in the tribal areas that it may take generations to end the feuds they caused! Will the tribes be satisfied without having some kind of vengeance upon the people who murdered so many tribesmen, women and children? Before the government talks peace, it must keep the feelings of the people of Fata in mind. Frankly if a state does not have the power to quell all kinds of armed rebels by force within its territory, it has no reason to exist. The dialogue with Taliban enforces the false impression that Pak forces do not have that ability. Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan may have received popular vote to establish peace in the country and to subdue the Taliban and be somewhat lenient towards them in the process but no one gave them the mandate to bow down before rebels and disgrace the whole nation. According to one count, the armed forces of this country had entered into pacts with the militants as many as nineteen times and all the pacts were violated by the Taliban and the twentieth agreement, if reached with the militants after showing such weakness, would be breached too. After all, it was Einstein, the scientist much quoted by Imran Khan, who described stupidity as doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome each time. If the militants have already broken their written vows nineteen times what is to stop them from doing the same the twentieth time. It seems our current leaders think the tradition of nations refusing to talk to rebels until they have laid down their weapons is an ego thing or an unreasonable stubbornness on the part of their leaders. That of course is painting the picture wrong: Even kind but wise leaders, while their hearts are bleeding, have to order their forces not to give any quarter to rebels until they have surrendered their arms. They know a state remains in one piece only when insurgents and separatists know that going against the state will result in their sure defeat and death. The government is advised not to tie the hands of our troops by this useless and undignified notion of talks with rebels. It should give a free hand to the army to inflict exemplary defeat on the militants and make it a sign for those who, in the future, will want to harm Pakistan.